What is the difference between Silent Pianos, Hybrid Pianos, and mute pedal on Upright Pianos?

Over the years we have seen many customers interested in Silent pianos, most often coming across one for the first time when visiting our stores. Most acoustic upright pianos have a mute pedal as the middle of three pedals located at the bottom of the piano. Regularly coined the “practice pedal” after its primary purpose, the mute pedal lowers a piece of felt between the hammers and strings inside the instrument, significantly lowering the volume when playing.
The mechanism can be locked by sliding the pedal down and to the left so that the sustain and left pedal can be used freely.

For most homes and apartments this practice mute pedal is sufficient to keep the neighbors calm and family happy. In some instances, especially for late night practicing, a silent piano may be what you need.

So what is a silent piano?

On silent pianos, the same middle practice pedal is designed so that it raises a bar that stops the hammers from hitting the strings and producing any sound at all. The piano, of course, is acoustic and can be played without the utilization of the middle pedal. When muted and plugged into an electrical wall socket, a silent piano can then be connected to headphones and functions like a digital/hybrid piano. Silent pianos are extremely popular in NYC apartments and the added midi in/out function makes it a popular choice for pianists/composers who want to connect their pianos to a computer/recording device.
Japanese piano companies, Kawai and Yamaha, have been producing silent pianos for decades and were recently joined by Bösendorfer.
Also to note, silent piano systems can be installed on most 48”+ uprights and grand pianos. Post-production systems (and on grand pianos) the silent pedal is activated by a lever that you push and pull. The biggest perk of a silent acoustic piano is that the pianist will still have the hammer-weighted action of the original acoustic piano both with headphones and without.

A close cousin to the silent piano is the Hybrid piano.

Hybrid pianos are essentially silent pianos flipped- the piano is completely digital and strive to mimic the action and sound of an acoustic piano. The sensitive sensors find the feel and tone that the pianist is after. Like the silent pianos, hybrid pianos can be played with headphones and often have midi in/out and digital connectivity and capabilities.

Please check our range of silent pianos:

Beethoven Pianos  Manhattan : Silent Pianos

AbsolutePiano  Brooklyn : Silent Pianos