Yamaha NP-12 Piaggero Slimline Home Keyboard

Thank you for your interest in our NP-12 Home Keyboard. We've designed the NP-12 to focus on a great piano sound and excellent portability - as such, it has only a very small number of different sounds and doesn't offer any backing accompaniments.

For models which do, try our PSR-E363, PSR-E463 or our flagship workstations - the PSR-S775, PSR-S975 and Genos - the ultimate workstation keyboard.

Thank you for the question. Whilst we'd generally recommend having more keys than fewer (up to 88, as an acoustic piano has), other factors may help you make a decision. Generally speaking, if you're having keyboard lessons, the lessons aren't likely to need you to use more than 61 keys.

However, if you're starting to learn to play piano, you're likely to want more than 61 keys relatively quickly; the NP-32 with 76 keys will be more suitable for longer. Ideally, however, for piano lessons, we'd recommend a model with 88 keys and a piano hammer action.

Our P-45 and P-115 digital pianos are both compact and lightweight but feature a fully weighted piano action and an excellent piano sound - ideal for piano practise and performance.

Hi Holly, thank you for the question. There are a few Yamaha sustain pedals you can use with the NP-12 home keyboard:

• FC5A: Our small-but-tough metal pedal; this lets you add full sustain as you play
• FC4A: Our piano-pedal-like sustain pedal; this also lets you add full sustain but it feels much more like using a piano's pedal
• FC3A: Visually similar to the FC4A, the FC3A lets you add half or full sustain, depending on how far you press the pedal

Thank you for the question. We've designed the NP-12 to offer three essential features for beginners:

• Full size keys
• Touch sensitivity
• A high-quality piano sound

These features allow it to support the early stages of piano lessons, either via one-to-one tuition with a piano teacher or by using an online system such as Flowkey (available for internet browsers on Mac and PC and as apps on iOS and Android).

As you progress with lessons, we recommend switching to a more piano-like instrument. Models such as our P-45 and P-115 offer far higher sound quality, a full 88 note keyboard length and - crucially - fully weighted hammer actions.

The weighted hammer action means your finger and hand strength will greatly increase (allowing you to play more advanced piano technique) and, because the keys move in a piano-like way, you'll learn to control them and respond to them as you'd need to do on an acoustic piano.

Best wishes,
Yamaha Music

Thank you for the question. We've included a USB-To-Host port on the NP-12 keyboard. This allows you to connect it to Macs, iOS devices (iPads and iPhones) and Windows PCs.

Once setup, the NP-12 can transmit and receive MIDI information for use with FL Studio, Cubase, Logic, Garageband and other MIDI-aware apps and systems.

The MIDI transmission itself is virtually instant; there may be some latency when playing virtual instruments in the app or software. This can range from being small and imperceptible to being large and difficult to use - the latency in your setup will depend on your computer/device, the audio interface/drivers being used and the audio interface settings you've chosen.

Some apps such as Logic have a Low-Latency mode ideal for recording with virtual instruments; it can also be worth trying different audio interface settings to reduce general latency (for instance, you can try reducing the driver buffer size as low as possible before the audio starts to break up). 

The NP-12 is class-compliant (Core MIDI) with iOS - so you should be able to use the NP-12 with all Core MIDI-enabled apps (on last check, these did include Korg and IK Multimedia's iOS apps).

The NP-12 has standard non-weighted home-keyboard keys. The next model up, the NP-32 has our Graded Soft Touch action which, whilst not weighted, adds some resistance to the key movement (sometimes described as semi-weighted). 

For a realistic weighted and graded piano action, our P Series digital pianos are a great starting point. The P-45 and P-115 models both feature our Graded Hammer Standard action and they both offer excellent realism in terms of touch and sound, making them ideal for beginners and established pianists:

Thanks for getting in touch. Yes, we've made the NP-12 keyboard so that it can easily connect to both Macs (running OS X or macOS) and modern iOS devices such as iPads and iPhones.

Thank you for the question. The NP-12 can't be powered from a USB mains adapter or USB socket on a computer or tablet. Instead, it includes a UK mains power adapter (when bought in the UK) but can also be powered by 6x 'AA' batteries (sold separately).

