Yamaha Reface is a series of four synthesisers manufactured by the Yamaha Corporation. Released in the summer of 2015, the series is inspired by the company’s previously released synthesisers.
The Reface series was announced on 7 July 2015 through an online event.[1][2] The day before, the announcement was mistakenly leaked by Yamaha through a Korean website.[3] The Refaces were later showcased at Studio 2 of London's Abbey Road Studios for a press release.[4]
Each keyboard measures 530 millimetres (21 in) x 175 millimetres (6.9 in) x 60 millimetres (2.4 in) and weighs 1.9 kilograms (4.2 lb).[5][6] The Reface series uses Yamaha's velocity sensitive "High Quality Mini Keys", the same keys as those of Yamaha's Motif XF.[7][8][9] Each keyboard has three octaves (37 keys)[10][5] and can interface with MIDI.[11] The Refaces have two watt speakers (in stereo), audio inputs and audio outputs.[12] After their announcement, the Refaces drew comparisons to both the Roland Aira series and Korg's Volcas due to their affordability and inspiration taken from their respective companies' previously released synthesisers.[13] In 2016 Yamaha released both a web app (Soundmodo) and a mobile app to facilitate sharing and saving of preset sounds on the Refaces.[14][15]
At the 2017 Superbooth music technology show, Yamaha showcased a robotic controller for the Reface CS called the Reface Robot. The robot was built in collaboration with the Fukuoka-based design company Anno Labs.[17][18] The Reface Robot is made up of two aluminium sections, with robotic arms controlling the individual sliders and pots of the CS. The odd appearance of the Reface Robot was highlighted by Mixmag, who stated that "it looks like an army of robot toothbrushes cleaning a synth".[19]