Yamaha Clavinova CVP403 Digital Piano

Every bit as beautiful as it sounds, the Clavinova radiates the dignified, commanding presence of a grand piano with its solid, finely finished cabinetry. The Polished Ebony finish recreates the formal elegance and high-class appearance of a concert grand, while the Polished Mahogany model has a warm, natural wood grain to complement and attractively furnish any interior.

Unmistakably grand, the new CVP400 Series Clavinova puts the luscious, expressive sound of a real acoustic grand piano at your fingertips. The amazingly authentic piano sounds at the heart of this instrument were sampled from a full concert grand piano smoothly blended for the most natural dynamic changes. Special care was also taken to accurately reproduce the complex sound nuances when the dampers fall back onto the strings strings (Key Off), the rich sound when the damper pedal is pressed (Sustain), and even the special phenomenon when the hammer hitting the strings of one key causes the strings of other keys to vibrate (String Resonance).

The Natural Wood (NW) keyboard on the CVP409/407 uses real-wood white keys to reproduce as closely as possible the experience of playing an actual grand piano-including the authentic touch and feel of the keys, the weight balance between key and hammer, and the weight gradation between low and high keys. This specially crafted keyboard lets you use techniques possible only on real grand pianos, such as having successive notes blend smoothly even without pressing the damper pedal, or playing the same key repeatedly and quickly with perfectly natural articulation. The CVP409 also has Synthetic Ivory key tops that feature a soft and slightly porous surface, giving the keys added grip and a natural friction for improved ease in playing. Yamaha's famed Graded Hammer 3 (CVP405/403) and Graded Hammer (CVP401) technologies give those respective keyboards a remarkably natural piano touch and expressive response.

The sound of a grand piano is one of the most complex in the world of acoustic instruments. Each key has its own string or strings, and when the damper pedal is pressed, the vibrations of just one of the strings cause all other strings to resonate as well. The large soundboard of the piano also resonates, amplifying and spreading these rich harmonic textures in the performance space. The sound is gorgeous, but nearly impossible to recreate on a digital instrument.

Enter Yamaha's Instrumental Field Control (iAFC) technology. The iAFC is an elegant and effective solution that uses built-in microphones and speakers, and makes acoustic adjustments to the sound to create a virtual soundboard and resonant cabinet in the Clavinova. The iAFC actually takes the sound "feels" the room the piano is in, and then sends the sound out of the speakers to effectively reproduce the complex sonic textures of a real acoustic grand piano.

The USB Audio Recorder features of the CVP409/407/405/403 let you record your performance as audio data directly to a USB storage device (such as a thumb drive or memory stick). In addition to your keyboard playing, you can connect a microphone or guitar to record your singing voice or another instrument. Naturally, you can use the Style parts of the instrument or even songs you've recorded with the built-in 16-track MIDI recorder to accompany your performance. Bring the USB storage device to your computer and share your recordings with your friends via e-mail, record your own CDs, or upload the audio to websites for many others to enjoy.

Musical talent is within you – it merely needs the right instrument to bring it out and let it flow. The new CVP400 Series Clavinova is just that instrument. With its exceptionally realistic Voices, dynamic backing Styles, wonderful expressiveness, comprehensive features and stunning sound – the Clavinova helps you tap into your inner musician, and fully develop the musical talent you know is deep inside.

The newly improved auto accompaniment Styles of the CVP make music so much more enjoyable and open up a whole new world of performance possibilities. The wide range of Styles include dynamic backing band parts for pop, R&B, rock, Latin, jazz, movie music and classical – letting you play like a pro, in absolutely every genre. The authentic accompaniment of these Styles has been meticulously crafted by top musicians worldwide and refined by pro studio engineers for the best possible quality. Moreover, these Styles utilize the ultra-realistic Super Articulation Voices (CVP409/407/405) and Mega Voices (CVP409/407/405/403) to create the most authentic and dynamic accompaniment you've ever heard.

This innovative Voice technology from Yamaha takes your keyboard playing to a completely new level of sonic realism and expressiveness. Featuring a variety of realistic acoustic instruments and incorporating the unique performance characteristics of each instrument, these Super Articulation Voices are perfect for playing solo passages and melodies. When you play, the Super Articulation technology monitors your playing and changes the sound accordingly – for amazingly natural and expressive sound. For example, when you play the Tenor Sax Voice in legato, the melody sounds smoothly with faint key noises. Or when you play the Acoustic Guitar Voice, realistic guitar playing techniques such as hammer-ons, pull-offs and slides are blended into your performance– not at random, but based intelligently on the pitch intervals of your playing.

