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I don’t know if you’ve ever listened to a full choir, such as the National Youth Choir of Great Britain, in a big venue such as the Royal Albert Hall?
That is true polyphony.
The word comes from the Greek meaning ‘many sounds‘ and it relates to the texture of the music.
So how does that work with an instrument?
On a regular acoustic piano, there will be the ability to have unlimited polyphony, but obviously a digital piano is created through recorded sampling, so there will be limitations.
What you are looking for with a digital piano is a high number for the polyphony. You need the ability for as many sounds as possible to play together.
This will enable you to play rich chords with sequences and also to layer sounds if you split your keyboard. If you have a low polyphony (for example 16 – although few modern digital pianos and keyboards will have that low a number), you will find that once you have exceeded this, sounds will disappear and it will become thin.
So let’s say you play a chord with four notes in the left hand, over the top there is a melody of semi quavers (four in total to equal the crotchet chord in the left hand). You then put down your sustain pedal (you are now holding 8 notes), if you then try to add a couple of new four-note chords you will soon exceed a 16 note polyphony and your initial sounds will disappear.
Still with me?
Furthermore, if you choose the split function or start to layer on an instrument such as the Yamaha Genos so you can play with backing, you’ll soon experience limitations of sound when you easily exceed a low polyphony. How is this?
Well, let’s say that you use piano and strings, the polyphony also takes into account the number of voices. A four-note chord played with piano and strings combined, is actually eight. Then you add your other hand, this plays trumpet and horn, a further eight notes:
Violin – 4 + Piano – 4 = 8 in right hand
Trumpet – 4 + Horn – 4 = 8 in left hand.
Add a drum backing and this will also use the sounds, so that’s more to add – all within one chord!
Add your sustain pedal to hold these chords and you can see how it does soon start to build up. Hence why the Yamaha Genos, Yamaha DGX670 and the Clavinova series all have 256 note polyphony to give you the best from your performance.
I hope that this quick introduction will help you to understand what polyphony is and why it is important on digital pianos.
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These items are sold on behalf of Yamaha, and are sent to us on a per-order basis, typically within 5-7 working days, unless an ETA is otherwise stated.
We'll contact you the moment your purchase arrives with us to organise delivery, based on your selected option.
Example products: Yamaha DGX670, Yamaha P-525, Yamaha YDP-S55, Yamaha Clavinova.
These items must be sent with a heavy-goods courier (typically APC or FedEx). On occasion, depending on which is fastest, we will drop-ship directly from Yamaha to your address via Dachser.
Tracking will be provided by the haulier, with a typical arrival time of 1-2 working days.
*If you have included the optional £180 "Yamaha Premium Service" home delivery & setup option offered on selected products, we will contact you regarding arrangements after purchase.
**The Yamaha CSP Series, Yamaha CVP905 & CVP909, Yamaha CLP875, 885 & 895GP, and Yamaha NU1Xa are all sold on behalf of Yamaha and arrive with us on a per-order basis. As soon as your piano has arrived, we will contact you to organise the appropriate dispatch method. ETA for stock is shown on the product page for those items.
***If you have included the optional £99 home delivery & setup option offered on selected products, we will send your details direct to the installation team, who will contact you within 48 hours to make arrangements.
Depending on which option is most appropriate, we will either contact you to discuss a bespoke ePianos delivery surcharge for goods we can’t package for a 3rd party courier, or otherwise dispatch goods via FedEx or APC.
If a courier is used, tracking will be provided by them directly, with a typical arrival time of 1-2 working days.
Example products: Yamaha PSR-SX920, Yamaha P-225, Yamaha NP-15.
These items will be sent via courier (typically APC or FedEx). On occasion, depending on which is fastest, we will drop-ship directly from Yamaha to your address via UPS or Parcelforce.
Tracking will be provided by the courier, with a typical arrival time of 1-2 working days.
Smaller items, such as books, discs, etc, will be dispatched via Royal Mail second class.
After purchase, you can download the file either from the order confirmation page or the "Downloads" tab in "My Account".
If you have selected the option to receive a pre-loaded USB stick, then this will be dispatched via Royal Mail.
We will contact you regarding any pre-ordered items, and let you know when they arrive so as to arrange delivery with you at a convenient time.
Used items can also be purchased using either of the following options (minimum loan amount of £250 after deposit):
Total amount payable: £893.32
Available finance options are displayed at checkout. Alternatively, please get in touch and we’ll be happy to discuss the options, or email a finance application to you. Find out more by clicking here
Our seasonal opening hours are as follows:
We are closed on all bank holidays, therefore the processing of sales and deliveries will be delayed.
For orders of any stock displaying a 7-10 day lead time, we will contact you as soon as the item arrives with us to schedule a delivery with you.
Occasionally, there may be availability issues with our suppliers, in which case we'll get in touch with you to see if you're happy to wait, or if you'd like to cancel the order and receive a full refund.
This is a special order "agency" item, and comes to us directly from Yamaha on a per-order basis.
It typically takes 7-10 days for this item to arrive with us, whereupon we'll contact you to discuss the arrangement of delivery.
For any pre-orders, we will contact you as soon as the item arrives with us to schedule a delivery with you, and update you with an ETA.
Occasionally, there may be availability issues with our suppliers, in which case we'll get in touch with you to see if you're happy to wait, or if you'd like to cancel the order and receive a full refund.
*Cashback amount varies product to product, as indicated.
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