New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Celebrating the 25th anniversary of the company's line of SILENT Pianos, Yamaha today announced the new SH2 and SC2 families of its groundbreaking SILENT Piano™ technology.
Available on a wide range of Yamaha grand and upright pianos, the SH2 and SC2 Series represent the future of the Yamaha SILENT Piano going forward, thus replacing the entire product line. Both systems combine no-compromise silent playing with the acoustic piano craftsmanship and quality that has made Yamaha the world leader in keyboard instruments for over 130 years. All new models feature a Bösendorfer Imperial grand piano sample, a binaurally-sampled Yamaha CFX grand piano, USB audio recording, redesigned control box, improved user interface, and compatibility with the Yamaha Smart Pianist app.
SILENT Piano models to date have been a favorite of renowned artists and popular productions, including the C7XSH (a SILENT version of the most widely used studio grand piano in the world), which was played by Patti Lapone at the 2018 Grammy Awards,
Sarah McLachlan at the 2017 Invictus Games,
John Legend at the 2015 Academy Awards, and numerous artists on the hit TV show America's Got Talent. Elton John, Alicia Keys, Maroon 5, and
Carrie Underwood have all used the C7SG SILENT grand for various Grammy performances, and Chris
Martin piloted a U1SH upright during this April's CBS-televised tribute to Elton John, I'm Still Standing. None other than
Stevie Wonder played the C6XSH grand at the 2016 Kennedy Center Honors.
All Yamaha SILENT Pianos are true acoustic pianos, but also offer the privacy modern life sometimes requires without sacrificing the sonic and tactile authenticity that artists, students, and educators know is essential to proper practice and performance. For quiet playing through headphones (or live sound applications where miking the piano may be impractical), the center pedal, a release lever, or a motor (depending on the piano model) decouples the hammers from the strings while preserving the movement of the entire action, thus having no effect whatsoever on the feel and response of the keyboard. Key sensors then transmit every nuance of the player's motions to a state-of-the-art digital tone generator.
In both the SH2 and SC2 series of SILENT Pianos, these tone generators feature exhaustively sampled renditions of two of the finest concert pianos in the world: the Yamaha CFX and Bösendorfer Imperial. Exclusive Virtual Resonance Modeling (VRM) technology faithfully reproduces the internal string, damper, and soundboard resonances of the source pianos to provide stunningly realistic and detailed sound. The CFX sample employs special binaural recording techniques that "listen" exactly like a pair of human ears and therefore create a soundscape so natural and immersive that it transcends what was previously possible to deliver through headphones.
With the Yamaha Smart Pianist app, the player can control all functions of the SH2 and SC2 series from a connected Apple iPad® or iPhone®. These include selecting alternate voices such as non-piano keyboards and orchestral instruments, MIDI song recording and playback, and CD-quality audio recording to a USB flash drive. Smart Pianist also offers a revolutionary tool for learning music: It can generate chord charts by analyzing the music library that resides on the same device, allowing players to engage with the songs they already know and love. Because the SILENT Pianos support Bluetooth audio streaming, the musician can then play along with those songs while viewing the chord charts, hearing both the piano sound and the original audio in headphones. Of course, full score display from MIDI files is provided as well.
For professional artists, parents, schools, students of all ages, music teachers, and worship directors, the SILENT Piano SH2 and SC2 series seamlessly blend a genuine acoustic piano with extraordinary concert piano reproductions that can be enjoyed without disturbing others — or being disturbed by others. Whether one plays its acoustic side, its digital side, or both together, the new Yamaha SILENT Pianos guarantee a pianistic experience that is second to none.
Pricing and Availability
The SH2 and SC2 series of SILENT Piano will be available beginning July 2018. Pricing depends upon the acoustic piano model in which the SILENT Piano system is factory-installed. See your authorized Yamaha piano dealer for more information.
About Yamaha
Yamaha Corporation of
America (YCA) is one of the largest subsidiaries of Yamaha Corporation, Japan and offers a full line of award-winning musical instruments, sound reinforcement, commercial installation and home entertainment products to the U.S. market. Products include: Yamaha acoustic, digital and hybrid pianos, portable keyboards, guitars, acoustic and electronic drums, band and orchestral instruments, marching percussion products, synthesizers, professional digital and analog audio equipment, Steinberg recording products and NEXO commercial audio products, as well as AV receivers, amplifiers, MusicCast wireless multiroom audio systems, Blu-ray/CD players, earphones, headphones, home-theater-in-a-box systems, sound bars and its exclusive line of
Digital Sound Projectors. YCA markets innovative, finely crafted technology and entertainment products and musical instruments targeted to the hobbyist, education, worship, music, professional audio installation and consumer markets.
