Yamaha shows off its “AvantGrand” hybrid digital/acoustic grand piano
March 10, 2009 by Andy
The gap between acoustic and digital pianos just closed up a little with Yamaha’s latest innovation, the AvantGrand hybrid instrument that combines the best of both worlds.
Physically, it replicates a much larger acoustic grand piano in a much smaller (but not insignificant) space. It features highly realistic key and pedal action, and comes with 12 inbuilt speakers placed where the samples were originally recorded. It also boasts a whopping 256 note polyphony, so there should be no note cutoffs even during the most complex, sustain-rich passages.
The cabinet is polished ebony and the keyboard is made from Ivorite. It’s dimensions are 1.48m (W) x 1.2m (D) x 1.0m (H) and it weighs 199kg.
More than the pure specifications, though, this instrument is supposed to have more of a feel to it, including the subtle vibrational feedback that real acoustic pianos give to the player.
Pricing is expected to be just shy of US$20,000 with the first instruments available from the summer. A pretty big investment, but still much cheaper than investing in a real acoustic piano.
Something you’d like?
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I played the Avant Grande at NAMM, a little too noisy to really hear any nuances, but a private demo in a small room sounded very, very nice. The touch was terrific. Greene Music in San Diego ordered one and I’m looking forward to playing it this summer.
“Thanks for the post!
I would surely love to learn more. According to me music is one thing which requires more of practice than theory lessons. One should keep practicing to master the art.”