AvantGrand is a brand of digital piano

Digital piano

A digital piano is a modern electronic musical instrument, different from the electronic keyboard, designed to serve primarily as an alternative to a traditional piano, both in the way it feels to play and in the sound produced. It is meant to provide an accurate simulation of a real piano. Some...

 introduced by Yamaha

Yamaha

Yamaha may refer to:* Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services** Yamaha Motor Company, a Japanese motorized vehicle-producing company...

 in 2009. The product line consists of a baby grand piano size (the N3), an upright piano version (the N2) and a cabinet version (the N1).

The AvantGrand pianos use samples taken from four locations in a Yamaha CFIIIS Concert Grand piano and attempt to emulate all aspects of conventional piano sound and play, down to the tactile response of keys and pedals. In covering the piano's release, Slate

Slate (magazine)

Slate is a US-based English language online current affairs and culture magazine created in 1996 by former New Republic editor Michael Kinsley, initially under the ownership of Microsoft as part of MSN. On 21 December 2004 it was purchased by the Washington Post Company...

editor Chris Wilson wrote that the AvantGrand piano represents a substantial functional improvement over the conventional piano, while sounding practically indistinguishable from one for 95% of the world's pianists.