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DM Music > Knowledge Base > Instruments Knowledge > Keyboards

Keyboards

The Laypersons' Guide to Keyboard Terms
Midi Keyboards
Synthesizers

The Laypersons' Guide to Keyboard Terms

Accompaniment styles
A feature of many Portable Keyboards that provides a 'full band' accompaniment to your playing. A number of different styles is generally available extending to many hundreds on more expensive keyboards.

Acoustic Piano
A 'real' piano with hammers, strings and a sound-board.

Arpeggiator
A device on some synthesizers that allows you to create repeated melodic or rhythmic patterns (eg. guitar 'strumming')

Clavinova
A Yamaha brand name referring to a particular range of Digital Pianos.

Control Keyboard
A keyboard or piano whose primary purpose is to control several other electronic musical instruments via MIDI (see below). Some Control Keyboards have no built in sounds themselves.

Digital Piano
Electronic pianos that are designed to sound and feel as much like an Acoustic Piano as possible. The sounds always originate in some way from the recording af an acoustic piano, and are stored in electronic memory (wee Wave ROM below)

Dual Voice
A feature on most keyboards and digital pianos which allows you to layer two sounds together (piano & strings for example). This can create a pleasingly lush sound as you play.

Dynamic Stereo Sampling
The phrase Yamaha give to the way they record the original sounds for their digital pianos. Each note from a concert grand piano is recorded (or Sampled - see below) at three different volumes and once with the damper pedal pressed. These 'Samples' are then stored inside the digital piano, along with 'samples' of sound-board resonance, and it is these sounds that you hear when you play.

Equalizer
Exactly the same as a 'Graphic Equalizer' on a hi-fi system, this allows you to make adjustments to the overall tone of the instrument.

Expression Pedal
A foot pedal that allows you to adjust the volume of the instrument. You can often set a keyboard up so that the expression pedal adjusts the volume of the 'Dual' or 'Layered' sound.

Furniture Piano
A digital piano designed to be more of a permanent installation and built inside a wooden cabinet of some sort. They are generally moveable, but not designed to be portable.

General MIDI (GM)
A set of 128 different instrumental sounds which is common to many electronic musical instruments accross all manufacturers. Standard MIDI files are designed to trigger sounds from this set.

Graded Hammer Action
Yamaha's term for their most authentic-feeling keyboard action. On an acoustic piano, the notes get lighter to press as you move from the bottom of the keyboard to the top. Graded Hammer Action recreates this effect.

GS
A variation on General MIDI (GM) specific to some Roland keyboards and pianos.

Hammer Action
A weighted action that is designed to emulate the feel of an acoustic piano. The notes are evenly weighted and it is therefore not quite as authentic as Graded or Progressive Hammer action.

Layer
Synonymous with Dual Voice

MIDI
An achronym standing for 'Musical Instrument Digital Interface'. It is the means via which one electronic instrument can be linked to and communicate with another. To connect instruments, MIDI cables are used which then carry MIDI signals relating to whatever control is needed. A common example would be the connection of a Sound Module to a Stage Piano to provide extra sounds, or the connection of a keyboard to a computer.

MIDI File
Music that has been prerecorded in MIDI format, usually onto a 3.5" floppy disk. A Standard MIDI file is designed to trigger the General MIDI Soundset (see above), and can be played back on any keyboard or piano which contains this soundset.

MIDI in/out/thru
The various sockets on an electronic instrument that allow you to plug in MIDI cables to connect to other equipment.

Patch
A pre-set sound on a keyboard. Sometimes called 'Voice'.

Polyphony
The maximum number of notes that can sound simultaneously on a keyboard or piano - tends to range from 32 notes to 128 notes. Even 32 notes may sound like more than plenty (we only have 10 fingers after all!) but bear in mind that the number includes all notes sustained by the sustain pedal.

Progressive Hammer Action
A term coined by Roland, and synonymous with Graded Hammer Action (see above)

Sample
The name given to the recording of an acoustic sound which is then incormorated into a digital instrument.