Thank you for the question. We've included a standard full-size headphone socket on the NP-12 keyboard. This takes a stereo 1/4" jack plug (full-size TRS jack). Most professional and consumer headphones have a 1/4" jack plug, often with an adapter to convert it to a mini-jack plug (to use with an iPad or iPhone).

If you have headphones or earphones which only include a minijack connection, you can buy minijack-to-full-size-jack adapters:

Thank you for the question. Yes, the NP-12 does have touch-sensitive keys allowing you to play expressively.

For a more piano-like experience, try our NP-32 models - these feature a longer keyboard (76 note rather than 61) with our Graded Soft Touch action.

Or, if play piano (or are having piano lessons rather than keyboard lessons), our P Series portable pianos are ideal - both the P-45 and P-115 models have a full length (88 note) fully weighted and graded piano hammer action keyboard so that they feel like a real piano to play.

The NP-12 does include a plastic music rest which slots into the back edge of the keyboard.

Thank you for your interest in the NP-12 keyboard. The NP-12 features a USB-To-Host connection - this allows it to connect to a Mac or Windows computer, or to an iOS device such as an iPad. Once connected, the NP-12 transmits and receives MIDI information and so makes a great MIDI controller with a computer or iPad.

You would need a conventional USB-A-to-USB-B cable (similar to a printer's USB cable) to connect to a Mac or Windows computer. To connect to an iOS device, add Apple's own Camera Connection Kit adapter to the standard USB cable.

It doesn't include traditional 5-Pin DIN MIDI sockets - and so you can't directly connect it to older/traditional MIDI keyboards and equipment (third party USB-Host-To-MIDI conversion boxes may be available).

Thank you for the question. Yes; the NP-12 includes a single-track recorder which, once the recording is finished, can be played back for you to play along with. This could easily allow you to record the left-hand part of a piece to play back whilst you play the right-hand part live.

For more comprehensive recording options, we'd recommend connecting the NP-12 to an iPad or iPhone - there are various apps such as Steinberg's Cubasis which allow you to record multiple tracks.

Thank you for the question. Yes; we've included a shared Headphone/Output socket on the NP-12. We urge caution (especially with high-end hifi amplifiers and speakers) when setting the keyboard's volume level and and the pre-amp/amplifier levels but, assuming you have the appropriate input on your hifi and correct cable, you should be able do this.

Thank you for the question. Yes, the NP-12 includes a plastic music rest which slots into the back edge of the keyboard.

Thank you for the question. The NP-12 does have full-size keys, sized and shaped to match the keys on our acoustic pianos.

For a more piano-like experience in a portable instrument, try our P-45 and P-115 portable digital pianos - both models have full 88note length, fully weighted and graded key actions making them ideal for pianists or beginners:

The NP-12 doesn't feature traditional MIDI IN and MIDI OUT connections and so can't be connected directly to either the Tyros5 or PSR-S970.

However, the NP-12 is MIDI Class Compliant - usually for use with iOS and macOS devices - which means you may be able to use a converter device to connect the NP-12 to the Tyros5 or PSR-S970. We don't make these ourselves, but as of late 2016, models are made by Kenton and by iConnectivity (pre-configuration using a computer might be required):

http://www.iconnectivity.com/products/midi/mio4

http://www.kentonuk.com/products/items/utilities/usb-host.shtml

Please check with the respective manufacturers for more information.

Yes, the NP-12 Keyboard features a USB-to-Host MIDI connection which can be used with Reason, Cubase, Logic and other studio software either to record or play virtual instruments. Using Reason's External MIDI Instrument virtual rack device, you can also send note data back to the NP-12 to trigger its inbuilt sounds.

Yes, we've included a USB-TO-HOST connection on the NP-12 Home Keyboard which - when connected to macOS, Windows or iOS computers/devices - carries a MIDI signal to compatible software such as Cubase, Logic, Ableton and FL Studio. This allows you to record notes and trigger virtual instrument sounds.

To record the actual sound of the NP-12 into FL Studio or other DAWs, you'll also need to connect the HEADPHONES/OUTPUT socket to your computer or iOS device (using an appropriate audio cable and possibly an additional audio interface).

For a keyboard whose USB-TO-HOST connection transmits both MIDI and audio (so that a single connection can be used), look at the Yamaha PSR-E453 (which also features a host of other sounds and features, making it ideal for recording and studio use).