Mince pies, snowmen and presents sums up Christmas to many Britons, and with plenty of the former and a pretty good chance of the first properly white Christmas in several years that just leaves the gifts. If you're looking for a musical instrument, Yamaha Music London has you covered.
The brand new Clavinova CSP-150 tops this year's gift guide, and it is a seriously impressive digital instrument. Stephen Davis, Retail Operations Manager, spoke proudly of the CSP-150 and the other digital pianos sold in the store.
“We can make the world’s best digital instruments because we make some of the world’s best acoustic pianos.
We have the sampling technology and we know how to record sound properly because we’ve been doing it for decades.”
C3XTA TransAcoustic Grand Piano is the one to beat
The digital pianos like the CSP-150 and the b1 Silent Upright Piano are amazing, but for sheer brilliance, the C3XTA TransAcoustic Grand Piano is the one to beat.
“It’s a hybrid,” explained Stephen. “It’s an acoustic piano but there’s a digital element in it as well. You can play normally and then just press a button and suddenly you’ve got a choir or a full orchestra on top. There are no speakers involved so what you hear is the piano soundboard playing sound samples we’ve recorded on our own instruments.
“The beauty of this over using speakers and a piano is that you’re using the body of the piano as a resonance.
It’s as natural a sound as it possibly can be, which is the goal of everything we do here – put something else in it but make it sound real.”
Yamaha guitars make great gifts
The gift guide contains many other great instruments. From Bruce Springsteen to Jimmy Page, Yamaha guitars have been used for decades by some of the biggest rock stars in the world.
The models on offer in this year’s gift guide include acoustic and electric types, as well as the TransAcoustic Guitar, winner of Guitarist Magazine’s coveted Gear of the Year award. On the surface, this model looks and plays like a typical acoustic instrument, but also contains cutting-edge technology similar to the TransAcoustic pianos to allow for chorus and reverberation.
The TransAcoustic Guitar is one of many award-winning instruments on this year’s gift guide, but you don’t have to spend a fortune to get a quality crafted instrument. The YVS-100 Venova is a new type of wind instrument, combining the sound of a clarinet or saxophone with the simplicity of a recorder. As such, it’s the perfect gift for young people, students or really anyone interested in playing a wind instrument but unsure whether it’ll remain a long-term passion. Don’t let the low price put you off though – the Venova recently won the Trusted Music Store’s Best Brass/ Woodwind award.
Another gift ideal for beginners is the DTX400 Electronic Drum Kit. Family and neighbours may baulk at the thought of a drum kit keeping them up all night, but the DTX400 can thankfully be played silently while wearing headphones.
The digital features can also be used to demonstrate the correct rhythms and techniques, and the whole kit is compact and lightweight so can be set up in any number of small spaces.
Best rock violin on the market
My pick of the stringed options would have to be the stunning YEV-104 Electric Violin, which won Trusted Music Store’s award for Best Bowed Instrument. Innovation is at the heart of this instrument too, and the result is the best rock violin on the market according to Stephen.
Whatever instrument you choose from the guide, Yamaha’s attention to detail gives it an edge over many of its competitors.
Stephen said: “All instruments are made in Yamaha factories by Yamaha staff. Every part inside our instruments is made by Yamaha as well.
If you open one of the digital pianos, the circuitry inside will say Yamaha. Even the robots that make some of our instruments are made by Yamaha. It’s bordering on paranoia but the only way we can guarantee the quality of all our instruments is by making them ourselves.”
