Player & Reproducing Pianos

Disklavier

PianoDisc

What's the Difference Between A Player and Reproducing Piano?

Today's Player and Reproducing pianos are marvels of hybrid engineering – the combination of traditional acoustic piano production and modern digital technology has yielded a sophisticated, interactive multi-media instrument. The essential differences between a "player" and "reproducing" piano boil down to the level of interactivity with you, the user.

A Player piano can only playback performances that you feed it: prerecorded MIDI files on CDs, floppy disks, Mp3 players (such as iPod), USB thumbdrives, etc. Many player systems can also playback ensemble and orchestral accompaniments along with the acoustic piano part.

A Reproducing piano takes a major step forward by allowing you to actually capture (record) your own piano performances and then "reproduce" those performances live on your piano. The initial shock and subsequent thrill of seeing your piano play you is compelling. The Yamaha Disklavier Mark IV system is so advanced it actually captures all the nuance of your piano performance from slow, legato key releases to subtle pedal phrasing on the soft (una corda) and damper pedals,