Design Insights Tyros5

2014 / DIGITAL KEYBOARD

Red Dot Award

Yamaha's new flagship performance keyboard.

The Tyros5 is a high-end performance keyboard with extensive functions that support playing in a wide range of genres,
with top-quality sound and automatic accompaniment. The key goals in this category of instrument are superb operability, legibility,
and playability under all conditions, and these drove our design.

Subtle curves inform the shape down to the smallest details.
Functional features like memory-card slots and jog wheels integrate into the key blocks
with accent grooves and compound curved surfaces to convey beauty and tautness.
What seem at first glance to be simple flowing lines are actually formed by a combination of multiple curves.

This is what a performance keyboard is supposed to be. With purpose-built rotating speakers mounted on it,
the keyboard can go into any environment, including house parties and cafe stages, uniting the performer with the audience.
Even in these more intimate settings, the clean lines flow attractively when viewed from any angle.

As much as possible, we eliminated straight lines from the design,
and joined the front and back with seamless curves to reflect the idea of uniting the performer with the audience,
of conveying the music being played and the performance directly to the audience.

Kunihiro Takei: Designer; Yamaha Design Laboratory

An attractive silhouette from any angle.

The Tyros5 is a high-end performance keyboard that professional players have taken to enthusiastically, especially in Europe. With superb tone and advanced effects, lifelike automatic accompaniment, and a host of other features, it delivers the best playing experience and performance support that any top keyboardist could ask for.

The guiding principle behind our design was eliminating the barrier between the player and audience. Because performance keyboards are frequently used at house parties and in cafes, the player and audience are already in closer proximity than when the player is on a stage, which creates a relaxed, intimate feel. Rather than straight lines and flat planes, which can convey a sense of strength and sophistication, we chose to use seamless curves that flow from one side to the next to bring the performer and audience closer together. The result is a design with smooth surfaces and a sinuous silhouette, one where the hard edges have been ground away to show its inner spirit.

We used 3D software to draw the flowing lines and create a silhouette that looks good from any angle, combining numerous curves. We went through numerous rounds of cutting the 3D data on a plotter to see how a design looked in a mockup. Why did we go to so much trouble in the pursuit of this curved design? Because we believe that a professional tool should have a shape that looks good from any angle.