Electronic Keyboards – Their History and Development

May 27, 2023

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The time period “digital keyboard” refers to any instrument that produces sound by the urgent or hanging of keys, and makes use of electrical energy, not directly, to facilitate the creation of that sound. Using an digital keyboard to provide music follows an inevitable evolutionary line from the very first musical keyboard devices, the pipe organ, clavichord, and harpsichord. The pipe organ is the oldest of those, initially developed by the Romans within the third century B.C., and known as the hydraulis. The hydraulis produced sound by forcing air by way of reed pipes, and was powered via a handbook water pump or a pure water supply similar to a waterfall.

From it is first manifestation in historic Rome till the 14th century, the organ remained the one keyboard instrument. It usually didn’t function a keyboard in any respect, as a substitute using massive levers or buttons that have been operated through the use of the entire hand.

The next look of the clavichord and harpsichord within the 1300’s was accelerated by the standardization of the 12-tone keyboard of white pure keys and black sharp/flat keys present in all keyboard devices of at present. The recognition of the clavichord and harpsichord was finally eclipsed by the event and widespread adoption of the piano within the 18th century. The piano was a revolutionary development in acoustic musical keyboards as a result of a pianist might range the amount (or dynamics) of the sound the instrument produced by various the drive with which every key was struck.

The emergence of digital sound know-how within the 18th century was the following important step within the improvement of the trendy digital keyboard. The primary electrified musical instrument was regarded as the Denis d’or (constructed by Vaclav Prokop Dovis), relationship from about 1753. This was shortly adopted by the “clavecin electrique” invented by Jean Baptiste Thillaie de Laborde round 1760. The previous instrument consisted of over 700 strings quickly electrified to reinforce their sonic qualities. The later was a keyboard instrument that includes plectra, or picks, that have been activated electrically.

Whereas being electrified, neither the Denis d’or or the clavecin used electrical energy as a sound supply. In 1876, Elisha Grey invented such an instrument known as the “musical telegraph.,” which was, basically, the very first analog digital synthesizer. Grey found that he might management sound from a self-vibrating electromagnetic circuit, and so invented a fundamental single notice oscillator. His musical telegraph created sounds from the electromagnetic oscillation of metal reeds and transmitted them over a phone line. Gray went on to include a easy loudspeaker into his later fashions which consisted of a diaphragm vibrating in a magnetic area, making the tone oscillator audible.

Lee De Forrest, the self-styled “Father Of Radio,” was the following main contributor to the event of the digital keyboard. In 1906 he invented the triode digital valve or “audion valve.” The audion valve was the primary thermionic valve or “vacuum tube,” and De Forrest constructed the primary vacuum tube instrument, the “Audion Piano,” in 1915. The vacuum tube turned an integral part of digital devices for the following 50 years till the emergence and widespread adoption of transistor know-how.

The last decade of the 1920’s introduced a wealth of latest digital devices onto the scene together with the Theremin, the Ondes Martenot, and the Trautonium.

The following main breakthrough within the historical past of digital keyboards got here in 1935 with the introduction of the Hammond Organ. The Hammond was the primary digital instrument able to producing polyphonic sounds, and remained so till the invention of the Chamberlin Music Maker, and the Mellotron within the late 1940’s and early 1950’s. The Chamberlin and the Mellotron have been the primary ever sample-playback keyboards meant for making music.

The digital piano made it is first look within the 1940’s with the “Pre-Piano” by Rhodes (later Fender Rhodes). This was a 3 and a half octave instrument made out of 1946 till 1948 that got here geared up with self-amplification. In 1955 the Wurlitzer Firm debuted their first electrical piano, “The 100.”

The rise of music synthesizers within the 1960’s gave a robust push to the evolution of the digital musical keyboards we now have at present. The primary synthesizers have been extraordinarily massive, unwieldy machines used solely in recording studios. The technological developments and proliferation of miniaturized strong state parts quickly allowed the manufacturing of synthesizers that have been self-contained, transportable devices able to being utilized in dwell performances.

This started in 1964 when Bob Moog produced his “Moog Synthesizer.” Missing a keyboard, the Moog Synthesizer was not actually an digital keyboard. Then, in 1970, Moog debuted his “Minimoog,” a non-modular synthesizer with a built-in keyboard, and this instrument additional standardized the design of digital musical keyboards.

Most early analog synthesizers, such because the Minimoog and the Roland SH-100, have been monophonic, able to producing just one tone at a time. A number of, such because the EML 101, ARP Odyssey, and the Moog Sonic Six, might produce two completely different tones without delay when two keys have been pressed. True polyphony (the manufacturing of a number of simultaneous tones which permit for the taking part in of chords) was solely obtainable, at first, utilizing digital organ designs. There have been quite a few digital keyboards produced which mixed organ circuits with synthesizer processing. These included Moog’s Polymoog, Opus 3, and the ARP Omni.

By 1976, extra design developments had allowed the looks of polyphonic synthesizers such because the Oberheim 4-Voice, and the Yamaha sequence CS-50, CS-60, and CS-80. The primary actually sensible polyphonic synth, launched in 1977, was the Sequential Circuits Prophet-5. This instrument was the primary to make use of a microprocessor as a controller, and in addition allowed all knob settings to be saved in laptop reminiscence and recalled by merely pushing a button. The Prophet-5’s design quickly turned the brand new commonplace within the digital keyboards trade.

The adoption of Musical Instrumental Digital Interface (MIDI) as the usual for digital code transmission (permitting digital keyboards to be linked into computer systems and different units for enter and programming), and the continued digital technological revolution have produced large developments in all points of digital keyboard design, building, perform, sound high quality, and price. At present’s manufactures, similar to Casio, Yamaha, Korg, Rolland, and Kurzweil, at the moment are producing an abundance of well-built, light-weight, versatile, nice sounding, and inexpensive digital keyboard musical devices and can proceed to take action properly into the foreseeable future.

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