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Pressing a key on the keyboard makes the instrument produce sounds—either by mechanically striking a string or tine (acoustic and electric piano, clavichord), plucking a string (harpsichord), causing air to flow through a pipe organ, striking a bell , or activating an electronic circuit (synthesizer, digital piano, electronic keyboard).
In 1915 he invented the first vacuum tube instrument, the audio piano. Until the invention of the transistor , the vacuum tube was an essential component in electric instruments. In 1935, the Hammond organ was introduced, [ 7 ] exploiting previous limited production efforts like the Robb Wave Organ [ 8 ] from 1923.
The earliest known keyboard instrument was the Ancient Greek hydraulis, a type of pipe organ invented in the third century BC. [2] The keys were likely balanced and could be played with a light touch, as is clear from the reference in a Latin poem by Claudian (late 4th century), who says magna levi detrudens murmura tactu . . . intonet, that is "let him thunder forth as he presses out mighty ...
Piano actions are complex mechanical devices which impose very specific design requirements, virtually all of which were met by Cristofori's action. First, a piano action must be arranged so that a key press does not actually lift the hammer all the way to the string. If it did, the hammer would block on the string and damp its vibrations.
Piano Grand piano Upright piano Keyboard instrument Hornbostel–Sachs classification 314.122-4-8 (Simple chordophone with keyboard sounded by hammers) Inventor(s) Bartolomeo Cristofori Developed Early 18th century Playing range The Well-Tempered Clavier, first prelude of Book I Played by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka Problems playing this file? See media help. A piano is a keyboard instrument that ...
However, during the clavichord's heyday, evenings of music-making in the home formed the largest part of people's musical experiences. In the home the clavichord was the ideal instrument for solo keyboard music and instrumental accompaniment. [citation needed] Organists also were known to practice in their homes on pedal clavichords.
Working for CBS, Rhodes introduced the 73-note Fender Rhodes Suitcase Piano, which combined a keyboard, amplifier and speaker cabinets. In 1970, the company started making the Stage Piano, without the speakers, which could be transported more easily and plugged into amplifiers or sound systems. Full, 88-key models were also made.
Keyboard instruments are any instruments that are played with a musical keyboard, which is a row of small keys that can be pressed. Every key generates one or more sounds; most keyboard instruments have extra means ( pedals for a piano, stops and a pedal keyboard for an organ) to manipulate these sounds.