A Piano Symbolizing the New Yamaha Ginza Building. This is a commemorative model. It is not for sale.
Timeless
Harmony
Tactile
Well-Made
Yukinori Mikage
Designer
Yamaha Design Laboratory
The symbol of the new Yamaha Ginza building, created with technology and craftsmanship.
The new Yamaha Ginza building opened in February 2010, presenting Yamaha's new face to the world. The only piano of its kind anywhere in the world, the C6XA Ginza Model was specially crafted to commemorate this occasion. Inspired by traditional lacquering techniques, the design features a clematis vine, sometimes referred to as "iron wire" in Japan, and represents our desire to create ties that bond the city, people, and music firmly together.
There is ambitious testing being conducted with the C6XA Ginza Model on a technical level. Although wood inlay is typically a combination of wood and wood, or wood and oyster shell, we decided to use this technique for this instrument, marking the first time that it had been used to inlay wood chips in the mirrored black surface of a polished piano. We used a laser to cut the flower pattern, while technical personnel and the designers themselves laid woodchips – some with tips of less than one mm in length – in the pattern by hand before coating them. The inlay work is then polished assiduously by skilled craftsmen to bring the delicate patterns to the surface.
To allow us to join materials with different rates of contraction, we developed a new technique for bonding materials while dry. Three types of wood, including rosewood, as well as oyster shell, lend color to the surface, which is coated with a thin application of oil finish. In addition to the color they provide, these materials offer a delicate contrast of texture and feel. The culmination of these efforts, the C6XA Ginza Model is more than just a commemorative model; combining advanced technology with traditional techniques, it is the perfect piano for Yamaha Ginza as it moves forward to face the next half-century.
*The C6XA Ginza Model is a commemorative model created to mark the completion of the new Yamaha Ginza building. It is not for sale.
*The C3XA, an instrument with oyster shell inlays on the music stand and front board similar to those of the C6XA, is available for purchase.
