Yamaha P255 Manual

							Setting Up
P-255 Owner’s Manual11
To adjust the volume, use the [MASTER VOLUME] 
slider at the left of the co ntrol panel while playing the 
keyboard to check the setting. 
To set up the music rest, insert it into the groove at the 
back of the control panel. 
Your digital piano features two [PHONES] jacks, 
allowing two sets of headphones to be connected at 
the same time. If you wish to connect only one set, 
either of the jacks can be used. No sound will be out-
put from the instrument’s speakers when headphones 
are connected to either or both of the jacks.  When plugged into the [SUSTAIN PEDAL] jack, the 
FC4 Foot Switch that came with your digital piano 
functions in the same way as
 the damper pedal of an 
acoustic piano—that is, it a llows notes played while it 
is operated to sustain for l onger than normal after you 
release the corresponding keys. You can also connect 
either an FC3 Foot Pedal or an FC5 Foot Switch (sold 
separately). The FC3 supports half-damper playing. 
Half-damper playing
Your digital piano can adjust the length of sustain in 
response to how much the  pedal is operated. In spe-
cific terms, the more the pe dal is operated, the longer 
the notes sustain. If, for example, too much sustain is 
applied when you operate th e pedal, reduce the level 
(and make the sound clearer)  by allowing the pedal to 
return slightly. 
Adjusting the volume
Setting up the music rest
Using headphones
• To prevent hearing loss, avoid using headphones at high 
volumes for extended periods of time. 
Lo uder
Q uieter
Front panel
Standard stereo-
phone plug
CAUTION
Connecting pedals (Sustain pedal)
• Do not turn on the instrument with a foot  switch or pedal operated. Failure to 
observe this precaution can cause the on and off positions of the switch or pedal 
to be reversed. 
• Be sure to turn off the digital piano be fore connecting or disconnecting a foot 
switch or pedal. 
FC4
NOTE 
						

							Setting Up
P-255 Owner’s Manual12 An LP-255 Pedal Unit (sol
d separately) can be con-
nected if you wish to play the digital piano using a full 
set of three pedals. In such  a case, please set up the 
instrument and pedal unit on an L-255 Keyboard 
Stand (sold separately).
Damper pedal
Located at the right of the pedal unit, the damper 
pedal allows notes played wh ile it is operated to sus-
tain for longer than normal  after you release the corre-
sponding keys. This pedal supports half-damper 
playing—the more you operate  it, the longer the notes 
sustain. 
Damper-pedal resonance
Yo ur digital piano’s damper resonance f unction recreates the 
effect of resonance  between indi vid ual piano strings when 
the damper pedal is operated. The depth of this resonance 
can  be set  using the corresponding F unction parameter 
(page 40). 
Sostenuto pedal
The pedal located at the mi ddle of the pedal unit is 
known as the sostenuto pedal. If you play a note or 
chord on the keyboard and operate this pedal before 
releasing the keys, the corresponding notes will sus-
tain until you allow the peda l to return. Notes played 
while the pedal is operated are not affected, meaning 
that you can play a staccato melody over a sustained 
chord. 
Soft pedal
Located at the left of the pedal unit, the soft pedal 
slightly lowers the volume  and softens the timbre of 
notes played while it is be ing operated. This effect 
lasts until the pedal is rel eased. Because the soft pedal 
has no effect on notes already playing, you should 
operate it just before playin g the notes to be softened. 
Using pedals for Play and Stop operations
You can config ure either the center or left pedal to operate in 
the same way as the control panel’s [PLAY/STOP]  button 
u sing the corresponding F unction parameter (page 40). 
Using an optional pedal unit
• Be sure to turn off the digital piano  before connecting or disconnecting a pedal 
unit. 
LP-255 
(sold separately) L-255 
(sold separately)
NOTE
If yo u operate the damper pedal here, notes 
b eing played at this time and all s ubsequent 
notes will  be s ustained for longer than  usu al. 
• When a Jazz Organ Voice has been selected, the pedal on the left will instead 
control the speed of the rotary speaker effect. 
If yo u operate the sosten uto pedal here, 
notes prod uced  by keys still held down at 
this time— but not newly played notes—will 
b e s ustained  until the pedal is released. 
NOTE 
						

