What soothes your ears is good music. Music which enables you to fall in love, which gives you inner peace, which makes you sit down, which enables you to see the beauty in everything your eyes, sees. Music which introduces you to your own heart.
One such music is released through an instrument named “Pianoâ€. Invented in Italy Piano has its own range of music. It‘s played using a keyboard. The music released from piano is soft, soothing and pleasing for ears which make it a essential instrument in Western classical music, rock, jazz, blues, folk music and various other forms of music.
Because of its range of music and adaptability it is been used extensively in solo performances, movie songs, Albums, concerts etc which makes it one of the most important musical instrument used for creating good music. Pianos are essentially used in music education in universities & colleges as they are used to teach music.
Piano was invented in 1700 by Bartolomeo Cristofori in Padua (Italy). He tagged piano as
Un cimbalo di cipressp di piano e forte which translates in English as (a keyboard of cypress with soft & loud.).
Design
The emergence of pianos came in different shapes and designs which are no longer used nowadays and have become a museum antiques. Vintage pianos came in rectangular shapes, however were termed as Square pianos. These were extremely famous and largely sold in Europe in 1840‘s and carried on the same fame in 1890‘s in United States.
Types
The enhanced pianos came with two specifications.
Grand Piano: – These are horizontal pianos wherein the strings are extending away from the keyboard. There are different sizes of grand pianos.
- Petite Grand-This one is the smallest in the range of horizontal pianos. It ranges from 4 feet 5 inches to 4 feet 10 inches. Although it is small but yet powerful.
- Baby Grand – This one is very popular type of Piano, it is around 4 feet 11 inches to 5 feet 6 inches. It is a nice Piano and ranges in affordable cost which has well sound quality and has artistic appeal.
- Medium Grand – It is larger than the Baby grand Piano and is around 5 feet and 7 inches.
- Parlour Grand – It is around 5 feet and 9 inches to 6 feet 1 inch. It is also known as living room Piano. It gives an elegant look to your living room as it is beautiful in look and has awesome sound quality.
- Semi concert OR Ballroom – It is around 6 feet 2 inches to 7 feet.
- Concert Grand -This is the largest of all the Pianos, around 9 feet in length.
Upright Piano: – These are also called vertical pianos and comparatively are more compact as the frames and strings are vertical. Upright pianos are largely used in music teaching as rehearsals and practice instruments.
Silent Piano: – These are acoustic pianos where in you can silent the strings by stopping the hammers from striking them. Silent pianos can also be played without disturbing others by using head phones.
Disklavier: – The typical Disklavier is an acoustic piano fitted with electronic sensors for recording & electromechanical solenoids for play back. Sensors record the movements of the keys, hammers & pedals & the systems saves the performance data as MIDI file. On play back the solenoids move the keys and pedals which reproduces the original performance. Current generation Disklaviers include list of electronic features as built in tone generator, speakers, MIDI connectivity which supports communication with computing devices, additional ports for audio & SMPTE I/O & internet connectivity. These have been also manufactured in form of upright, baby grand & grand piano styles.
Digital Pianos: – Digital pianos are a special type of electronic keyboard or synthesizer to serve as an alternative to the acoustic pianos. These are also known as piano synthesizer or weighted keyboards. Some digital pianos are designed to look like acoustic piano both the upright and the grand style.
Stage Pianos: – Stage pianos provide a small number of sounds typically acoustic piano, electric piano & Hammond organ. They share some of the same features as digital pianos and electronic synthesizers; however they have a number of varied features which set them apart. Stage pianos are used for onstage performances as the name suggests. They have a heavier & more robust body which is better able to withstand the stress of heavy touring. These are designed to be used with a separate portable stand and portable sustain pedals.
Synthesizers: – Synthesizers generates electric signals and convert to sound through loudspeakers or headphones. They are played with a keyboard but can also be controlled via variety of other input devices as music sequencers, instrument controllers, fingerboards, guitar synthesizers, wind controllers & electronic drums.
It has various roles in musical world.
- Synth lead – Synth lead is generally used for playing the main melody of the song and also for creating rhythmic or bass effects.
- Synth pad – It is a tone generated by synthesizers for background harmony & atmosphere. It plays many whole or half notes.
- Synth bass – It is used to create sounds in bass range. From simulations of the electric bass or double bass to distorted, buzz-saw – like artificial bass sounds through generating and combining signals of different frequencies. Bass synth patches may consists a range of sounds & tones like wavetable – style, analog & FM – style bass sounds, delay effects, distortion effects, envelope filters.
Digital Keyboards: – It means any type of digital keyboard instrument including synthesizers, digital pianos, stage pianos, electronic organs & music work stations. In musical world it is a simpler type of synthesizer with build in speakers. These are designed for non professionals and home use. These are cheaper then synthesizer.
