The term “electronic keyboard” refers to any instrument which produces sound from the pressing or striking of keys, and uses electricity, in some way, to facilitate the development of that sound. Using good digital piano to create music follows an inevitable evolutionary line from the very first musical keyboard instruments, the pipe organ, clavichord, and harpsichord. The pipe organ is the oldest of those, initially created by the Romans in the 3rd century B.C., and known as the hydraulis. The hydraulis produced sound by forcing air through reed pipes, and was powered by means of a manual water pump or perhaps a natural water source such as a waterfall.
From it’s first manifestation in ancient Rome until the 14th century, the organ remained the only keyboard instrument. Many times, it did not include a keyboard in any way, instead utilizing large levers or buttons that were operated by utilizing the whole hand.
The subsequent appearance of the clavichord and harpsichord inside the 1300’s was accelerated by the standardization from the 12-tone keyboard of white natural keys and black sharp/flat keys present in all keyboard instruments of today. The buzz from the clavichord and harpsichord was eventually eclipsed from the development and widespread adoption of the piano in the 18th century. The piano was actually a revolutionary advancement in acoustic musical keyboards because a pianist could vary the quantity (or dynamics) in the sound the instrument made by varying the force with which each key was struck.
The emergence of electronic sound technology in the 18th century was the following essential step in the creation of the present day electronic keyboard. The very first electrified musical instrument was regarded as the Denis d’or (built by Vaclav Prokop Dovis), dating from about 1753. This is shortly followed by the “clavecin electrique” invented by Jean Baptiste Thillaie de Laborde around 1760. The previous instrument consisted of over 700 strings temporarily electrified to improve their sonic qualities. The later was a keyboard instrument featuring plectra, or picks, that were activated electrically.
While being electrified, neither the Denis d’or or the clavecin used electricity being a sound source. In 1876, Elisha Gray invented this kind of instrument referred to as “musical telegraph.,” that was, essentially, the first analog electronic synthesizer. Gray discovered that he could control sound from a self-vibrating electromagnetic circuit, and thus invented a simple single note oscillator. His musical telegraph created sounds from the electromagnetic oscillation of steel reeds and transmitted them more than a telephone line. Grey continued to add an easy loudspeaker into his later models which was comprised of a diaphragm vibrating in a magnetic field, making the tone oscillator audible.
Lee De Forrest, the self-styled “Father Of Radio,” was another major contributor to the creation of the electronic keyboard. In 1906 he invented the triode electronic valve or “audion valve.” The audion valve was the very first thermionic valve or “vacuum tube,” and De Forrest built the initial vacuum tube instrument, the “Audion Piano,” in 1915. The vacuum tube became an essential component of electronic instruments for the following 50 years up until the emergence and widespread adoption of transistor technology.
The decade of the 1920’s brought an abundance of new electronic instruments on the scene including the Theremin, the Ondes Martenot, as well as the Trautonium.
The next major breakthrough within the past of piano keyboard weighted keys started in 1935 with the introduction of the Hammond Organ. The Hammond was the very first electronic instrument capable of producing polyphonic sounds, and remained so until the invention of the Chamberlin Music Maker, and also the Mellotron in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s. The Chamberlin and also the Mellotron were the first ever sample-playback keyboards designed for making music.
The electronic piano made it’s first appearance within the 1940’s with all the “Pre-Piano” by Rhodes (later Fender Rhodes). This is a 3 along with a half octave instrument made from 1946 until 1948 that came built with self-amplification. In 1955 the Wurlitzer Company debuted their first electric piano, “The 100.”
The increase of music synthesizers within the 1960’s gave a powerful push for the evolution in the electronic musical keyboards we have today. The first synthesizers were extremely large, unwieldy machines used only in recording studios. The technological advancements and proliferation of miniaturized solid state components soon allowed producing synthesizers which were self-contained, portable instruments able to being utilized in live performances.
This began in 1964 when Bob Moog produced his “Moog Synthesizer.” Lacking a keyboard, the Moog Synthesizer had not been truly a digital keyboard. Then, in 1970, Moog debuted his “Minimoog,” a non-modular synthesizer using a built-in keyboard, and this instrument further standardized the design of electronic musical keyboards.
Most early analog synthesizers, such as the Minimoog and the Roland SH-100, were monophonic, capable of producing just one tone at the same time. A couple of, like the EML 101, ARP Odyssey, as well as the Moog Sonic Six, could produce two different tones at once when two keys were pressed. True polyphony (the production of multiple simultaneous tones which allow for uwetwb playing of chords) was only obtainable, in the beginning, using electronic organ designs. There have been a number of electronic keyboards produced which combined organ circuits with synthesizer processing. These included Moog’s Polymoog, Opus 3, and the ARP Omni.
By 1976, additional design advancements had allowed the look of polyphonic synthesizers including the Oberheim Four-Voice, and also the Yamaha series CS-50, CS-60, and CS-80. The initial truly practical polyphonic synth, introduced in 1977, was the Sequential Circuits Prophet-5. This instrument was the first one to utilize a microprocessor as a controller, as well as allowed all knob settings to get saved in computer memory and recalled by simply pushing a button. The Prophet-5’s design soon took over as the new standard in the electronic keyboards industry.
The adoption of Musical Instrumental Digital Interface (MIDI) as the standard for digital code transmission (allowing electronic keyboards to be connected into computers as well as other devices for input and programming), and the ongoing digital technological revolution have produced tremendous advancements in all aspects of best electric piano keyboard, construction, function, sound quality, and price. Today’s manufactures, like Casio, Yamaha, Korg, Rolland, and Kurzweil, are producing a great deal of well-built, lightweight, versatile, great sounding, and affordable electronic keyboard musical instruments and definately will continue to accomplish this well into the foreseeable future.