							P-255 Owner’s Manual13
Selecting & Playing Voices
Using the following procedure, you can select the 
instrument sound (such as piano or organ) to use when 
playing the keyboard. 
1Press a Voice button to select a Voice 
from the corresponding category. 
You can cycle through the category’s Voices by 
pressing the button multiple times. Refer to the 
Voice List (page 51) for details of the Voices 
included.
2Play the keyboard to hear how the 
selected Voice sounds. 
A number of demo songs have been prepared so that 
you can conveniently familiarize yourself with the 
sound of each Voice, and thes e songs can be played as 
described below. Refer to  the Voice Demo Song list 
for the names of the individual demo songs. 
Voice Demo Song list
 The demonstration Songs listed a bove are short rearranged excerpts of the 
original compositions.
 All other Songs are Yamaha originals (© 2013 Yamaha Corporation)
1Press the [DEMO] button to start play-
back. 
The Grand Piano demo song  will start to play, and 
all demo songs will conti nue to play in sequence 
until you stop playback . If necessary, you can 
press a Voice button during playback to skip to the 
corresponding demo song. 
2Press the [PLAY/STOP] button or the 
[DEMO] button to stop playback. 
Selecting Voices
• When you press a Voice button, the most-recently selected Voice will be 
shown on the display.
• Although your digital piano can adjust  the loudness of Voices based on the 
strength of your playing, certain Voi ces do not support this Touch Sensitiv-
ity feature. Refer to the Voice List (page 51) for details. 
NOTE
Listening to the Voice demo songs
Vo i c e  
buttonDisplayVoice 
NameTitleCom-
poser
[PIA NO]GP3Ballad 
Grand Intermezzo, 6 Stücke, 
op.118-2J. 
Brahms
[ORGA
N]
or3
Pipe 
Organ 
Principal Herr Christ, der ein
ge 
Gottes-Sohn, BWV.601 J. S. 
Bach
or4
Pipe 
Organ 
T utti Triosonate 
Nr.6, BWV.530J. S. 
Bach
[CLV./
VIB.]
CL1Harpsi-
chord 8’ Concerto a cem
balo 
o bbligato, 2 v iolini, viola e 
contin uo No.7, BWV.1058J. S. 
Bach
CL2
Harpsi-
chord 
8’+4’ Gig
ue, Französische 
S uiten  Nr.5, BWV.816J. S. 
Bach
• Demo songs cannot be played during recording (page 25) or file opera-
tions (page 30). 
• The digital piano does not transmit  MIDI data when demo songs are play-
ing. In addition, MIDI data will not be received at this time. 
• The tempo of demo songs cannot be ch anged; in addition, the Part Cancel 
function (page 23) and the A-B Repeat  function (page 23) cannot be used 
with these songs. 
NOTE
NOTE
NOTE
Main Operations 
						

							Selecting & Playing Voices
P-255 Owner’s Manual14 Using Dual mode as described below, you can layer 
two Voices on the keyboard and play them together. 
By combining Voices of diff
erent types in this way, 
you can create a composite Voice of greater richness 
and texture. 
1Select the two Voices you wish to layer 
using the corresponding Voice buttons. 
Your digital piano will get the selected Voices 
ready for playing.
For details on selecting voices, see page 13. 
2Activate Dual mode. 
Press the Voice buttons for the two selected Voices 
together and verify that they both light up. 
Voice 1 and Voice 2
Of the two Voices selected for layering, the one 
selected using the Voice bu tton closer to the left 
will be designated Voice  1; the other, Voice 2. 
When you activate Dual mode, the Voices’ octave 
settings and volume balanc e in addition to their 
reverb and effect types and depths will be auto-
matically optimized. If necessary, however, you 
can change these settings  using the corresponding 
Function parameters (pag e 40). Furthermore, 
these settings can be ch anged individually for 
Voice 1 and Voice 2. 
3Leave Dual mode. 
Press any Voice button to return to normal play 
mode.  Using Split mode as described below, you can divide 
the keyboard into left and right sides and assign differ-
ent Voices to each. You could, for example, play a 
bass part with your left hand using the Wood Bass or 
Electric Bass Voice while playing a melody using a 
different Voice with your right hand. 
1Activate Split mode. 
Press the [SPLIT] button and ve
rify that it lights up. 
By default, the Wood Bass Voice will be assigned 
to the left side of the keyboard at this time. 
2Set the split point. 
The split point is the location at which the key-
board is divided. To set this point, press the corre-
sponding key with the [SPLIT] button held down. 
Alternatively, you can move the split point by 
pressing the [-/NO] and [+/YES] buttons with the 
[SPLIT] button held down. To restore the split 
point to the default F #2 setting, press the [-/NO] 
and [+/YES] buttons toge ther with the [SPLIT] 
button held down. 
Whenever the [SPLIT] butt on is being held down, 
the display will show the current split point. 
Examples of split points  as shown on display
Layering two Voices with Dual mode
• Two different voices corresponding to the same Voice button—such as 
Grand Piano and Live Grand—cannot be layered. 
• Dual mode and Split mode cannot  be activated at the same time. 
• You can jump directly to Function parameter F3.1 (page 42) by pressing  the [FUNCTION] button with the buttons for the two layered Voices held 
down. 
NOTE
Voice 1 Voice 2
NOTE
Dividing the keyboard with Split 
mode
• Dual mode and Split mode cannot be activated at the same time. 
•
The key that defines the split point is included in the left side of the keyboard. 
• The split point can also be set  using the corresponding Function parameter 
(page 40). 
NOTE
F #2 (defau lt setting)
A-1C1C2C3C4C5C6C7
NOTE
F 2 F~2 E_2
Indicates a sharp 
key (#).  Indicates a flat 
key (
b). 
F2 F#2E b2 
						

