UNIT 37: The Functional Music Keyboard

Types of keyboard expected to know Skills requiews

Piano The most versatile and commonly used keyboard instrument is the Piano. These instruments usually have 88 keys and are rather grand or vertical. They are called this because the strings are arre arranged in a tall vertical position arranging from 30 to 60 inches. There are 4 different types of vertical piano, these are: Spinnet Pianos- These are the smallest types of piano and are often sold at a low price. They are useful for people who do not have a lot of space for a piano. Due to the lack of right and direction of strings they often have a lower sound quality in comparison to other types of piano. They also have less power due to the small size but are ideal for beginners. Consoles: Concert Pianist 5 hours of practiced a day Solo Recitals Jazz gigs (often with vocalists) being able to take the back seat and not be the centre of attention. Repetiteur - a rehearsal pianist often used in dance and musical theatre. Sight reading Repertoire Organist 88 keys on a piano Different piano sounds/pianos are better for different things. Control over dynamics is important for pianos, they can also change the timbre. Sustain pedal - natural reverb Sostenuto pedal Soft pedal Prepared Piano harpshichord

Harmonium, Accordion and Melodica these work by air being blown through air Pipe Organ Organs are very different to the piano as they have stops and may have several pedals. No control over dynamic and sustain on individual notes with your fingers. They do not have a sustain pedal. Takes a lot more being precise as they cannot cover up mistakes. A manual is the the single keyboards they have, usually at least 2, Hammond Organ B3 is the classic. They are electric. Has 2 manuals and the pedals however there are no stops just drawbars. These give you control over the different harmonics and the sound. Hammond players can control their dynamics and timbre with thier draw bass. Hammond organs play through Leslie/rotary speaker, these spin and you can change the speed, this is another way of controlling intensity. This is similar to vibrato. Glissandos are much easier on a Hammond. Overdrive is also ver common on these, also a volume, swell pedal these help with dynamics but like a pipe organ you cannot control the dynamics of individual notes. Band Keyboard Playing Usually one synthesiser and not an acoustic piano. 'romplers' are the keyboards that have thousands of sounds, but these sounds are often not amazing. YAMAHA Motif. Can save and record different sounds and should be prepared. Vintage analog mono synth. Cannot play chords, only one at a time. They sound beefer and fatter than digital synths. They have filters, oscillators the you can choose different waves for. No way of saving sounds, more modern ones have met memory's. No control over dynamics and sustain pedal, but control over anything else. Think more about shaping sound than the physical notes you are playing. They feel more like musical instruments. Fender Rhodes The actions on these keyboard are quite strange, they plug into a guitar. Laptops

Working with controller keyboards and laptops. This is often good if you have good soft synths. Very flexible. Disadvantages, many things to set up and plug in so more things can go wrong. Laptops may also crash. Good music technology skills.