Kawai

Name	Kawai Musical Instruments Corporation
Logo
Type	Musical Instruments Manufacturing
Foundation	August, 1927
Founder	Koichi Kawai
Location	Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Japan
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Shigeru, Kawai - Hirotaka Kawai
Industry	Musical instruments
Products	Grand pianos and upright pianos
Revenue	1,000,000,000 Annual Sales
Num employees	More than 4,000
Homepage	http://www.kawaius.com/

The Kawai Musical Instruments Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (河合楽器製作所 Kawai Gakki Seisakusho) TYO: 7952 of Japan is best known for its grand and upright pianos, electronic keyboards and electronic synthesizers. The company was established in August 1927, and is headquartered in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka.

Products

Pianos

Kawai pianos' action is made of synthetic polymer material rather than traditional wood or metal. In their early editions, it was a styran plastic. Afterward, it evolved to a more sophisticated carbon fiber action. Both solutions allow for no swelling due to humidity, lengthening the life of the piano greatly.

Grand Pianos

EX - 9'

RX-7 - 7'6"

RX-6 - 7'

RX-5 - 6'6"

RX-3 - 6'1"

RX-2 - 5'10"

RX-1 - 5'5"

GE-30 - 5'5"

GE-20 - 5'1"

GM-12 - 5'

GM-10K - 5'

SK7 - 7'6"

SK6 - 7'

SK5 - 6'6"

SK3 - 6'1"

SK2 - 5'10"

As of mid-2010, the Kawai grand piano line has consisted of the RX-Blak series. These pianos are no different from their RX predecessors only for the exception of minor cosmetic details which one may find pleasing in personal opinion.

Upright Pianos

K-8

K-6

K-5

K-3

K-2

K15-E

907 (discontinued)

607 (discontinued)

508 (discontinued)

UST9 (discontinued)

506N (discontinued)

Digital Pianos

CA111

CA93

CA63

KDP80

CA13

CN43

CN33

CN23

CL35

CL25

CS3

CN22 (discontinued)

CN32 (discontinued)

CN42 (discontinued)

Stage Pianos

MP10

MP6

ES6

EP2 (discontinued)

EP3 (discontinued)

MP9000 (discontinued)

MP9500 (discontinued)

MP4 (discontinued)

MP8 (discontinued)

MP5 (discontinued)

MP8II (discontinued)

Synthesizers

Kawai started manufacturing synthesizers in the beginning of the 1980s under the brand name Teisco. These instruments were all analog and included the following models: 60F, 110F, 100F, 100P, SX-210, SX-240, and SX-400. At some point, Kawai stopped using the "Teisco" brand and so some of these products can be found labelled either Teisco or Kawai.

During the second half of the '80s, Kawai developed and released a number of digital synthesizers. The most known of these are the K series: K1, Kawai K1mkII, K3 (filters and envelopes are analog), K4 and K5. Except the K5, which is an additive synthesizer, all instruments employ subtractive synthesis. Uniquely for their price range, all instruments feature aftertouch. Kawai also manufactured rack versions of most of these instruments, and an external programming device, Kawai MM-16. Kawai XD-5, a drum synthesizer based on the K4 engine, was produced in 1989-1990.

Later developments resulted in Kawai KC-10 and KC-20 (produced in the beginning of the 1990s), both are simplistic PCM synthesizers. In 1996 Kawai released the K5000, an additive synthesizer that greatly improved on the K5 and is now regarded as one of Kawai's very best instruments. It was manufactured in three versions: K5000S, which had 16 knobs for real-time control and an arpeggiator, K5000W which added a sequencer but lacked both the knobs and the arpeggiator, and the K5000R, a rack version with an arpeggiator, but no sequencer and no knobs. A Knobs Macro Box was sold separately for use with the W and R models. Kawai originally planned to release K5000X, which would combine the features of the S and W models with a 76-key keyboard and enhanced memory, but this was cancelled in the late '90s due to bad sales. Shortly thereafter the company stopped producing synthesizers.

See also

Piano

Synthesizer

Teisco

External links

Kawai Corporate site

Kawai America Corporation

Category:Synthesizer manufacturing companies Category:Piano manufacturing companies Category:Companies based in Shizuoka Prefecture Category:Companies established in 1927