What is a TransAcoustic Piano?
A TransAcosutic piano can be played as a normal acoustic piano, in silent mode with headphones and also in TransAcoustic mode which mixes digital sounds with the resonances of the soundboard and allows you to control the volume. Playing silently with headphones is a great feature, but there is so much more you can do with a TransAcoustic piano other than playing silently.
The Yamaha TA3
If you enjoy improvising along to your favourite tracks on the piano, then the Yamaha TA3 TransAcousitc Piano is the perfect type of piano for you! By using bluetooth you can connect to the Smart Pianists app, stream songs that will be amplified by the piano's soundboard and play along to them with the real live sound of your acoustic piano. This is incredibly unique as your acoustic piano and digitally produced songs will both resonate with piano's soundboard, creating an ever more realistic experience. You could even choose to play along to any of the 20 rhythm accompaniments. If you use Transacoustic Layer mode you can layer up the acoustic sound of the piano with any of the digital sounds. Choose between 25 different sounds ranging from E-pianos, harsipchords, strings and choir and control all of these via the app which also lets you create piano scores and chord charts. Record performances in WAV format or to USB flash memory and play these back along with pre-set songs using the soundboard as a speaker!
How does it work?
Yamaha has produced their own Transducers, that are specially designed to fit on the piano's soundboard to convert digital signals into vibrations and transfer them onto the sound board. The Transducers are active during TransAcoustic mode, and work soon after the hammers are stopped just before they hit the strings. The digital sounds are given a special richness of tone due to the way they are naturally amplified by the soundboard and the strings still resonate. This means your piano essentially becomes a speaker, allowing you to feel the natural piano vibrations and you won't need to wear headphones! You can be completely wire free! But if you do think you're playing too loudly, you can still turn down the volume. The soundboard will still vibrate even when the sound is turned down slightly. All this can happen whilst you still get to play with the feel of an acoustic piano with an authentic touch.
Sound samples and key sensors
Just like the SC3, & SH3 systems, you will also have the unique sound sample of the Yamaha CFX and Bosendorfer Imperial grand pianos, recorded using Binaural sampling technology and Virtual Resonance Modelling, so that the entire tonal range of 88 keys is reproduced. New Articulation Sensors beneath the keys capture every element of expression played on the keys and hammer sensors also pick up the way each hammer hits the string, so that notes can be accurately reproduced out-loud or through your headphones. The sensors are all non-contact so they won't affect the feel of the keys. All this combined with Grand Expression Modelling capturing the tonal variation from the inner part of the piano when you play, means you will still have an incredibly rich sound quality through your headphones when switching to silent mode.
The TA3 TransAcoustic silent system can be bought with upright piano models in the U-series and upright pianos in the YUS series as well as the C3X, C1X and GC1 grand pianos.
The Kawai AURES2
With the AURES2 TransAcoustic piano, you can play along to songs and ensemble tracks that will play from your piano using the soundboard as a speaker! This fantastic feature can be accessed via the PianoRemote app. You could potentially be playing along to a whole ensemble! This means you can become particularly creative with your performances. You can of course record and playback your performances along side anything from the built-in piano music library which can all be played back through the Soundboard Speaker System. Having Bluetooth MIDI, audio technology, USB and MIDI outputs/inputs means you can also connect to computers and other instruments.
How does it work?
As well as having bluetooth & wireless audio connectivity like the ATX4, the AURES2 also uses high performance transducers built onto the soundboard to amplify the digital sounds. The transducers act like a bridge, converting the digital signals to vibrations that are transferred onto the soundboard. This gives a natural acoustic tone and authentic touch as you play the Kawai millennium III grand piano keyboard action.
Sound samples and key sensors
Multi-channel sampling has been used to capture the most authentic samples of the EX Concert grand and you can accurately express your playing to its full dynamic potential due to the many increments of key velocity, string and damper resonance recorded. Spacial headphones can be used to give a variety of realistic playing experiences! There are lots of sound samples available, all of which can be adjusted using the PianoRemote app.
This AURES2 silent system is available on the GX-2 and GL-30 Grand pianos as well as the K-500 and K-300 hybrid upright pianos.