Yamaha DCFX Disklavier Mark IV PRO Concert Grand Piano Combines Superlative Technology and Craftsmanship

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Yamaha today introduced the DCFX Disklavier Mark IV PRO™ concert grand piano at Winter NAMM 2011. The handcrafted instrument incorporates the unsurpassed functionality of the Yamaha Disklavier PRO™ performance reproducing piano into the acclaimed CFX concert grand.

"With the DCFX, superb craftsmanship and peerless technological innovation meld to form an instrument of remarkable versatility and potential for countless educational and performance applications," says Yamaha Disklavier Marketing Manager Jim Levesque. "Its stunning performance and re-performance capabilities make it ideal for recording, composing, music broadcasting, conservatory study and film scoring."

The hand-built Yamaha CFX concert grand piano is the result of nearly two decades of product development with input directly from many distinguished pianists from around the globe. Since its introduction at Winter NAMM 2010, the CFX has already been celebrated for being the piano of choice by the winners of the 2009 Hamamatsu International Piano Competition, the 8th National Chopin Piano Competition in Miami, and most recently, at the 16th International Chopin Competition in Warsaw in October 2010.

Engineered to the exacting standards of professional music production, the Disklavier PRO™ Series is designed with greater emphasis on leading-edge sensor and playback technologies for unsurpassed digital and acoustic performance. Merging top-tier technology into professional-caliber Yamaha grands, the Disklavier PRO™ Series delivers the ultimate in power, precision and control, offering advanced components and technologies including a Sound Muting System, XG instrument tone generation, MIDI and PC connections, a SmartKey™ play-assist system, expanded memory, and a convenient pocket remote control. The Disklavier can now also be controlled by an innovative iPhone application.

Remote Lesson – a pioneering, Internet-based educational application – will be a key application for the instrument. "With Remote Lesson, transcontinental piano lessons, master classes and performances are possible between two Internet-connected Disklavier pianos," added Levesque. "It shatters geographic and logistical barriers by enabling students and teachers located thousands of miles from each other to work together in real time on pacing, dynamics, color control and other sophisticated musical and pedagogical nuances."

Disklavier users can also videotape their performances and enjoy them later while the instrument's playback and the television's image are in perfect step with each other. This technology has been used to dramatic effect in the Minnesota International Piano-e-Competition.

In addition to drawing on its 108-year heritage of manufacturing the world's finest pianos, the Yamaha CF Series represents 19 years of research and development conducted by Yamaha craftsmen, designers and engineers to create this extraordinary handcrafted piano series. The process culminated with a series of top-secret, in-depth evaluation sessions conducted in New York, Paris and Tokyo with top artists and Yamaha Artist Services over the last few years. Offering the pianist outstanding expressiveness and singing legato tone, the Series also provides unprecedented power and tonal projection.

For more information about the dcfx, visit Yamaha at Winter NAMM 2011 at the Marriott Hotel Marquis Ballroom; write Yamaha Corporation of America, P.O. Box 6600, Buena Park, CA 90622; telephone 714-522-9011; e-mail infostation@yamaha.com; or visit www.yamaha.com/press.