10 Things You Might Not Know About the Electric Keyboard

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 15:23:20 +0000

1. Some of you may think of someone playing the electronic keyboard as a “pianist”. Well you’d be wrong. They would actually be referred to (by someone who knows what they are talking about) as a “keyboardist”. Sounds clumsy, but it’s true.
2. The term “electronic keyboard” is used to mainly describe the cheap end portable home sequencing keyboards, but is also commonly used to include many variants such as the digital piano, the synthesizer, the electric organ and the arranger keyboard.
3. Many electronic keyboards commonly use MIDI signals to send and receive musical data. MIDI is essentially a sequence of instructions that identify the sound used, the note pressed, the duration of that press, although the complexity of the MIDI system will vary with each keyboard. Some cheaper end models of electric keyboard (such as keyboard toys) simply will not output that data.
4. Many keyboards have the ability to add a “foot switch” or “sustain pedal” as it is commonly referred to. The application of the foot switch enables a pressed note to “ring” for longer and better replicate the sounds of many keyboard based instruments including the organ and the piano.
5. Electronic keyboards across the world have been commonly built by instrument manufacturers such as Alesis, Casio, Ensoniq, E-mu, Kawai, Ketron, Korg, Kurzweil Music Systems, M-Audio, Moog Music, Ne-Ko, Roland, Technics, Yamaha and Sonic to name but a few!
6. Features that keyboardists would be interested in when choosing a keyboard include touch response, after touch, polyphony (the number of notes that can be played at the same time), multi-timbre (playing more than one instrument at the same time), tempo, split point (the ability to split the playing area into different instruments), style, synchronisation, auto harmony, wheels and knobs (to control and vary different features on the keyboard) and response (weighted or spring loaded).
7. Synthesizers are actually slightly different from the standard electronic keyboard in that they can produce a variety of sounds by generating, combining and distorting signals of different frequencies. Unlike the keyboard, the synthesizer produces an electric signal (rather than an acoustic signal) which can then be played through an amplifier of some kind. Synthesizers are most commonly controlled by a keyboard device, although this is often integrated into the machinery.
8. Perhaps the most infamous synthesizer is the Moog Synthesizer, famous for its role in many 1970s and 1980s pop hits and popularly used by artists such as Jean Michelle Jarre and Duran Duran.
9. The earliest incarnations of the non-electric keyboard are the pipe organ, the hurdy gurdy and the harpsichord. The organ is the oldest of these from perhaps as early as the third century AD.
10. The first keyboard to be powered by electricity is said to be the “Ondes Martenot” which appeared in the early 20th century (approx. 1928). It is actually still played today in some French conservatoires thanks to some compositions written specifically for the Ondes Martenot. It produces eerie wavering notes and was produced by “varying the frequency of oscillation in thermionic valves”. Whatever than means…

Why Should You Buy An Electronic Keyboard?

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 12:25:39 +0000

Many people will buy a battery run toy keyboard rather than an electronic keyboard. More often than not the reason is safety and price. Obviously a toy version is much cheaper than an electronic version but if you are really into keyboards then electronic is something you should consider. Here we will discuss the very special sound technicalities that you can produce while using these particular types of instruments.Generally a keyboard of the electronic type has the following qualities. There is something called a touch response along with an after touch effect. The touch response is actually a touch sensitivity that these keyboards express when played hard or soft. This quality enables the player to produce prolonged and short, deep and mild sounds on the same note. It all depends on the pressure and the duration for which you are holding a particular key. The after touch is also of a similar type where you can modulate the sound depending on the pressure applied on any single key. Then there is the polyphony, denoting the total number of sounds that you can play at any one time. Usually, the lower priced children’s keyboards play only one single note at a time while on the more expensive professional types you can play many tones at the same time. A maximum of ten notes can be played at one time in any high end electronic keyboard.After this we come to multi timbre, rhythm, tempo and the split point. The multi timbre feature allows you to play many types of instruments at the same time. For example, you can play the piano, violin and the harmonium all at the same time, this is multi timbre. When using the tempo control, you just decide which rhythm you want and what speed you need, it’s simple. You can slow down as well as quicken with a touch of a button. With the split point however, you can actually split your keys into two different sections where each section plays a different instrument from the other. Say twelve keys play the piano while the rest play the mandolin. This is possible only with an electronic keyboard and you might find you can buy one for about the same price as a toy piano.

Yamaha PSRS700 Arranger Workstation Keyboard » Split Point

10 Things You Might Not Know About the Electric Keyboard

Why Should You Buy An Electronic Keyboard?