Functions of a Keyboard

Functions of a Keyboard

Piano Pedals
The Sustain Pedal (the rightmost pedal)

When the sustain pedal is depressed it stops the damper bar from returning to the string resulting in the note continuing on without being pressed, Also other notes around the main note will also ring softly creating more harmonic sounds.

The Sostenuto Pedal (the middle pedal)

When the sostenuto pedal is depressed it stops the damper bar from returning to the string of that particular note and this will continue to sustain for as long as the pedal is depressed and any note played after that will not sustain so this helps players play bass notes whilst playing notes over that.

The Una Corda Pedal (The leftmost pedal)

When the Una Corda Pedal is depressed it moves the hammer to the right which makes it hit only 2 strings instead of 3, this softens the note and modifies the tone quality.

Difference between Grand Piano & Upright Piano
The main difference is the piano action, as the Upright Piano is sensitive and is not very good at capturing a true essence of a song, The Grand Piano is able to play notes in quick repetition as the the hammer hits the strings in a downwards motion whereas on a upright piano the hammer hits the strings from the side  meaning that it is slower.
The price of a Grand Piano is much more than the price of Upright Piano.
The pedals on the the upright piano have a different effect on the piano as the hammer and strings are set up in a different way. E.g. The Una Corda pedal does not move the hammer sideways, it just moves it closer to the strings.


Midi Keyboards
The parameters you can control using a midi keyboard are; Velocity, Timing, Data in to software and Duration.

By pressing the keys hard you can make the data input to have a high velocity and by pressing them soft you can make the velocity lower. you choose when a note is played and the duration of it by pressing it when you want it played and by holding it down to increase the duration.
There is also a pitch bend on some midi controllers that can be used when a note is played to change the pitch.

Using a sustain pedal on a midi controller will make the software sustain that one note no matter what instrumental that it is, for as long as it is pressed down. But with a piano the note that is sustained will begin to lose velocity whereas using a sustain pedal on a midi controller the velocity will remain the same throughout.

Using a midi controller instead of recording straight from a piano has some advantages as well as some disadvantages. An advantage of using a midi controller is that you can edit data that is input into the software. For example you can shorten note lengths if played for too long, you can remove notes that are played by mistake. You can also change different things about the note like velocity, the way it is played e.g. if it slides or normal.
Disadvantages about using a midi controller are that it will not have the natural feel to it that a piano will have, also it takes away the natural ability to play a piano as it can be edited whereas using a piano it must be done in one take.