My Piano Roll Corner

Wait, what is a piano roll? For those who aren’t familiar: In digital music production, a piano roll is the visual interface composers use to write and edit music inside a DAW (digital audio workstation). Each note appears as a horizontal bar: longer bars mean longer notes, higher bars mean higher pitch, and the color often represents volume or velocity.

All of the music shown here is created using virtual instruments: digitally sampled sounds that respond to the notes and dynamics you input. This process is often called a mock-up: a detailed, expressive version of the score that gives directors a clear reference for how the piece could sound if it were recorded by a real orchestra.

It’s like reading music sideways - the place where ideas take shape before real musicians breathe life into them.