Touch Sensitivity
A phrase meaning that if you press a note hard, it will sound louder than a note pressed softly. Most keyboards not have touch sensitivity, but on some instruments, it is adjustable to ones personal taste.

Sequencer
Allows you to record up to (usually) 16 instrumental tracks one after the other to create complex musical textures. As you record a particular track, you are able to listen to the instruments you've recorded previously. For example, to build up a song, you might start by recording a rhythm part, then a piano part, then a guitar part, then strings, then flute etc. When you've finished, you can save your recording as a MIDI FIle (see above)

Sound Module
A small box containing lots of sounds, designed to attach to a control keyboard or stage piano via MIDI. They give access to many more sounds than are conventionally available on a digital piano.

Split
The facility whereby one sound can be played with the right hand, and a different sound by the left. The point at which this 'split' occurs can usually be set by the player.

Stage Piano
A digital piano designed to sound and feel as authentic as possible whilst still being portable.

Synthesizer
A professional standard keyboard. Sometimes designed for live use, and sometimes designed more for a studio, a synthesizer will allow a sound to be created from it's basic waveforms and then processed using various effects. The user is therefore only limited by their imagination when creating musical sounds and effects. Some synthesizers have advanced Sequencers (see above) built in, and some have the ability to record (or Sample) sounds via a microphone or other input and include this within a composition. These are sometimes called a 'Workstation' or 'Synth-Workstation'.

To Host Port
A special type of MIDI connector found on some instruments.

USB Port
Found on an increasing number of keyboards nowardays, this allows easy MIDI connection to a computer.

Wave ROM
The memory inside an instrument which holds all the sounds. The higher the Wave ROM, the better quality the sound (broadly speaking).

Weighted Action
Sometimes synonymous with Hammer Action, this refers to a keyboard that has some resistance on the keys, but is not quite as authentic as Graded Hammer Action.

XG
Yamaha's version of GS (see above)

MIDI / Portable keyboards

MIDI keyboards are no longer toys. Over the last few years advances in sampling technology have meant that, as the size and the price of these instruments has grown smaller, they are more feature-packed, versatile and easy to play than ever – and they sound great! Indeed, the technology inside these machines is superior to that of professional keyboards of just a few years ago, at a fraction of the price. As the specialist in sales of MIDI files for worship - over 200,000 sold since 1995! - through the www.worship-downloads.com website, we here at DM Music are in the perfect position to help you find the MIDI keyboard that’s just right for your needs.

These keyboards are designed as all-in-one MIDI file solutions allowing complete musical performances to be recorded, arranged and played back through your amplifier or PA system with no additional hardware (or musicians!) necessary. Indeed, many of these keyboards even feature built-in speakers, so they are literally all that you need for your instrumental performances. Here are some of the ways that you can use these amazing instruments:-

The MIDI file player
With so many churches now using MIDI files as accompaniment for worship, the keyboards in this section are ideal for use as MIDI playback devices. All conform to General MIDI specifications, so that song files can be loaded in and the parts assigned to the correct instrumental groups automatically. The 'What’s MIDI' section of the DM Knowledge Base explains the many advantages of using MIDI files in this way in more detail, but one great feature is the ability to transpose a song into a different key at the press of a button - no more worrying about whether the backing is in the right key for your singers! Similarly, if there are musicians at your worship meeting, the relevant musical parts can be muted instantly, so that your guitarist can play along without having to compete with the MIDI guitar part. This is something that of course could never be done with CDs or cassette tapes.

Playing without accompaniment
The keyboards in this section can all be played live as normal instruments, and boast hundreds (and in some cases, thousands) of preset synthesized or sampled voices. It is usually possible to split the keyboard so that, for example, your left hand could be playing bass guitar notes whilst your right hand played the main part on the piano, or to have two sounds playing simultaneously across the keyboard. Touch-sensitive keys mean that the subtle dynamics of acoustic instruments are faithfully captured.