							Selecting & Playing Voices
P-255 Owner’s Manual15
3Select a Voice for the right side. 
Use the corresponding Voice button to make your 
selection. 
4Select a Voice for the left side. 
Use the corresponding Voice button with the 
[SPLIT] button held down to make your selection. 
(Whenever the [SPLIT] button is being held 
down, the Voice button corresponding to the left 
side’s Voice will light up.)
Play the keyboard and listen to the sounds pro-
duced. 
When you activate Split mo de, the Voices’ octave 
settings and volume balanc e in addition to their 
reverb and effect types and depths will be auto-
matically optimized. If necessary, however, you 
can change these settings  using the corresponding 
Function parameters (pag e 40). Furthermore, 
these settings can be chan ged individually for the 
left and right Voices. 
5Leave Split mode. 
Press the [SPLIT] button once again and verify 
that its light goes out.  Using the digital piano’s Re
verb function, you can add 
reverberation similar to that of a concert hall to indi-
vidual Voices. Whenever you select a Voice, the most 
suitable reverb will be auto matically set; however, you 
can freely set the reverb type and depth. 
Setting the reverb type
Whenever you press and release the [REVERB] but-
ton, the current reverb type will be shown on the dis-
play. You can then cycle thro ugh the different types by 
pressing the [REVERB] button the required number 
of times. 
Reverb types
Setting the reverb depth
You can change the setting by pressing the [-/NO] and 
[+/YES] buttons with the [REVERB] button held 
down. 
 vaila ble settings: 0 (no effect) to 20 (maxim um re ver b depth)
To restore the Voice to its default reverb depth, press 
the [-/NO] and [+/YES] buttons together with the 
[REVERB] button held down. 
Adding reverb
DisplayTy p eDescription
rt1Room This setting adds a contin
uous rever b 
effect similar to the aco ustic rever beration 
yo u wo uld hear in a small room. 
rt2Hall 1 This setting sim
ulates the natural re ver ber-
ation of a small concert hall. 
rt3Hall 2 This setting sim
ulates the natural re ver ber-
ation of a large concert hall. 
rt4Stage This setting reprod
uces a rever b effect sim-
ilar to that of a li ve m usic en vironment. 
OFFOff With this setting, no re
ver b is applied to the 
Voice and the [REVERB]  button’s light will 
go out. E ven in this sit uation, howe ver, a 
so undboard resonance effect similar to that 
of an acoustic piano will still  be applied to 
certain Voices—specifically, Grand Piano, 
Li ve Grand, Ballad Grand, and Bright 
Grand. 
						

