Yamaha Design “Synapses” P-255

2014 / DIGITAL PIANO

GOOD DESIGN AWARD

Contemporary portable digital piano for all musicians.

Harmony

Defying categorization as a piano for home or for stage, yet maintaining the functionality and the values of a piano, I have designed the P-225 as an instrument for any occasion.

Inspiring

With the logo squarely facing the performer, and the keys reflecting in the black mirror surfaces of the cheek blocks and inner panel, I was able to achieve a performance space that seems as if it had been cut from an acoustic piano. The music rack has been widened as much possible to easily deal with various situations.

Dual-View

Mindful to create an environment in which the player can concentrate on performance, the speaker grill on the top surface is enclosed in a groove and arranged in a straight line with the buttons. The curved top surface and sides—which have a sensual attractiveness like that of a grand or electric piano—have been molded to take into consideration the line of sight of the performer, and also that of the audience.

Pride

As if you could take your beloved and familiar home piano with you—I have created a portable authentic piano with compact size, durability, and lightweight design. It is a piano you can refer to as your partner that you can take anywhere.

Sunao Okamura: Designer; Yamaha Design Laboratory

Condensing and Maturing the Values of a Piano.

How people use portable pianos and what they look for in a portable piano varies by region and lifestyle. In our design, we endeavored to make a piano that delivers a quality performance, possesses a compact and stylish design, and has a distinctive presence when used on stage. For those who have played piano for a long time, changing to a portable piano means giving up the feel of the keys, sound quality, and the emotions found in playing. Understanding that, I wanted to create a space where pianists can perform comfortably. My final goal in designing the P-225 was to achieve both of these objectives.
To achieve these goals, instead of adding elements to a portable piano, I decided to condense the essence of a traditional piano. I felt that by extracting the values that are universal to pianists, and capturing the essence of a piano’s elegance and the musicians’ confidence in Yamaha pianos, the P-255 would match any situation without feeling out of place. Additionally, by making it as light-weight as possible—while retaining its characteristics as a piano and strengthening its stage functionality—I was able to make the P-225 better able to stand up to active use, as well as give it a configuration suitable for use garage bands and live performances, imbuing it with the ambience of a stage piano.
In the P-225 I feel that we have been able to deliver playability and convenience, but beyond that, we have created an instrument with unquantifiable satisfaction of playing, one that offers a pleasant performance space. I hope that everyone can enjoy the P-225—brought to maturity as a modern instrument while retaining the essence of the piano and its 300-year history.