Usuário:Elderson Félix/Piano digital

Um moderno piano digital Yamaha Clavinova CLP-470PE

Um piano digital, incorretamente referido como um piano elétrico, é um instrumento musical moderno, diferente do teclado eletrônico, desenhado para servir primariamente como uma alternativa ao piano tradicional, no sentido do toque e do som produzido. Tem como objetivo prover uma simulação acurada de um piano real. Alguns pianos digitais são também desenhados para parecerem como um piano acústico. Enquanto pianos digitais ficam aquém do piano real na sensação e no som, eles possuem muitas vantagens sobre pianos acústicos.

Vantagens

A lista a seguir é apenas demonstrativa das vantagens oferecidas por pianos digitais sobre os acústicos:

• Comparado com pianos acústicos, os digitais são mais baratos.
• A maioria dos modelos é menor e consideravelmente mais leves, mas existem os modelos grandes também.
• Não possuem cordas e por isso não necessitam de afinação. Podem ser facilmente adaptados a diferentes tonalidades que são demandadas.
• Dependendo das características de cada piano digital, podem incluir sons de muitos outros instrumentos musicais como violinos, guitarras, órgãos e mais.
• Possuem a capacidade de incorporar uma interface digital para instrumentos musicais MIDI e colocá-la em prática facilmente.
• They may have more features to assist in learning and composition.
• They usually include headphone output.
• They often have a transposition feature.
• They do not require the use of microphones, eliminating the problem of audio feedback in sound reinforcement, as well as simplifying the recording process.

Sounds

Minuet in F Major by Johann Sebastian Bach from the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach, played with a digital piano

Minuet in G major (BWV Anh. 114) from the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach, played with a digital piano

In most implementations, a digital piano produces a variety of piano timbres and usually other sounds as well. For example, a digital piano may have settings for a concert grand piano, an upright piano, a tack piano, and various electric pianos such as the Fender Rhodes and Wurlitzer. Some digital pianos incorporate other basic "synthesizer" sounds such as string ensemble, for example, and offer settings to combine them with piano.

The sounds produced by a digital piano are samples stored in ROM. The samples stored in digital pianos are usually of very high quality and made using world class pianos, expensive microphones, and high-quality preamps in a professional recording studio{{carece de fontes}}.

Digital pianos do have limitations on the faithfulness with which they reproduce the sound of an acoustic piano. These include the lack of implementation of harmonic tones that result when certain combinations of notes are sounded, limited polyphony, and a lack of natural reverberation when the instrument is played percussively. They often lack the incidental acoustic noises associated with piano playing, such as the sounds of pedals being depressed and the associated machinery shifting within the piano, which some actually consider a benefit. These limitations apply to most acoustic instruments and their sampled counterparts, the difference often being described as "visceral".

On an acoustic piano, the sustain pedal lifts the dampers for all strings, allowing them to resonate naturally with the notes played. Digital pianos all have a similar pedal switch to hold notes in suspension, but only some can reproduce the resonating effect.

Many digital pianos include an amplifier and loudspeakers so that no additional equipment is required to play the instrument. Some do not. Most digital pianos incorporate headphone output.

Shape and form

Yamaha P-140S

The physical form of a digital piano can vary considerably. Most vaguely resemble a low upright piano (but usually lacking a fully enclosed lower section). Others, notably Yamaha's "GranTouch" range are based on the casework of traditional upright or grand instruments. An opposite and recent trend is to produce an instrument which has a unique and distinctive appearance, unobtainable with a conventional instrument. Yamaha makes a model which is designed to stand against a wall and is far shallower from keyboard to back than any possible upright design.

Yet another form is the "stage piano", designed for use with a live band. This type of digital piano normally makes no attempt to imitate the physical appearance of an acoustic piano, rather resembling a modern synthesizer or music workstation. A distinguishing feature of most stage pianos is a lack of internal loudspeakers and amplification - it is normally assumed that a powerful keyboard amplifier or PA system will be used.

There are also digital piano modules, which are simply keyboardless sound modules chiefly containing piano samples. One early example of a digital piano module is the Roland MKS-20 Digital Piano.

Keyboard and pedals

Just like a traditional piano, a digital piano features a keyboard. A digital piano's keyboard is weighted to simulate the action of a traditional piano and is velocity sensitive so that the volume of the sounds depends on how hard the keys are pressed. Many instruments now have a complex action incorporating actual hammers in order to better simulate the touch of a grand piano.

Many digital pianos, especially those that resemble an acoustic piano, have built-in pedals that function much as those on an acoustic piano.

Other features

Most digital pianos implement a variety of features not found on a traditional piano.

Digital pianos usually offer a MIDI connection, allowing them to control or be controlled by other electronic instruments and sequencers. They may also have a disk drive or other external media slot to load MIDI data, which the piano can play automatically, allowing it to function as a player piano.

Some have a built-in sequencer to aid in composition.

It may have illuminated keys so that a beginner can learn a piece by playing keys that are lit.

Some can transpose music as it is played, allowing the pianist to play in a familiar key while the piano renders it in another.

An acoustic piano produces reverberation in its soundboard and in the room where it is played. Digital pianos often have a feature to electronically simulate reverberation as well. Other digital pianos may have additional reverberation options such as a "stage simulation." Some also have chorus, tremolo, and phaser effects.

Some offer additional voices; common ones are string instruments, harpsichord, organs, clavichord, etc.

Since the inception of the MIDI interface standard in the early 1980s, most digital pianos can be connected to a computer. With appropriate software, the computer can handle sound generation, mixing of tracks, music notation, musical instruction, and other music composition tasks.

Manufacturers

Manufacturers continue to develop technology for both sound and feel covering a wide range of quality and cost. Well-known manufacturers of digital pianos include Yamaha, Roland, Kurzweil, Clavia, Casio, Korg, and Kawai.

See also

• Electronic piano

External links

• BosendorferImperial.com - includes history of the 290SE (first reproducing computer controlled pianos developed in 1978), their modern CEUS system, with complete audio files of songs & images.