The Mega Voices feature various playing techniques and performance sounds that are designed specifically to enhance the playback of your recorded Songs and the built-in accompaniment Styles. These include, for example, the sounds of finger slides and fret noise on Guitar Voices, making your music sound astonishingly realistic and expressive. Special MEGAEnhancer software is available for automatically converting conventional MIDI song data to most effectively take advantage of the Mega Voice capabilities

Use your Clavinova to log onto Yamaha's special IDC website – without a computer! With the Internet Direct Connection (IDC) service, you can access the Internet right from the LCD display of the instrument and directly download styles or song files from our site. Once they're downloaded, you can immediately play these style and song files on your Clavinova! All you need is an appropriate high-speed Internet connection (not dial-up) and you will have full access to the convenient Internet Direct Connection services.

Digital Music Notebook is a convenient multimedia Internet service that lets you preview, purchase, download and print learn-to-play music books and sheet music. If you want to play along, sing along, or just listen – Digital Music Notebook has a huge and growing variety of titles that help you get the most out of your Clavinova. From scales and chords to your favorite riffs and songs, DMN is packed with everything you need to master your instrument. Add accompaniments, record your performance, mix parts in the music as you want, sing karaoke with friends, learn new techniques – Digital Music Notebook has all the tools you need to bring out your musical talent and make music come alive!

You want to play a certain song, but you might wonder: What Style should I use? What Voices should I select?

The Music Finder+ feature puts it all together for you. It's like having a professional music producer on hand, one who knows just what instruments to use for every kind of music, one who knows just how to arrange parts for the kind of music you want to play. Music Finder+ features literally thousands of preset records – each with its own specially selected Style, Voice and effect settings.

Music Finder+ takes the original Music Finder feature and expands it with the power of the Internet. Music Finder+ provides access to a huge online library of song setups that you can download directly to your Clavinova (using the Internet Direct Connection service). The setups are free and available individually as "Records" or conveniently grouped into "Collections." Musical styles grow and change constantly, and the extensive Music Finder+ library – with 5,000 Records and growing – is an ideal way to keep pace with those changes. The Music Finder+ also has useful "Performance Guides" that contain digital sheet music to help you learn how to play and get the most out of your Music Finder Records.

The Demos on the instrument are more than just example pieces of music – they also provide helpful, easy-to-understand introductions to the features and operations of the instrument. In that sense, the Demos are a handy, interactive 'mini-manual' to the CVP – complete with sound demonstrations and text showing what it can do for you.

The extra-large LCDs – including full color on the CVP 409/407/405 – give you complete, at-a-glance view of all main settings, and make operation wonderfully easy. These Clavinovas have also been designed with one-function/one-button convenience, so that you can easily call up the feature or operation you want without having to wade through multiple menus!

The Auto Accompaniment and Style playback features of the Clavinova automatically produce full backing parts that you can play along with and perform over. It's like having an expert band behind you, following your every move and every chord change. The enormous range of Styles encompass virtually every musical genre and are newly improved as well, utilizing realistic Voices to create the most authentic and dynamic accompaniment to make you sound like a pro!

If you want to play a certain type of music or a specific song and don't know which Style to choose, the powerful Music Finder feature can help. Simply select a song title or keyword, all appropriate panel setting are reconfigured to match the genre, including the appropriate Voices, Style and effects. Music Finder+ also works with the IDC feature, giving you instant access to additional free Music Finder records and collections to help when your favorite song or music isn't on the instrument.

The Clavinova features an input jack that lets you connect a microphone to sing along with your keyboard performance. Better yet, there's a Vocal Harmony effect (with 60 presets) that creates automatic vocal harmony backing parts for your singing – perfectly pitched, matching the type of music, and based on the chords you play!

With the IDC service, you can access Yamaha's special IDC website directly from the instrument and download styles or your favorite song files from our site – without a computer! Once downloaded, these song and style files can be immediately be played on the CVP! All you need is an appropriate high-speed Internet connection (not dial-up) and you have full access to the convenient Internet Direct Connection services.

The Clavinova comes with an extensive variety of pre-programmed Songs with complete rhythmic backing and accompaniment – a total of 120 preset Songs (61 on the CVP401). Notation for each Song appears in the display and special Guide Lamps light to show you which keys to play. The instrument also features comprehensive recording features, allowing you to craft complex, multi-instrument compositions and arrangements.

Whatever type of music you play, the Clavinova series ensures you'll always have the right Voice to perform with. Hundreds upon hundreds of authentic, powerful and dynamic Voices built into the instrument that cover virtually every instrument category. Additional Super Articulation Voices (CVP409/407/405) and Mega Voices (CVP409/407/405/403) incorporate unique performance characteristics of each instrument for maximum realism.

These special Voices give you that vintage organ sound heard in Gospel, Blues, Jazz and Rock music. Onscreen virtual tone bars let you adjust the individual footages and percussive sound, just as on an actual organ, while a realistic rotary speaker effect gives you the richly textured, animated effect of a rotating speaker.