All About the Electronic Keyboard

Keyboards are a common sight in many bands and stage performances but not many people know of their evolution. How and where were they invented, who invented them and who were the first pioneers of the keyboard?The term keyboard in itself is one which is confusing as an instrument with keys covers a large selection of instruments' For instance there are to name but a few the harpsichord, clavichord, piano, hurdy gurdy, accordion, pipe organ, electric keyboard, electric piano and electric organ.
What this article is going to cover is the electronic keyboard which is the most recognised of all the instruments which utilise a musical keyboard. There are certain elements which make up the electronic keyboard those being:
The black and white layout of the keys which you would find to be similar to those of the traditional acoustic piano. When these keys are struck by the player they communicate with the keyboard's circuit which in turn triggers a noise corresponding to the note of the key.
The aforementioned keyboard software chip also known as the matrix is what controls the keyboards sound and enables the user to select from multiple sounds, effects and supporting sound tracks which can play simultaneously as the player for example, a drum beat.
The third main component of the electronic keyboard is the rhythm and chord generator this is, "...a software program which produces rhythms and chords by the means of MIDI electronic commands."
What is MIDI?MIDI stands for 'musical instrument digital interface,' which is the main component of many electronic musical instruments and many of the electronics used widely in the music industry.Lastly the keyboard consists of the sound generator which interprets and creates the signals communicated by the MIDI to be broadcast through the keyboard's amplifier and speakers.During the researching of this article it was discovered that the category of keyboards is often categorised further more often than not by the retailers and manufacturers of keyboards. They are usually split into three categories dependant on size and use.
Category one is 'digital pianos' pianos which look and play most like the traditional acoustic piano but still operate from a digital matrix.The second category is, 'stage pianos' which are of course keyboards that are made for and optimised for stage performance.Lastly keyboards are categorised into is the most complex and capable 'synthesizers' which can be almost infinite in the capability to create new and different sounds and effects.

タグ：keyboard