New Product: Resonance Piano from Ciresa

Resonance Piano is a new concept from the Italian company Ciresa. Few will have heard of this company but you will have heard their product. Ciresa makes piano soundboards.

Wall-mounted Resonance Piano (vertical) above a Yamaha Clavinova

And their prestigious customers include C. Bechstein, Blüthner, Förster, Fazioli, Sauter, Schulze-Pollmann and Toyo.

Enrico Ciresa s.r.l. is located in Tesero, in the Fiemme Valley, and some of the world’s finest tonewoods come from the local forest. The company has been making top-quality piano soundboards using Fiemme spruce since the 1970s. And around 190,000 pianos feature their soundboards.

Giving Digital Pianos a Natural Voice

Manufacturers of digital pianos have gone to inordinate lengths to recreate the sound of the acoustic instrument. But, in most cases, they have to rely on loudspeakers to amplify the sound.

And a loudspeaker projects from a single point whereas a soundboard transmits sound from across its entire surface.

This is a fundamental difference, and key to experiencing the true character of a piano. And despite using multiple speakers, manufacturers have never truly captured the natural presence of the acoustic instrument.

To address this Ciresa launch Resonance Piano (there is no definite article – i.e. “the”) in March 2019. The concept is to use a traditional piano soundboard as the digital piano’s “amplifier”.

Resonance Piano (horizontal) with a Kawai digital stage piano mounted on front supports

This idea has been used before. The Yamaha TransAcoustic, Kawai Aures, and Steingraeber Transducer Grand pianos all use the soundboard to transmit digitally generated signals. However Resonance Piano is the first “separate” specifically designed for use with any “third-party” digital piano.

Two Soundboards

Resonance Piano actually consists of two suspended soundboards, one for the whole frequency range and the other for mid-bass frequencies. These, along with some associated electronics, are housed in a traditionally shaped case. This comes either with legs, for horizontal use, or with wall mounts for vertical use (see images).

Resonance Piano (horizontal) with digital piano removed

The output of the digital piano is plugged into Resonance Piano and fed to a series of transducers carefully positioned across the soundboards. The resulting sound, therefore, emanates from across the whole surface just like an acoustic instrument. The soundboards also give the digital signal a natural character and lift, a character imparted by “the soul of the wood” (manufacturer’s words).

On the music rack, there is a small touch control panel for EQ-ing, and adjusting the volume of the signal. It also serves as a mixer for other external audio sources e.g. guitar, microphone, or audio player.

Resonance Piano (horizontal) with Kawai MP11SE Stage Piano mounted on supports

A Resonance Piano set-up has all the advantages of a digital instrument — low maintenance, no tuning costs, a wider selection of voicings, etc, whilst still having the natural character and presence of the acoustic instrument. The feel and response of the action obviously depend on the choice of digital piano.

The price, though, may be a consideration. 

Ciresa Resonance Piano
 Availability: March 2019
Prices (not including digital piano, but including tax): 
     Horizontal (with three legs and lid), EUR 15,616.00
     Vertical (with wall brackets), EUR 14,640.00
     Support Brackets (for digital pianos without stand), EUR 95.00
More information: Ciresa/Resonance Piano

Specifications