Playability
GrandTouch-S™ keyboard
Yamaha’s latest keyboard action features a broad dynamic range and faithful response to every
nuance of touch that puts a wide expanse of tone—from delicate to bold—at the pianist’s
fingertips. The highly consistent grand piano hammers replicate the pleasing response felt
when the hammers strike the strings, enabling precise control of the tone. Highly absorbent
synthetic-ivory white keys and synthetic-ebony black keys prevent slipping even during
extended play and feel just like those of a grand piano.
Escapement mechanism of Clavinova keyboards
The escapement mechanism in a grand piano moves the hammers away from the strings quickly
after they strike them, in order to prevent any interference with string vibration. This
mechanism produces a slight clicking sensation when the keys are pressed gently. The
Clavinova keyboards feature an escapement mechanism that reproduces this sensation near the
bottom of the key dip. They have been designed in such a way that the click is discernible
only on the lightest keystrokes, similar to the keyboard of a grand piano. These keyboards
have been adjusted to provide additional friction that balances key repetition and response
without impeding performance.
Design philosophy
Clavinova pianos boast excellent playability and versatile functions, along with a refined,
authentic design that blends a compact form with modern aesthetics in a manner befitting the
instrument that sets the contemporary standard for pianos. At the heart of the Clavinova
design concept is the way the player feels when they take their seat in front of a Clavinova
piano. Unnecessary elements are removed from the player’s field of vision to create a
convincingly natural space that feels just like sitting at an acoustic piano. This represents
Yamaha’s consideration to players who practice on Clavinova and perform on grand pianos—they
are able to take the stage free of tension or worry because everything feels normal, as it
should. A Clavinova piano is a part of the player’s everyday life—contemporary accents and
color variation are available to mesh with any interior design or lifestyle.
Sensitivity
Grand Expression Modeling
The interaction and interplay of the hammers, dampers, and strings inside a grand piano
respond to the subtlest nuances of the pianist’s touch, creating a limitless range of tonal
expression. Touch refers to the pianist’s control, not only of intensity (softness/loudness)
in playing and releasing the keys, but also of the speed and depth with which the keys are
pressed. The Grand Expression Modeling introduced in the CLP-700 Series translates the widely
varied input from the pianist’s fingers into the same limitless tonal variation of a grand
piano. This makes it possible to vary the output by playing the keys to different depths and
with different speeds, even when using techniques such as trills or legato or emphasizing the
melody over the accompaniment. Grand Expression Modeling excels at faithfully reproducing the
output expected of these techniques in many well-known songs. In Debussy’s “Clair de Lune,” a
loose touch creates the faint tone that makes the melody stand out more crisply. In Liszt’s
“Un Sospiro,” the accompanying arpeggios accent the melody without overwhelming it, and
varied expression of the melody gives it the same quality as vocals. In the last of the
Chopin nocturnes, trills, legato, and other delicate techniques where fingers seem to float
over the keys deliver the airy, smooth tonal expression required. Playing such pieces on a
highly expressive piano helps the pianist learn various techniques and experience the same
joy of expression as a painter, but through sound.
Sound Quality
The sound of some of the finest concert grand pianos in the world - Yamaha CFX and
Bösendorfer Imperial
Clavinova grand piano sounds are recorded from several world-renowned concert grand pianos.
One of them is the CFX, Yamaha’s top-flight concert grand piano, which has been newly sampled
for the CLP Series. Pianists around the world are enamored with the impressive, dazzling,
richly expressive sound of the CFX in concert halls. Another sampled concert grand is the
Imperial, the flagship model of Bösendorfer, a time-honored Viennese piano brand with an
ardent following. The Imperial is known for its abundance of color and natural, warm feeling.
Yamaha faithfully reproduces the idiosyncrasies of these concert grand pianos by carefully
recording the entire tonal range of each of the 88 keys, making minute adjustments to capture
the most harmonious tones each piano has to offer.
Virtual Resonance Modeling
One of the allures of the grand piano is the sympathetic resonance created by the vibration
of the entire instrument. Clavinova pianos elaborately reproduce this rich sympathetic
resonance through a groundbreaking technology called Virtual Resonance Modeling (VRM). VRM
creates a richly varied sound by simulating the complex sympathetic tones created when the
vibrations of the strings are propagated to the soundboard and other strings, corresponding
to the timing and intensity of key playing and pedaling. CLP-700 Series pianos even replicate
the sounds the dampers make when they are raised off the strings, in addition to the
resonance of the duplex scaling, strings, soundboard, and case. Clavinova pianos allow you to
enjoy the same momentary dynamics and deep sympathetic sounds that are produced by the entire
body of a grand piano.
A fully immersive concert grand experience—even with headphones
The CLP-725 features binaural samples of the Yamaha CFX. Binaural sampling is a method of
sampling in which special microphones are placed on a mannequin’s head in the same positions
as the pianist’s ears to capture piano sounds the way that they sound in reality. We chose
this method to create the ambience and full, natural resonance of acoustic pianos in
Clavinova pianos. This makes pianists feel as though they are sitting at a grand piano even
when they play with headphones on. The experience is so pleasant that they forget they are
wearing headphones, no matter how long they continue to play. We also developed the
Stereophonic Optimizer function to achieve the same effect for the piano effects.
Stereophonic Optimizer technology replicates the natural diffusion of sound in headphones
nearly as closely as binaural sampling for the piano voices other than the CFX.
General Features
Get more with the Smart Pianist app
Enjoy the piano more with Smart Pianist, a dedicated app that adds a beautiful graphic
interface and a variety of incredible features to your compatible Yamaha digital piano. The
Bluetooth® MIDI function* lets you conncect to Smart Pianist wirelessly. *Featured on the
CLP-785/775/745/795GP/765GP. Availability of Bluetooth MIDI varies by country.
2-track Song Recorder
The recording function featured in Clavinova digital pianos allows you to record your
performances* with a single touch, which is useful when you want to review your playing
objectively. Additionally, you can record up to 2 tracks for simultaneous playback, so
different hands can be recorded separately or overdub parts with different voices.
*Recordings are made in MIDI format. Compatible software is required for playback of recorded
data on a computer.