Grand Piano
Hybrid Piano demonstrates the fruits of modern day technological development - a crossover between acoustic piano and electric piano. Silent piano, which has been on the market since 1992, initiated by Yamaha, can be seen as a type of hybrid piano. Silent piano has a mechanism to make an acoustic piano completely silent with a switch – generating digitally recorded piano sound from a headphone. Then Yamaha produced a hybrid piano - combining both acoustic piano and electric piano in 2009. Hybrid piano has acoustic piano actions, however, it does not have strings, unlike an acoustic piano, to produce sound. Instead, an optical sensor picks up the hammers movement, and produces sound to the sensored hammer.
Pros and Cons of Hybrid Piano
Pros:
- Smaller floor space required compare to an acoustic upright piano and grand piano.
- As the sound is pre-recorded sample produced from the speaker, no need of tuning service.
- It can be very quiet by adjusting main volume, or it can be used with a head phone, so no need to worry about noise to neighbours.
- Playing touch is better than an electric piano and keyboard, as hybrid piano uses an acoustic piano action.
Cons:
- Need an electric source
- Not as cheap as an electric piano and keyboard. You can buy an acoustic piano for a similar price to a hybrid.
- Despite no tuning being required, other services may be needed as time passes, as it uses acoustic piano action. However, there are not many piano technicians who can service and repair a hybrid piano.
- Compared to an acoustic piano, control of detailed expression and dynamics still is lacking.