New Product: Yamaha P-121 Portable Digital Piano

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Yamaha has just launched the P-121 portable digital piano, the first of their P-Series to feature a smaller, 6-octave keyboard. This follows the unveiling, at this year’s summer NAMM show, of the P-515 their new “top-of-this-range” digital piano.  

Yamaha P-121 digital portable piano

Yamaha P-121BK portable digital piano with (optional) FC3A foot pedal

The pianos in Yamaha’s P-Series are high quality, compact/portable digital instruments. They offer a true, weighted, piano-like action, and although designed to be as light as possible, they do incorporate an impressive stereo speaker system.


The Yamaha P-Series

Currently, the range consists of six products: the P-45, P-115, P-121*, P-125, P-255, and P-515*. The latter will shortly take over from the P-255. The starred instruments are not yet shipping.

The new P-121 is basically a P-125 with a shorter 73-note keyboard. With fewer keys the piano is smaller, more portable, and of course, less expensive. Yet Yamaha have retained their acclaimed Graded Hammer Standard (GHS) keyboard action in the P-121. This provides a truer acoustic piano experience, which in turn makes transferring to a traditional instrument far easier for the less experienced pianist.

Yamaha P-121WH

Yamaha P-121WH, with integral stereo speakers. Click/tap to zoom.

Like the P-125, the P-121 focuses on the Yamaha CFIIIS concert grand as its prime acoustic piano reference. The Pure CF Sound Engine recreates the CFIIIS’s timbral qualities, dynamics, expressiveness and power. As with other instruments in the P-Series, the P-121 incorporates Yamaha’s damper resonance function. This digitally lifts the dampers of all the strings enabling them to resonate freely, enlivening the sound quality. 

23 other instrument voices are included. These range from the electric pianos of the 60s, 70s and 80s through to strings, classical organs and the traditional sound of the harpsichord. These can be combined or split across the keyboard for ultimate performance flexibility. Continuing the versatility, Yamaha’s P-121 also features a broad variety of rhythm and bass tracks.



P-121 is also app enabled. Yamaha’s Smart Pianist app can not only control every aspect of the piano’s features in rich detail, it can also access your own music library and automatically create chord tracks for your favourite tracks.

At just 10kg (22lbs), the P-121 becomes “the lightest, most affordable, weighted-key digital piano on the market” (Yamaha’s words). The company also points out that the smaller keyboard makes the instrument more suitable for schools and music labs, where space can be at a premium. 

Yamaha P-121BK digital portable piano

Yamaha P-121BK digital piano with L-121 stand (optional) and LP-1 pedal assembly (optional)

Options

The P-121 portable digital piano will ship in both black and “spotlight-white” finishes. As well as a soft case (SC-KB750), a triple pedal unit is available (LP-1), as is a solid matching stand (L-121) for home use. 

Yamaha P-121 in soft case

To sum up, the P-121 is designed to appeal to the musician wanting a truly portable, high-quality digital piano with a sound and feel as close to an acoustic as possible. As the image above shows, the aforementioned soft case makes the piano as easy to carry around as an electric guitar (and you don’t need an additional amplifier!).

The Yamaha P-121 will be available in October 2018. MSRP US$899.00.

Specs: Yamaha P-121 Portable Digital Piano

Keyboard
Number of Keys:73
Type:Graded Hammer Standard (GHS), matte finish on black keys
Touch Sensitivity:Hard/Medium/Soft/Fixed
Voices
Piano Sound:Pure CF Sound Engine
Maximum Polyphony:192
Number of Voices:24
Effects
Reverb:4 types
Intelligent Acoustic Control (IAC):Yes
Damper Resonance:Yes
Sound Boost:Yes
Dual/Layers:Yes
Split:Yes
Duo:Yes
Songs
Number of Preset Songs:21 Demo songs and 50 Piano Songs
Recording - Number of Songs:1
Recording - Number of Tracks: 22
Recording - Data Capacity:100KB per song (approx. 11,000 notes)
Compatible Data Format - Playback:SMF (format 0, format 1)
Compatible Data Format - Recording:SMF (format 0)
Functions
Metronome:Yes
Tempo Range:5-280
Transpose:-6 to 0, 0 to +6
Tuning:414.8 - 440.0 - 446.8Hz
Rhythm:20
Storage and Connectivity
DC In:DC In 12V
Headphones:Standard x2
Sustain Pedal:Yes (Half Pedal Available with Optional FC3A)
Pedal Unit:Yes (Optional)
MIDI:No
Aux Out:[L/L+R][R]
USB to Host:Yes
Amplifiers and Speakers
Amplifiers:7W x2
Speakers:12cm x2, 4cm x2
Power Supply
Power Supply:PA-150B (or other Yamaha-preferred parts)
Power Consumption:9W (using PA-150 power adapter)
Auto Power Off Function:Yes
Dimensions and Weight
Width:1114mm
Height:166mm
Depth:295mm
Weight:10kg
Accessories (supplied)
Music Rest
Pedal/Footswitch
AC Adaptor (PA-150B or other Yamaha preferred parts)

More information can be found on the Yamaha website


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