Piano Action: Kawai Millenium III ABS-Carbon Piano Action
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- Опубликовано: 5 сен 2024
- #pianoaction #piano #kawai
Piano Action: Kawai Millenium III ABS-Carbon Piano Action
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This is one of most important piano videos you'll ever see.
It will change the way you think about piano quality. And it will keep you from making a BIG mistake on your next piano purchase.
Let's start with a brief history lesson that will affect your wallet.
THIS... is a piano ACTION.
The "action" is the mechanism inside a piano that transforms your touch on a key into a hammer strike that produces musical sound.
Back in the early 18th century, an Italian inventor named Bartolomeo Christofori created the first piano action. It was a great start, but quite primitive and not very stable.
In the 19th century, Sebastian Erard developed this piano action that was a major evolution from "old" to "new." Erard's design offered better performance and a more enjoyable playing experience. But it still didn't address the issue of stability.
Both of these early actions were made entirely of wood. That's because wood was the only material the early piano makers had available to craft the thousands of intricate parts needed for a piano action.
The first half of the 20th Century brought even more evolution. Many piano actions of that period were based on this design which was also made of all wooden action parts. These actions promised higher performance and better control of touch and tone. Yet, the stability problems remained.
Then something surprising happened in the piano industry. After 250 years of steady progress in the art of the piano, evolution stopped.
Progress came to a virtual halt. It was as though piano makers believed that a piano couldn't get any better.
Meanwhile, other industries kept evolving rapidly.
In the tennis world, manufacturers of wooden rackets began moving to composite materials (such as graphite, kevlar and eventually carbon fiber) to improve performance. By the 1980s, wooden rackets were obsolete.
The golf industry made a similar move away from traditional wood drivers to other materials that could provide a longer, more stable tee shot. Wooden drivers became "relics of the past" as golf moved on to modern materials.
While these and other industries kept advancing, piano makers seemed content to maintain the status quo… except for one: KAWAI.
As early as the 1960s, Kawai craftsmen recognized the serious problems associated with wood. Wood was ideal for many of the "sound-producing" components of a piano (such as the soundboard, rim and hammers), but it was problematic for many of the major internal components of a piano action.
The problem? Wood wasn't stable. It could break under high stress and would continually swell and shrink with changes in humidity. With over 8000 parts in a piano action, these shortcomings were unacceptable.
Kawai design engineers knew that the mechanical parts of piano action required exacting and unchanging precision… and that wooden parts could never maintain that level of precision over time.
With that in mind, they set out to solve a major wood-related problem: the flawed hammer strike.
To create excellent tone and touch, the hammers must strike the strings perfectly every time, over the course of time. If the alignment of the hammer is altered, even by as little as one millimeter due to breakage or the swelling or shrinking of any component, the piano's tone and touch deteriorates and the player's enjoyment and performance fades.
To solve this problem, Kawai invested millions of dollars to develop action parts made of composite materials. Composite parts are more durable than wood and virtually impervious to swelling and shrinking due to humidity.
By the 1990s, these efforts resulted in the Kawai Ultra-Responsive Action -- the fourth major evolution of touch and tone in the history of the piano.
With composite parts, Kawai actions were far more stable than conventional all-wooden actions. Kawai hammers would strike the strings with greater precision despite changes in humidity. And Kawai pianos maintained better touch and tone over time than any other pianos.
By the end of the 20th century, Kawai had established itself as the technological leader in the global piano industry. But evolution didn't end there. Kawai continued to evolve into the 21st Century with the introduction of carbon composites to improve pianotouch and responsiveness.
As carbon fiber found its way into modern aircraft, race cars, racing boats and performance cycling, it also played a major role in the development of Kawai's revolutionary Millennium III Action with ABS-Carbon.
After playing many different brands of grand piano in many shops over time, I had noticed (without realising why until watching this) that Kawai actions felt absolutely gorgeous. Very consistent and predictable, allowing me to play incredibly softly compared to most of the other pianos which were sometimes good, sometimes not.
Timlhto
I find ABS Styron and ABS carbon fibre to be the best piano actions around! As a piano tuner I always recommend kawia as their touch and response and power is amazing (not to mention tone)
"Kawia" sounds great!
What is "Kawia"???
😂😂😂
My next piano would definitely be a Kawai if you put a Millenium III action in a controller keyboard like the VPC-1.
I'm ready for my Shigeru SK-EX. Going to buy one soon!
In Norway, an overhauled Steinway Model M (170 cm) costs about as much as a brand new Kawai baby grand (157 cm). (I don't like the baby word). I'd certainly go for the Kawai, unless test playing would prove disappointing, which I don't expect.
I could never go back to “conventional wooden actions”. As a piano tuner. Conventional wooden action in a piano is so sluggish.
May I ask why carbon fiber action is faster(I’m not a piano tuner)? Is it because carbon fiber is lighter than wood or more flexible etc…
I'm left wondering: What could be the manufacturing defect of "Milenium iii", just like the failures that hundreds of users complain about in GFiii (CA701) and RM3ii (VPC1)!!!
I have a question.When we talk about millenium 3 action on upright and millenium 3 action on a grand are they the same or are they different? How does millenium 3 on upright compare with grand feel action in terms of repetition speed
they are different, bc the actions on upright and the actions on grand structured differently. They all called millennium 3 not bc they are structured the same, but made from the same material. One more thing is millennium 3 on upright has longer key length compare to other brands.
That was an excellent advertisement! Almost persuaded me for a second to get a Kawai and not a Steinway.
Steinway pianos are all over the board. Sometimes you will find excellent Steinways that will be impressive. Other times, you’ll find Steinways that are mediocre. There are many stories I’ve heard of where pianists have to go through many Steinways to find the one that they want.