The band in the box
Using the built-in sequencer to record and replay individual instrument parts, whole arrangements can be put together so that at the push of a button you can have a full band backing you whilst you add a live keyboard part on top. Once the instrumental parts are written into the sequencer they can be edited and the arrangement changed as you wish - for example, if the drum sound isn’t quite what you are looking for simply change the drum kit you are using, or swap the flute line for, say, a harpsichord to change the whole feel of your compositions. Arrangements can be speeded up, slowed down and transposed into different keys; the possibilities are endless. All the instruments also feature digital effects such as reverb and chorus, giving a polished 'produced' sound to your performances.

The Arranger Keyboard
The term 'arranger keyboard' applies to keyboards that include auto-accompaniment features. These vary from model to model, but all allow you to generate arrangements in various styles to accompany your playing. At the top end of the range keyboards sport many additional features such as weighted, piano-action keys, larger numbers of ultra-realistic sounds and accompaniment styles and greater connectivity to computers and storage devices. Some models such as the Yamaha PSR-3000 and the Roland G-70 allow the user to connect a microphone and add effects and harmonies to your voice, and show the musical score and lyrics on large LCD displays, bringing the technology of the recording studio to your music.

Storage and connectivity
As internal memories have got larger and computers are in more and more locations, the floppy disc drives of earlier models are gradually being replaced by USB connections, meaning that your song data can be stored and backed up on a computer. In this way, songs can easily be downloaded from the internet (www.worship-downloads.com) and transferred to your keyboard at the click of a mouse. The computer connectivity also gives scope for editing and for sharing your own compositions, or for transferring an older collection of song files on floppy disc, for example. For those people who would prefer to keep their files on floppy disc, we have included keyboards in the selection which have a floppy disc drive built-in, and others with a Smart Media slot, allowing you to carry literally thousands of files around on a card no bigger than a postage stamp!

Synthesizers

Synthesizers have come a long way in the last 25 years. Gone are the days when they were mainly used to provide electronic bleeps and drones, or synthetic string pads on most of the pop records of the 1980s, Nowadays the synth is a much more versatile instrument, more faithful to the name, as it literally synthesizes the sounds of a vast array of instruments, acoustic and electronic, and has to cover all the musical bases. Of course the electronic bleeps and drones are still there if needed, but thanks to wave sampling so are ultra-realistic emulations of everything from pianos to percussion. This truly is the cutting edge of high-tech music production.

The synthesizer is often the main or only keyboard instrument in a live band, and therefore performance control is a paramount requirement. Modern instruments such as the Yamaha MO8 provide real-time controls in the form of knobs and sliders, making it easy to adjust parameters in the middle of a live performance, rather than having to wade through a series of menus. Features such as touch-sensitivity, aftertouch and other controllers are also invaluable for instant manipulation of the sounds. Programmes can be combined and layered together to form combinations of massive, multilayered sounds, or the keyboard split into zones playing different sounds in different areas. Arpeggiators are more sophisticated than ever; the Korg X50 for example having two polyphonic arpeggiators allowing complex sequenced rhythm patterns to be generated with just one finger. Advanced effects processing in modern instruments includes features which just a few years ago were the preserve of the recording studio; everything from powerful reverb algorithms to the lo-fi, timestretch and beat-slicing effects of modern dance music is available.

A modern synthesizer has to be equally at home in the studio as on stage, and it is important that instruments can interface easily with other equipment such as computers and sequencers. USB ports make connection with MIDI equipment, storage devices and hard disc recording equipment easier than ever. Integration with computer software means that synths such as the MO6 or MO8 can be controlled and edited by your recording software. Some instruments feature digital outputs making it possible to record directly to a computer in the digital domain. Others have multiple outputs making it possible for individual parts to be sent to their own mixer channels for routing and processing separately, useful both in the studio and when playing live. Although synthesizers are designed to be used with external sequencers and computers, some models include sequencing functions to be used as a musical sketch pad to get ideas down quickly; handy when rehearsing or away from your recording set-up!

In summary, whilst the synthesizer continues to grow ever more powerful, recent developments allowing easier connectivity with computers and other devices mean that they are simpler than ever to operate.

DM Music > Knowledge Base > Instruments Knowledge > Keyboards

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