Yamaha CFX

The Yamaha CFX is a beautiful hand-crafted, full size 275 cm (9’) concert grand that represents the pinnacle of the manufacturer's tradition of piano crafting. To capture it, the Vienna Symphonic Library team rolled this wonderful instrument into the environmentally pristine main hall of their newly renovated scoring stage, Synchron Stage Vienna. Now in permanent residence at the climate controlled facility, this instrument is equipped with Yamaha’s award-winning performance reproducing system “Disklavier ENSPIRE PRO“ that guarantees utmost precision, resolution and consistency during the entire recording process.

The Yamaha CFX grand offers a wide palette of expressive tonal colors, eliciting dramatic intensity and the most subtle nuances. Its distinctive sound can be characterized as precise, bright, clear, powerful and assertive, lending itself to any genre of classical, romantic or contemporary piano music and from solo pieces to chamber and concert works. What’s more, Yamaha CFX grand pianos are particularly at home with pop and jazz genres.

The virtual representation of this instrument incorporates not only decades of experience in piano sampling, but the unbridled passion of the Vienna Symphonic Library team in striving for the ultimate sound and the most intuitive player experience.

Key Features

• Up to 4,200 samples per key for maximal authenticity and liveliness
• 100% natural ambience of one of the best recording halls in the world, Synchron Stage Vienna
• Hyper-realistic playing feel
• Advanced Release Sample Technology
• Multiple Microphone Positions – for a multitude of timbral variations
• All-new, intuitive Synchron Pianos software with high-performance playback engine
• Six pre-configured Presets: “Concert”, “Intimate”, “Player”, “Pop”, “Ambience”, “Mighty”
• Soft (una corda), sostenuto, sustain pedals
• Half-pedalling and re-pedalling
• Sympathetic resonance
• Body resonance

All Natural, Ambient Sound

The recorded Yamaha CFX is permanently stored at the refurbished recording facility Synchron Stage Vienna, which is characterized by its particularly warm, intense, and natural ambience. Since its reopening in 2016, this 540 m2 (5,813 sq.ft.) hall has already left its acoustic signature on numerous international productions, from classical chamber music to large-scale orchestral film scores. Today it is considered one of the best recording stages in the world and is frequently booked by world renowned artists, producers and film studios.

10 Microphone Positions – Up to 4,200 Samples per Key

With up to 4,200 samples per key, Vienna’s Yamaha CFX boasts breathtaking authenticity. In order to capture this marvellous instrument in one of the best acoustic environments on the planet, the Vienna team used multiple high-end microphone arrays, giving you an abundance of options for creating your individual sound.

Detailed Microphone Positions

The close and mid microphone positions are ideal for a more player-oriented mix:

Room Mic (Mix)

The Room Mix channel offers a stereo mix of all available room microhphones from the Full Library

Close 1

“ORTF” setup with a pair of Schoeps MK 4, positioned as closely as possible over the hammer area. Ideal for producing the typical “pop piano” sound.

Close 2

“Blumlein” setup with two ribbon figure-eight capsules of a Royer SF-24 mic, for a fast, direct and natural sound.

MID 1 

“ORTF” setup with a pair of Sennheiser MKH 800 mics for a wide, warm, yet bright and centered sound.

MID 2

“ORTF” setup with a pair of Sennheiser MKH 8040 mics for a centered but harder and more focused sound than the MID 1 Position.

Main/Room Mic

Decca Tree array (L-C-R) with three DPA 4006 mics. These very neutral microphones captured even the smallest detail of Synchron Stage Vienna. Used in a stereo mix, you can easily hear where the piano is placed. In a surround setup, the Decca tree microphones will be the feed for your front L-R speakers.

Main Surround

Wide A-B stereo setup with two DPA 4011 cardioid microphones. You may use them as so called “Wides” or “Outriggers” in a stereo mix in order to create an even more spacious impression. In a surround setup, these microphones would be used for your rear speakers.

High Stereo (3D)

Stereo A-B-setup with two AKG C-414 condenser microphones, spotting the very nice reflections of Synchron Stage Vienna’s ceiling. In stereo mixes you can use them as an alternative to your main mics, or you may down-mix these much more diffused signals. The sound is more “sparkling” and reverberant compared to the main mics. Used in an Auro 3D or Dolby Atmos mix, these microphones should feed your top or ceiling speakers.

High Surround (3D)

Like the High Stereo (3D) setup, this A-B array features two AKG C-414 microphones.

Advanced Release Sample Technology

Capturing the notes with all the velocities and especially at various tone lengths with their subtle nuances is a major challenge in the art of piano sampling – and it’s particularly tricky when recording the instrument with the ambience of a scoring stage. This is where Vienna’s new Release Sample Technology comes in. The team developed a unique, proprietary technique that automatically matches up to 300 individual and finely grained release samples per key to your played notes. The result is a hyper-realistic playing feel and 100% timbral authenticity.

Customize your Personal Sound

Apart from the multitude of options through mixing various microphone signals, Vienna’s Yamaha CFX comes with an all-new, dedicated sample player that opens a whole new dimension for shaping your sound. Hosting a high-performance playback engine built from ground up, the software provides a musician-friendly user interface that allows for quick and easy timbral control. Create your sound intuitively by filtering particular key ranges or even single keys, adjust the body resonance of the instrument or add just a pinch of algorithmic reverb to refine the overall sound.

Utmost Precision and Consistency

As evidenced by the huge amount of sample data, the recording phase of this Yamaha CFX grand piano project extended over several months, which demanded absolute consistency within the room and for the instrument itself. To protect the piano’s environment and ensure reliable recordings, Synchron Stage Vienna’s integrated system for heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) provided very consistent climatic conditions throughout the entire recording process. Further, all samples were recorded using the instrument’s integrated, computer controlled performance reproducing system. Its non-contact optical sensors detected every movement of all 88 keys (position, velocity and release velocity) and the pedals (including half-pedaling) with utmost precision, reproducing the most delicate nuances of a human performance. Additional hammer sensor feedback allowed for accurate reproduction of special playing techniques such as rapid note repetition and softly-played notes. What’s more, over the course of several months, Vienna Symphonic Library team members were trained in preparing and tuning a grand piano accurately by Vienna’s leading piano technicians in order to achieve absolutely consistent tuning and sound characteristics during the entire recording process. The impeccable result must really be heard (and played) to be appreciated!