@@worldlinerai "pianists have to go through many Steinways to find the one that they want"
That's perfectly normal for every instrument of a certain quality, because handmade instruments have their own character. It's not a cons, it's what makes them better than the industrial products, and it applies to guitars, violins, everything. And it doesn't mean that some of them are bad, it simply means that one artist can prefer the sound from a specific piano, and another artist can prefer another one.
@@worldlinerai that’s not just Steinway, that’s all pianos.
Somehow the concert pianos are still using old action. So professionals have to deal with the old technology. Unless they are liek Zimmerman who carries his own action everywhere.
I’m using KG2E since 1990s. It is a jewel.
It is time for Kawai to build a carbon sound board.
Grand piano
Really well made video. Good explanation
You really are everywhere aren't you
I wish I had a kawai dealer near me, id love to play one of these pianos.
I am a millennial, a machinist and a pianist, and have wondered when someone will make a completely user-serviceable piano (no voicing/regulation, user-replaceable felts (or substitute material that lasts longer, etc.) Looks like this is headed the right way! I am sure between Yamaha and Kawai, we will see less and less wood used as time goes on. Bittersweet...
Can I put a Millenium III ABS-Carbon Action in my KG5C?
ABS-Carbon is not the same Carbon fiber.
Bicycle and Car... using carbon fiber...
exactly, carbon fiber (resin bound) is much lighter and the fibers can be oriented according to the structural needs.
Beautiful, love Kawai pianos... btw @ 5:56 "last" without "s"
@5:33 inner-national? xD
lats???
😂😂😂
It’s right
What’s the dif from Grand Feel ?
Hi, congrats for Your great improvements! May I ask You for using just a couple of seconds of this presentation for a music-education oriented video I'm editing right now? Obviously it's a completely NON-PROFIT video! I strongly hope You kindly let me use just a couple of seconds. Really thanks in advance.
NO!
Oh please! Total propaganda. "Wood is not stable". So why then Yamaha or let's say Bösendorfer are still making action using wood? Just was wondering how so there aren't any Kawai grands on major concert stages.
I know that’s right! They act like the action is the only wooden component of the piano-the whole thing is wood! And it’s still not good enough for 98% of concert artists, so I’ll pass
@@KawaiPianosOnRUclips you would have the capacity if people wanted them. But no one does.
@@KawaiPianosOnRUclips I must credit you for making a very good video and finding a way of rolling into composite parts of the action. Great promotional solution! I did not like the sentiment of Kawai being the only one, the best, the smartest... probably not my style.
In terms of Shigeru we all have personal preferences. 20 years ago I did prefer Kawai over Yamaha. it had a warm tone an a nice touch ( I am a performing pianist/composer with a doctorate degree). These days even Shigeru would not be my top choice, especially near CFX or Estonia. But again for many people it might be.
The controversy coming between wood and carbon fiber is alarming though. Wood changes, carbon doesn't.Parts claimed to be unbreakable- well, there are cases of them being broken. Any feedback on that?
@@ninasiniakova estonia is crap lol
Excellent!
Can a Kawai keyboard be fitted to other brand pianos?
My apologies for not being able to offer a reply. I doubt Kawai actions would fit other makers' pianos. Please email info@kawaius.com to reach a technician. Indicate whether you are asking about an acoustic or digital piano action.
@@KawaiPianosOnRUclips No need to apologize. Thanks,
I unfortunately watched this video too late
Blüthner Patent Action?
What "stability problem" did the early piano system had?
@@KawaiPianosOnRUclips what about the rest of the wood in the piano? Like the keys? We don’t care about that?
Kawai outstanding piano
I still prefer wood
And baseball bats turned from wood to aluminum. And that sucked.
That's why you don't see any aluminum piano actions
This video is pretty cringe, is this really made from official kawai marketing team ?
Looks like a video made by a teenager that gets payed 50 bucks to record a sponsored message
Some of the parts are carbon fiber but many are still wood. Wood still twists and changes with the environment. Felt still wears and actions need adjustment for this. Some who sell KAWAII pianos are advertising this action as one that “never wears out!” This is not accurate. Soundboards are still wood as are pinblocks and keys and action frames etc. KAWAII pianos are good pianos but the partial composite action is not without its flaws too. There is no perfect piano as my experience has discovered. IMHO!
DXWV Hi. Yes your right. The issue is a piano dealer who is selling the idea that the piano will never wear out to unsuspecting customers. So we hear people come in to our store who are comparing say they have been told that the piano will never need to do anything to repair or regulate or possibly even tune the piano. This is my problem.
Piano is a technology and music making of all forms relies on material (i.e. technological) evolution and progress. KAWAI has been wise to realise this and continue to innovate the modern era of mechanical actions in piano. The belief that wood is always the best material for a musical instrument as compicated as a piano is just fetishism.
I'm an engineer and a pianist and I love technology. But please let's be clear, ABS is simply plastic, the same material used in Lego bricks. Plus all high end pianos other than Kawai still use wood and make fantastic sound and speed
does Kawai make electronic pianos that feature Milennium III Action with ABS-Carbon?
also what kind of environmental impact does it have to use ABS and carbon fibre?
Yes. There are currently 2 models which have millenium III action- NV5 and NV10, although only NV10 has true grand piano action, NV5 has upright piano millenium III action.
@@PianoMichal would you choose a Kawai GL10 baby grand or a NV10 if given one?
@@gustavogo2915 I’d get nv10 :)
👍 👍 👍
yeah but kawai sounds inferior. I would still choose others
WNG
Kawai parts are much better.