SPECIALFEATURE
The Sound of Silence
With a storied history
spanning more than three
centuries, the piano has
been a significant force not
just in the global cultural
and artistic landscape but
within the engineering
field as well. The Yamaha
folks give us an insight
into the engineering
involved in their musical
tour de force.
The idea for the modern piano was
first conceived sometime in the late
17th century. The stringed instrument
builders at that time were trying to
combine the “expressive control of
the sound volume and sustain” of
a clavichord with the “sufficiently
loud sound” of a harpsichord, but
most of them were unable to solve
the engineering conundrum until
the Italian that could, Bartolomeo
Cristofori, came along and solved the
mechanical and design problem. Even
until today, his elegant solution is still
present in the pianos of today, albeit in
a more complex and evolved version.
Yamaha have
cleverly devised
a system that
prevents the
hammer from
hitting the piano
string while
still maintaining
the tactile feel
of an acoustic
piano.
A few continents away from Bartolomeo
Cristofori’s place of birth, Yamaha
began life in 1887 as a reed organ
manufacturer before expanding into
pianos in 1900. In fact, it was the
first company in Japan to produce
Western musical instruments on a
large scale. Over the years, Yamaha
progressively branched out to other
fields, manufacturing a wide variety
of products that include motorcycles,
electronic products and even golf
cars. It never neglected its musical
roots though, consistently churning
out innovation after innovation – CD
recorders, the SILENT Piano™, etc.
– that propelled the company to
the top. Yamaha is now one of the
world’s largest manufacturer of
musical instruments.
EXPERIENCING THE
SILENT PIANO™
Words Farhan Shah
Photos Yamaha & Shutterstock
Recently, I had the pleasure
of experiencing first-hand the
engineering marvel that is the
Yamaha SILENT Piano™ and the
subtle touches that Yamaha has
introduced into the range thanks
to Hemendra Raj, one of the many
piano-playing Yamaha sales experts
in the flagship store. First appearing
on the musical landscape in 1993 in
a Yamaha upright piano, the Yamaha
SILENT Piano™ then made its way into
Yamaha’s grand piano range in 1995.
Unlike what its name implies, the
piano is not literally quiet. Rather, the
engineers at Yamaha have cleverly
devised a system that prevents the
hammer from hitting the piano string
while still maintaining the tactile feel
of an acoustic piano. It’s especially
useful in urban Singapore, where the
sonorous and full notes emitted from
a piano can be an annoyance to the
next-door neighbours or even your
own family, especially in the middle of
the night.
This was the overview given to me
by Raj, while he was sitting down
and caressing the Ivorite keys of
the upright YUS5-Silent, one of the
many models showcased at the Plaza
Singapura outlet. Of course, being a
non-piano-playing writer, his technical
jargon flew over my head. Raj, noticing
my glassy-eyed look, motioned me to
move to the side of the piano before
opening the cover that protected
the instrument’s delicate innards,
where the musical magic happened.
Besides the ubiquitous hammer and
strings that produced the melody, this
particular silent model also featured
a curious metal bar that moved in
between the hammer and strings
when Raj pulled a lever underneath
the keyboard. It all clicked into place
when he then delicately pressed on the
black-and-white keys. The hammers
stopped just short of the strings
thanks to the bar, thus preventing any
sound from being made.
“When the piano is in SILENT mode,
the sound that you hear in your
headphones are samples from
the Yamaha CFX full-size concert
grand piano,” explains Raj. It’s a
boon to pianists who want to know
what their playing sounds like on a
grand piano but are bound by space
and budget constraints. If you’re
wondering whether it’s a digital sound
reproduction, which tends to have
a screechy, metallic quality, let me
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Family & Life • Oct 2014
assure you that it’s not. The sounds
(an Adele track Raj was playing, if you
must know) that were flowing out from
the headphones sounded luscious
and full-throated. However, if you’re
sceptical of the words of a writer who
doesn’t play the piano, take it from
acclaimed musician and pianist Jamie
Cullum who says: “Put the headphones
on and instead of feeling like the sound
is being pumped into your ears, it feels
so natural like the sound is dancing
around you.”
THE YAMAHA
SILENT PIANO™
The Yamaha SILENT Piano™ also
presents a whole host of features,
including the ability to record the song
that you’re playing, a library of famous
music scores, and a variety of different
types of instruments like what you get
from a digital keyboard, all of which
are easily accessible from the control
panel underneath the keyboard.
Unfortunately, if you already have
a normal Yamaha piano tha