							Selecting & Playing Voices
P-255 Owner’s Manual16 Using the digital piano’s Effect function, you can add 
a range of different audio effects to individual Voices. 
Whenever you select a Voice, the most suitable effect 
will be automatically set; however, you can freely set 
the effect type and depth. 
Setting the effect type
Whenever you press and release the [EFFECT] but-
ton, the current effect type will be shown on the dis-
play. You can then cycle through the different types by 
pressing the [EFFECT] button the required number of 
times. 
Effect types
Adjusting the effect depth
You can change the setting  by pressing the [-/NO] and 
[+/YES] buttons with the [EFFECT] button held 
down. 
 vaila ble settings: 0 (no effect) to 20 (maxim um re ver b depth)
To restore the Voice to its default effect depth, press 
the [-/NO] and [+/YES] butto ns together with the 
[EFFECT] button held down.  The Transpose function allows you to shift the pitch 
of both the keyboard and song playback. In this way, 
you can match your playing to the key of another 
instrument or a singer without having to change what 
you actually play on the keyboard. Transpose settings 
are made in semitone units. For example, if you set the 
transpose amount to “5,” the key C will produce the 
pitch F. You could, therefore,
 play a song as if it was 
in C major and the digital piano would transpose it to 
the key of F major. 
Setting the transpose amount
Use the [-/NO] and [+/YES] buttons while holding 
down the [TRANSPOSE] button to set the transpose 
amount in semitone units. To restore the non-trans-
posed default setting (0), press the [-/NO] and 
[+/YES] buttons together with the [TRANSPOSE] 
button held down. 
 vaila ble settings: -12 (one octa ve lower) to 0 (normal pitch) 
to 12 (one octa ve higher)
Turning transpose on and off
You can press the [TRANSPOSE] button to toggle 
transpose on and off. The  button will light up when 
the instrument is being transposed. Its light will go out 
when transpose is turned of f or the transpose amount 
is 0. 
Adding effects
DisplayTy p eDescription
Et1Chor us This setting can 
be used to make the Voice 
so und thicker and wider. 
Et2Phaser This setting adds a distincti
ve sweeping 
effect to the so und. 
Et3TremoloThis setting can 
be used to add a sh udder-
ing v olume effect. 
Et4Rotary 
speaker This setting prod
uces the vibrato effect of a 
rotary speaker. 
OFFOff With this setting, no effect is applied to the 
Voice and the [EFFECT] 
button’s light will 
go ou t. 
Transposing
• The playback of audio songs cannot be transposed. 
5
Transpose amou nt
NOTE 
						

							Selecting & Playing Voices
P-255 Owner’s Manual17
Using the Tuning setting, yo u can fine tune the pitch 
of the entire instrument. This can be extremely useful 
when playing your digital piano along with other 
instruments or recorded music. 
Tuning is set using Function parameter  F1. Refer to 
page 41 for details. 
The degree to which the instrument reflects differ-
ences in the strength of your playing in the sound pro-
duced is referred to as to uch sensitivity, and this 
setting can be adjusted. (Changing the touch sensitiv-
ity has no effect on the weights of the keys.)
Touch sensitivity is set using Function parameter 
F6 .8. Refer to page 45 for details.  Using your digital piano’s Equalizer function, you can 
adjust the tone of overall instrument by increasing or 
decreasing the gain in three different frequency bands. 
The [EQ] section of the cont
rol panel contains a slider 
for each of these bands, making it very easy to equal-
ize to your liking. 
• LOW slider ..... Used to adjust the tone in the Low 
frequency band. 
• MID slider ...... Used to adjust  the tone in the Mid 
frequency band. 
• HIGH slider ... Used to adjust the tone in the High 
frequency band. 
When you move a slider up , the volume of the corre-
sponding frequency band  will be boosted and vice-
versa. 
• Move the  LOW slider up and down to adjust the 
sound’s thickness and punch. 
• Move the  MID slider up and down if you wish to 
adjust the clarity of the sound. 
• Move the  HIGH slider  up and down to adjust the 
brightness and brilliance of the sound.
Tuning the instrument
Changing the touch sensitivity
Adjusting the tone
• The Equalizer function has no effect on  audio songs or sound input via the [AUX 
IN] jack. 
NOTE 
						

							Selecting & Playing Voices
P-255 Owner’s Manual18 Using your instrument’s Sound Boost function when 
playing along with other instruments, you can raise its 
volume and enhance the presence of your perfor-
mance without making it an
y less expressive. This 
function is particularly useful when you want not only 
notes played very loud, but al so those played softly, to 
be clearly audible.
The [SOUND BOOST] button can be used to toggle 
this function on and off. The button will light up when 
the sound is being boosted. 
Setting the Sound Boost type
You can change the type of Sound Boost applied to 
the instrument’s sound using the [-/NO] and [+/YES] 
buttons with the [SOUND BOOST] button held down. 
To restore the default setting, press the [-/NO] and 
[+/YES] buttons together with the [SOUND BOOST] 
button held down. 
 vaila ble settings: 1 (minim um  boost) to 3 (maxim um  boost)
 ult setting: 2
Sound Boost type list
• If performing live as part of a band: 
.............................................................. See page 36.
• If singing and playing on your own:
.............................................................. See page 38. As described below, your digital piano’s Panel Lock 
function allows you to te
mporarily disable control-
panel buttons to prevent th em being operated uninten-
tionally while performing. 
1Lock the control panel. 
Press the [EFFECT] and [SOUND BOOST] but-
tons together. All control-panel buttons with the 
exception of the [ ] Standby/On switch will be 
disabled. The message “---”  is shown on the dis-
play while the control panel is locked. 
Control panel locked:
2Unlock the control panel. 
Press the [EFFECT] and [SOUND BOOST] but-
tons together once again.  The control panel will be 
unlocked and the display w ill return to the normal 
tempo or song number screen. 
Boosting the overall sound
Display/TypeDescription
1
Pro d ucing smooth dynamics, this type is ideal 
for solo performances of  uplifting songs and 
the like.
2
This type prod uces a smoother, clearer so und 
than Type 1, making it the perfect choice when 
singing and playing at the same time.
3
In addition to a  brighter, more-powerf ul sound 
than Type 2, this type also has a clearer attack. 
As s uch, it is an excellent choice when, for 
example, performing as part of a  band.
• If necessary, you can use the Equalizer (EQ)  to further accentuate the effect of the 
Sound Boost function (page 17).
NOTE
Locking the control panel
• Locking the control panel has no effect on the [ ] Standby/On switch, the 
[MASTER VOLUME] slider, the [EQ] sliders, or any connected pedals 
(pedal unit or sustain pedal). 
NOTE 
						

