A digital
piano (sometimes incorrectly referred to as an electric piano) is a modern
electronic musical instrument, different from the electronic keyboard, designed
to serve primarily as an alternative to the traditional acoustic piano, both in
the way it feels to play and in the sound produced. It is intended to provide
an accurate simulation of an acoustic piano. Some digital pianos are also
designed to look like an acoustic piano. While digital pianos may fall short of
a real piano in feel and sound, they nevertheless have other advantages over
acoustic pianos.
The following is a non-exhaustive list of advantages offered by digital pianos over acoustic pianos:
In most implementations, a digital piano produces a variety of piano timbres and usually other sounds as well. For example, a digital piano may have settings for a concert grand piano, an upright piano, a tack piano, and various electric pianos such as the Fendeer Rhodes and Wurlitzer. Some digital pianos incorporate other basic "syhthesizer" sounds such as string ensemble, for example, and offer settings to combine them with piano.
The sounds produced by a digital piano are samples stored inROM.
Digital pianos do have limitations on the faithfulness with which they reproduce the sound of an acoustic piano. These include the lack of implementation of harmonic tones that result when certain combinations of notes are sounded, limited polyphony, and a lack of natural reverberation when the instrument is played percussively. They often lack the incidental acoustic noises associated with piano playing, such as the sounds of pedals being depressed and the associated machinery shifting within the piano, which some actually consider a benefit. These limitations apply to most acoustic instruments and their sampled counterparts, the difference often being described as "visceral".
On an acoustic piano, the sustain pedal lifts the dampers for all strings, allowing them to resonate naturally with the notes played. Digital pianos all have a similar pedal switch to hold notes in suspension, but only some can reproduce the resonating effect.
Many digital pianos include an amplifier and loudspeakers so that no additional equipment is required to play the instrument. Some do not. Most digital pianos incorporate headphone output.
MIDI
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_piano
Advantages
The following is a non-exhaustive list of advantages offered by digital pianos over acoustic pianos:
- Sound level can be adjusted, and headphones
can be used. This allows to practice where (and when) the sound of the
instrument would disturb other people.
- Compared to acoustic pianos, digital pianos
are generally less expensive and also cheaper to maintain (they do not
require regular tunings).
- They are less sensitive to the room climate changes
and can be used for training in places like basements.
- They are much more likely to incorporate a
- They may have more features to assist in
learning and composition.
- They often have a transposition feature.
- They do not require the use of microphones,
eliminating the problem of audio feedback in sound reinforcement, as well
as simplifying the recording process.
- Most models are smaller and considerably
lighter, but there are large ones as well. Some of them are also portable
and they weigh less than 20 lbs.
- Depending on the individual features of each
digital piano, they may include many more instrument sounds including
strings, guitars, organs, and more.
Sounds
In most implementations, a digital piano produces a variety of piano timbres and usually other sounds as well. For example, a digital piano may have settings for a concert grand piano, an upright piano, a tack piano, and various electric pianos such as the Fendeer Rhodes and Wurlitzer. Some digital pianos incorporate other basic "syhthesizer" sounds such as string ensemble, for example, and offer settings to combine them with piano.
The sounds produced by a digital piano are samples stored in
Digital pianos do have limitations on the faithfulness with which they reproduce the sound of an acoustic piano. These include the lack of implementation of harmonic tones that result when certain combinations of notes are sounded, limited polyphony, and a lack of natural reverberation when the instrument is played percussively. They often lack the incidental acoustic noises associated with piano playing, such as the sounds of pedals being depressed and the associated machinery shifting within the piano, which some actually consider a benefit. These limitations apply to most acoustic instruments and their sampled counterparts, the difference often being described as "visceral".
On an acoustic piano, the sustain pedal lifts the dampers for all strings, allowing them to resonate naturally with the notes played. Digital pianos all have a similar pedal switch to hold notes in suspension, but only some can reproduce the resonating effect.
Many digital pianos include an amplifier and loudspeakers so that no additional equipment is required to play the instrument. Some do not. Most digital pianos incorporate headphone output.
Since the
inception of the MIDI [Musical Instrument
Digital Interface] interface standard in the early 1980s, most digital pianos
can be connected to a computer. With appropriate software, the computer can
handle sound generation, mixing of tracks, music notation, musical instruction,
and other music composition tasks.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_piano
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