KAWAI CELEBRATES 25TH ANNIVERSARY
of its heralded digital piano actions

Rancho Dominguez, CA • June, 2010 – In 1985, Kawai introduced its first electronic piano featuring a wooden-key action. The year 2010 marks the 25th anniversary of this groundbreaking event. For a quarter century, Kawai has been a pioneer in the use of real wooden keys in digital pianos and professional stage pianos.

Known for its unique tactile feel and vibration properties, wood has long been the preferred material for acoustic piano keys, giving the pianist a sense of being connected with the instrument. Using wood in both white and black keys, Kawai’s digital piano actions offer this same sense of relationship between the player and the instrument.

Over the years, Kawai wooden-key actions have seen many innovations and improvements. This 25th anniversary year brings the release of the newest version of this industry-leading keyboard action, the RM3 Grand action… standing for Realistic Mechanism, Motion and Materials. The RM3’s mechanical design closely emulates that of Kawai’s renowned acoustic grand piano actions. For instance, the extra long wooden keys are balanced on a center pin and move up and down on both ends. The graded hammers are then pushed upward to the contact point from the back of the keys, a mechanical principle found only in the Kawai digital action.

The RM3 action also features moisture absorbing Ivory Touch key surfaces, providing better control for the player. Counterbalancing weights are placed in the front of the bass Kawai 25th Anniversary, pg. 2 keys to smooth out the action’s static weight, while a Let-off mechanism provides the subtle “notch” felt when playing a grand piano very softly.

Kawai also leads the industry in the implementation of wooden-key actions within a variety of digital pianos and related instruments. Two Concert Artist series digital piano models and three Concert Performer ensemble piano models feature a wooden-key action, as does the highly acclaimed MP8II Professional Stage Piano.

“Kawai is proud to be the industry leader in this area”, explains Tom Love, Kawai America’s Senior Manager for Electronics. “Twenty-five years of experience has taught us much about digital piano actions… and having over eighty years experience in building acoustic pianos certainly gives us a tremendous advantage as well.”