YAMAHA CLAVINOVA CVP-200 SERIES DIGITAL PIANOS FEATURE BIGGER DISPLAYS, BETTER VOICES, GREATER AUTOMATION AND COLOR

—Awesome New Features Boost Enjoyment for Players and Non-Musicians Alike—

BUENA PARK, CA (March 25, 2002)—Yamaha's renowned line of Clavinova digital pianos takes another leap forward with the debut of the CVP-200 Series—CVP-203, CVP-205, CVP-207 and CVP-209. Several of these models offer wide-screen color displays, onboard musical notation, vocal pitch recognition for Karaoke fun, and more than 800 voices.

Clavinova CVP-209 Digital Piano

"We've outstripped anything you've seen before in terms of styles and voicing," says Jim Levesque, Yamaha Electronic Keyboard marketing manager. "The styles and voices in this Clavinova are absolutely amazing. The graphics are also amazing. There's also a separate color photo icon for each style and voice. This entire series is a huge upgrade."

The greatest visual difference in the CVP-200 Series is the built-in display screen. On the CVP-203 and CVP-205, the eye-friendly display screens are the same large size as the previous line's top model CVP-109. The CVP-207 and CVP-209 boast wide full-color screens with color icons that make the interface, in Levesque's words, "like watching television."

The large screens are also used to showcase one of the most exciting new visual features on the new series. The CVP-205, CVP-207 and CVP-209 automatically produce full-score onboard music notation from any MIDI file. The screen will display any MIDI channel, including the right- and left-hand parts. For live play, the notation display will follow the artist's pace and turn pages automatically—there's even a song-synchronized "bouncing ball" cursor, which shows where the player is in the piece.

Beneath the surface, the CVP-200 Series offers serious new technology that translates into more fun and artistry for the user. The newly expanded style roster includes "Normal," "Pianist," "Piano Combo," and "Session!" styles. "The session styles are the most exciting styles ever heard on a Clavinova," Levesque explains. "In fact, all of the styles are either totally new or completely redone." The popular SweetVoices from previous Clavinova models are back in greater numbers, with the addition of "Cool!," "Live!" and "Natural!" voices that use greater memory for deeper realism.

In addition to the built-in floppy disk drive on all models, the CVP-203 and CVP-205 feature 1MB of flash memory for storing users' favorite songs, styles, registrations and voices. The CVP-207 and CVP-209 offer the same feature with 4MB of flash memory.

Despite the whole-orchestra versatility of the CVP-200 Series, there's no substitute for the simple elegance of a grand piano, and the new line features a special grand piano-shaped button—the largest control on the instrument—that instantly restores every setting, including the pedals, to the incredibly lifelike "Natural!" piano that is a Clavinova hallmark.

The new Music Finder feature places more than 1,400 song titles onboard and at the user's fingertips, searchable not only by these song titles but also by category or keyword. Using keywords such as "70s" or "Country," a user can list only those songs that fit their taste or mood. Once the song is selected, the Music Finder sets up the entire instrument automatically with the suggested voices, styles and tempo. "Music Finder will change the way people play the Clavinova," Levesque says.

Singers will love the new Vocal CueTime feature debuting in the CVP-200 Series. Through the plugged-in microphone, the new Clavinovas employ a pitch recognition system that allows the Clavinova to follow the singer. Speed up, or slow down, and the accompaniment stays with you automatically. The system works in any octave, recognizes male and female voices with equal ease, and is keyed to the pitch, not the actual words—so performers won't miss a beat. In fact, the CVP-200 Series even lets users insert their own custom lyrics into any MIDI file for on-screen playback. For karaoke use, the CVP-200 Series can send its video output to a television set like its predecessors—a new feature, however, allows a split-screen, where the lyrics are displayed on the TV, while the music notation appears on the instrument's LCD screen.

The CVP-200 Series is also loaded with innovative features that make learning to play easy and enjoyable. Through the display screen, performers can navigate the vast options, including Follow Lights where guide lamps over the keyboard show which note to play. Combined with the new music notation feature, there is now a direct connection between the lights on the keyboard and musical notes, making the learning of music even easier and more fun than before. The Follow Lights guide lamps on the CVP-200 Series are larger than on previous models.

Even the cabinets are improved with the new series. According to the customer satisfaction and profile survey conducted by Maritz Marketing Research in 2001, 62 percent of Clavinova owners place their Clavinovas in the living room, meaning it was treated as a valued piece of furniture. The new series features larger cabinets with more apparent value, more wood treatment throughout, and attractive roll top. The series even comes with improved and enlarged piano benches, including full-sized padded piano benches with music storage for the CVP-205 and CVP-207, and an artist bench with music storage for the CVP-209.

The CVP-200 Series will be available at Yamaha authorized retailers this autumn. Purchasers of the CVP-205, CVP-207 and CVP-209 will receive a complimentary Yamaha songbook, "50 Greats for the Piano," which includes a floppy disk.

For more information about the Yamaha Clavinova CVP-200 Series digital pianos, write Yamaha Corporation of America, Piano Division, P.O. Box 6600, Buena Park, CA 90622-6600; visit www.yamaha.com or telephone (714) 522-9011.