Yamaha's High-Tech Piano Pays Off
The Disklavier now accounts for 25 percent of Yamaha's acoustic piano revenues worldwide and has become a major source of profits for the company, the world's largest maker of musical instruments.
The Disklavier is an acoustic piano equipped with a computer that allows it to record and precisely replicate performances. The same 3.5-inch floppy disk used in personal computers can deliver every touch, every nuance, even the exact pedaling of a performance.
A remarkable 54 percent of the Disklavier's buyers do not even know how to play the piano. Four months ago, Carl Anthony, a Long Island chiropractor, bought a $22,000 baby grand version.
"It was a choice of buying a whole new CD setup or getting this piano," said Dr. Anthony, who can play the piano's computer disks but not the keyboard. "It's an entertainment center. We always have it on."
Over the year-end holidays, Dr. Anthony had several parties that revolved around the Disklavier, amusing his friends with flamboyant performances by Liberace.
The Disklavier has also attracted fans among the more musically gifted. Kathleen Battle, the opera soprano, said, "I'm considering getting a second one" for her second home. She often sings along with the one she has in her New York home. "I love it," she added.
Although some musical sophisticates still regard Yamaha as an instrumental arriviste, some of the most venerable piano makers are ready to follow its lead. The Baldwin Piano and Organ Company plans to bring out its version of the Disklavier next year, and even Steinway & Sons is studying the technology.
With the Disklavier, Yamaha has demonstrated how to rescue a faltering product line by adding a new twist. United States piano sales have been dropping steadily since 1978.
"This is a classic case of a sort of tired and over-the-hill product category," said David A. Aaker, a business professor at the University of California at Berkeley. By providing new ways to use a piano, he said, the Disklavier is "going to revitalize the entire category."
The tempo of piano sales needs some quickening. In 1991, about 110,000 pianos were sold in the United States, down from 282,172 in 1978, according to the Piano Manufacturers Association International and the American Music Conference, a nonprofit group in Chicago that collects data on instrument sales.
The emergence of new forms of home entertainment -- electronic keyboards, video games and videocassette recorders -- has contributed to the decline in piano sales. So has the durability of the 17 million pianos in the United States; they tend to last about 50 years. A New Type of Buyer
The typical piano buyer is a 35-year-old woman with some musical training and a household income of $35,000. The Disklavier is attracting a new type of buyer: older, wealthier men with no musical background.
"The Disklavier overcomes the ultimate objection on the piano dealer's floor," said Terry Lewis, general manager of the keyboard division of Yamaha Corporation of America in Buena Park, Calif. "You need not refrain from buying it just because you can't play it. Now Chick Corea can play it."
The computer technology does not come cheap, adding about $4,500 to the piano's cost. The Disklaviers range from $7,700 for a basic upright to $40,000 for a grand piano. It Records More Than the Notes
The Disklavier computer digitally records not only what notes are being played, but also the volume and tone, through a sophisticated fiber-optic system that measures the speed of each keystroke. Piano students and performers can record their performances and then hear them instantly and precisely replayed, clinkers and all.
"I can put my own piano playing in there and see how bad it is," Ms. Battle said.
In addition to playing back performances, the instrument can, at the touch of a button, change tempos or keys. Ms. Battle said her singing coach used this feature to allow her to experiment with passages in different keys.
"It's a practice device that I've come to depend on," Ms. Battle said.
Music retailing experts said the Disklavier is providing some badly needed activity in piano showrooms. "Dealers really fight for this product," said Paul Majeski, publisher of The Music Trades, a Ridgewood, N.J., trade publication. A Kit to Convert Pianos
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