It is a curious paradox of the music industry: guitarists, particularly rock guitarists, are often thought of as trendsetters when it comes to fashion and culture; but when it comes to their instruments, they are notoriously conservative. Innovations such as active electronics, guitar synthesizers and Steinberger’s intrepid steps into the field of headless instruments in the 80′s have failed to make much of a dent in the market. Gibson and Fender continue to dominate the electric guitar market much as they did in the 1950′s and 60′s. Even with the entry of new competitors into the market over the years such as Ibanez, Paul Reed Smith and Charvel/Jackson, the electric guitar has remained essentially unchanged with one to three magnetic pickups and a mess of wires connecting them to the controls. But things may be about to change! Read the rest of this entry »
Archive for category Electronic Piano
Electric Guitar Technology 101
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Tips For Buying Your First Music Keyboard
Most people that choose to learn to play a piano are either not sure that they want to spend lots of money on a proper model, or they cannot afford a full size acoustic piano. The perfect solution is to start using an electronic piano or keyboard. The good this about these models is that they are quite inexpensive and can be purchased for under $100. However, once you start to look, you will find that the higher priced models are better and offer different options which you need to consider. If this is your first keyboard and you are a beginner, there are a few points that you will need to think about before you pay.
The most important point to note is the number of keys on the keyboard. A traditional piano has 88 keys so you should try to find one that matches that if possible. If you can’t find one, a keyboard with 76 keys will suffice for learning and will last for at least 2 years. As a rule of thumb, never buy a keyboard with less than 61 keys. It will not be of any help to even the most beginner of students.
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The MIDI Controls on an Electronic Piano Keyboard
Almost all electronic piano keyboard functions have MIDI controls. They use an interface to send data as well as receive data. Now what is this data thats sent or received by these controls. For the simplest type of keyboard, data would be sent at the moment you press a key on a keyboard. These signals would then determine the specific note that has been pressed and the duration of the act or pressing down of the note. The duration has to be acknowledged because the amount of time the key is being pressed down for; has to be the same on the receiver or other keyboard source.
Along with this signal there are other factors working which enables the success of the MIDI control. Each key that you touch has a sensor to it. Now, the function of this touch sensor is to sense the amount pressure that is being applied to the key and according the depth of sound produced, that note will vary. For more pressure the sound will be deeper while for less pressure it will be mild. Previously, only professional digital keyboards included MIDI. However, today all the electronic piano keyboards use it for effective sound production.
The main purpose of the MIDI on an electronic piano keyboard is actually to produce a variety of sounds rather than just improving the quality of sound. This function is often preferred, as it enables the user to produce a variety of digital effects in the music he or she is playing. You can have effects like delay, reverberation, tremolo and the very common chorus effect. These effects help enhance the sound sensation of your music and therefore create different registers of track in the listener.