							P-255 Owner’s Manual19
Using the Metronome
Playing your digital piano along with the built-in metron ome is a great way to perfect your timing. The following 
describes how to use this function. 
1Turn on the metronome. 
Press the [METRONOME] button and verify that 
the metronome starts to play. 
Adjusting the tempo
You can adjust the metronome tempo using the 
[-/NO] and [+/YES] buttons with the [TEMPO] 
button held down. Settings between 5 and 500 
beats per minute (BPM) are supported. To restore 
the default setting of 120 BPM, press the [-/NO] 
and [+/YES] buttons together with the [TEMPO] 
button held down. 
Setting the time signature
Whenever the [METRONOME] button is being 
held down, the display will show the current time 
signature. You can change this setting using the 
[-/NO] and [+/YES] buttons with the [METRO-
NOME] button held down. Settings of between 0 
and 15 are supported—for example, you can set 
“4” if you need a metronome with four beats per 
measure. The first beat of each measure is 
accented with a bell-type sound, and clicks are 
used for the other beats. When the time signature 
is set to “0,” clicks are used for all beats. To 
restore the default setting of 0, press the [-/NO] 
and [+/YES] buttons toge ther with the [METRO-
NOME] button held down. 
2Turn off the metronome. 
You can stop the metronome by pressing the 
[METRONOME] button once again. 
• You can set the metronome volume using the corresponding Function 
parameter (page 40). 
• If a MIDI song (page 21) has been selected:
Each MIDI song has its own default  settings for tempo and time signature. 
Whenever you play one of these songs,  its tempo and time signature will 
be applied, canceling any setting you have made on the instrument. 
The  beat indicator 
flashes in time as the 
metronome plays. 
120.
NOTE
Time signat ure
0
NOTE 
						

							P-255 Owner’s Manual20
Playing Rhythm Tracks
Your digital piano’s Rhythm function provides ten different rhythm tracks for you to play along with. The follow-
ing describes how to use this function. 
1Turn on a rhythm track. 
Press the [RHYTHM] button and verify that a 
rhythm track starts to play. If intro playback has 
been turned on using  the corresponding Function 
parameter (page 40), the rhythm track’s intro sec-
tion will be played first. 
Adjusting the tempo
You can adjust the rhythm track tempo using the 
[-/NO] and [+/YES] buttons with the [TEMPO] 
button held down. Settings between 5 and 500 
beats per minute (BPM) are supported. To restore 
the default setting of 120 BPM, press the [-/NO] 
and [+/YES] buttons together with the [TEMPO] 
button held down. 
2Turn off the rhythm track. 
You can stop a rhythm track by pressing the 
[RHYTHM] button once again. If ending play-
back has been turned on using the corresponding 
Function parameter (page 40 ), the rhythm track’s 
ending section will be played first. 
Selecting a rhythm track
Whenever the [RHYTHM] bu tton is being held down, 
the display will show the  number of the current 
rhythm track. Refer to the Rhythm Track list for the 
corresponding names. 
You can select rhythm tracks 1 to 10 using the [-/NO] 
and [+/YES] buttons with the [RHYTHM] button held 
down. 
To restore the default setting of 1, press the [-/NO] 
and [+/YES] buttons together with the [RHYTHM] 
button held down. 
Rhythm Track list
• A rhythm track cannot be played together with the metronome. 
• The rhythm track volume can be set using the corresponding Function 
parameter (page 40). 
120.
The  beat indicator 
flashes in time as a 
rhythm track plays. 
NOTE
NOTE
NumberTrack name
18 Beat 1
28 Beat 2
316 Beat 1
416 Beat 2
5Shake
612/8
7Sh uffle
8Swing
9Bossano va
10Jazz Waltz