The Perfect Combination of Innovation and Tradition
The Innovation
For 40 years, CASIO’s vision has always been the same – creating musical instruments that everyone can enjoy playing. Some notable milestones:
1980 CASIO produced first electronic keyboard
Casiotone 201
1991 “CELVIANO” series was introduced starting with AP-7
2003 CASIO established “Privia” line featuring PX-100
2015 CASIO presents “CELVIANO Grand Hybrid”
Since 1980, CASIO has been advancing technologies to develop unique musical instruments.
As of 2019, it is estimated that CASIO has sold over 89 million digital musical instruments all around the world.
The Future of Tradition
The rich history of piano spans over 300 years.
It has been embraced around the world as a vehicle for artistic expression. The piano’s design has evolved over time, but the fundamental structure is still true to tradition. As a modern musical instrument manufacturer, CASIO desired the development of an instrument that could bring traditional piano to a new level.
CASIO’s expertise in digital technology made it possible to create a new world of instruments. CELVIANO Grand Hybrid is a futuristic musical instrument with legacy of classic piano that will satisfy the most demanding piano purists.
Sound Development in Collaboration
The Berlin Grand sound was developed in collaboration with C. Bechstein. Casio sought a clear, balanced and elegant sound for CELVIANO Grand Hybrid. The D.282, C. Bechstein’s ultimate masterpiece, is the model Casio intensively studied to achieve the goal. Mr. Albrecht, CTO and Master Piano Maker at C. Bechstein, visited Casio R&D to supervise the sound development process through the final modification.
About C. Bechstein
Since Carl Bechstein founded the Pianoforte production facility in Berlin in 1853, the name C. Bechstein has stood for the highest class of upright and grand pianos. C. Bechstein pianos have been appreciated by many famous composers and artists for their finest quality of sound and touch for many years. In the 21st Century, C. Bechstein is still recognized as one of the world’s leading piano manufacturers.
Superior sound and a professional touch.
We believe we have crafted a sensational digital piano
we can be very proud of.
Werner Albrecht, CTO and
Master Piano Maker (Klavierbaumeister) at C. Bechstein
“CASIO is a very successful company in the field of electronic musical instruments.
C. Bechstein is Europe’s most important maker of high-end acoustic grand and upright pianos, with 160 years' history and expertise in traditional craftsmanship. With their rich and noble tone, providing a wide range of tone colours and their professional and elegant touch, C. Bechstein pianos have continued to inspire and delight music lovers and famous artists around the world. We are confident that these two companies, by collaborating in a partnership that draws on their mutual experience, can create new digital pianos unlike anything we have seen before. For this project, we developed the tone colours for the CELVIANO Grand Hybrid “Berlin Grand” based on sampling of a C. Bechstein concert grand piano. At the same time, we focused our efforts on also achieving an excellent key action. Through this collaboration between CASIO and C. Bechstein, we believe we can take pride in having created a very competitive digital piano with excellent sound and a professional touch.”
Getting ever closer to perfection in collaboration with C. Bechstein.
There was no compromise in our development
process to evolve the distinctive character
of the CELVIANO Grand Hybrid.
“The collaboration with C. Bechstein gave Casio an opportunity to discover the true beauty of traditional grand pianos. With greater understanding of their fundamental elements, we modified our approach to develop new instruments that are evolutionary steps forward from other digital pianos. In this challenging work, we experienced immensely exciting moments with many discussions. As the sound was expected to be perfect, we focused not only on the tone of each individual note but also reverberation in actual musical performances. After developing higher quality keys, we worked to create a mechanism that responds to the subtle nuances of a player's touch. The superior feel of CELVIANO Grand Hybrid is the result of our work with a persistent attitude without compromise.
We are proud of the high praise that CELVIANO Grand Hybrid has earned from so many people, but we weren't yet satisfied with what we'd achieved and have further refined these qualities in the development of GP-510BP and GP-310BK/WE. We hope everyone can try CELVIANO Grand Hybrid and enjoy the experience.”
Naoaki Ito,Sound Designer at CASIO
