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.
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.
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.
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.
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: 2 | 2 |
| 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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