Yamaha Silent Pianos

Yamaha Silent Pianos are real acoustic pianos from the Yamaha upright and grand ranges, with the facility to silence the strings and listen to a digital piano via headphones.

Now you can have your ideal piano!

You may prefer a larger instrument, but the only room within your home that may accommodate your ideal piano could restrict when you can play i.e. competing with the television or disturbing neighbours. If you could eliminate this factor, you may not need to compromise by buying a compact upright with less soundboard area and shorter strings, giving a thin tone.

How does it work?

A manually operated rail obstructs the hammers from hitting the strings, thus silencing the piano. The keys, action and pedals are still operational with optical sensors under each key (hammer shank on Grands) which transmit digital 'triggers' to the unseen onboard tone generator. A digital recording (sample) of the Yamaha CFIIIS concert grand piano reproduces the piano tone via headphones or possibly your external speakers at a controlled volume. The series of triggers can be routed externally via the MIDI interface* to another tone generator for additional instrument tones, or to a computer for sequencing, composition, arrangement and score editing.

*= not featured on B1-SI and B2-SI budget upright models.

Does it affect the tone or touch quality in acoustic mode?

The tone remains identical to a standard non-silent series model. The touch on the uprights is very slightly less responsive, as the same action is regulated for earlier set-off (point when hammer is no longer driven by the action) to prevent damage to the hammer from the obstruction. This is a very subtle difference, but we must mention it. The grand piano action features a 'quick-escape' mechanism which self regulates the set-off when in Silent mode. Therefore, when in acoustic mode, the touch on the grand models is totally standard.

Availability and Guarantee

Not all Yamaha Silent Pianos are available from UK stock immediately, so please do enquire for availability.

The acoustic pianos are guaranteed for 5 years, the electronic components 2 years.