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Topic ClosedElectric Piano vs. Synths?

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Sweetnighter View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Topic: Electric Piano vs. Synths?
    Posted: April 09 2005 at 23:01
I have a tech question for you. Now I know there's a difference between electric pianos, such as the fender rhodes, and a synth, such as a minimoog. Now, I understand that an electric piano has one sound whereas a good synth, such as the minimoog, can produce a nearly unlimited variety of sounds. My question is this: is there any difference in the way the two instruments produce the sound? I've wondered this for quite some time. 
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 10 2005 at 06:08

Absolutely. Electric pianos and organs (and even the Mellotron) are mechanical in nature, not electronic...there's not much difference between an electric piano and a guitar, both use the pickup microphones to take a quiet sound and send it to an amplifier; the tone of the device still depends on the physical components. There's some flexibility (like organ drawbars and tone knobs and such) but you still have a basic unchanging 'real' sound source to work with.

Synthesizers are basically just fancy electronic buzzers; the sound is generated from basic electronic waves and subsequently altered through circuitry. The tone of the instrument depends only on how the circuit (real or computer-modelled) is designed and how creative you get with the settings. With flexible (and/or more numerous) circuit routings, the possibilities of even a basic primitive analog synth (such as the Minimoog) are staggering.

Virtual synths are even one step beyond that, in that the 'circuit' (or even the 'mechanics') are computer-modelled to behave any way you like. A modelled Minimoog doesn't have to worry about the limitations of mid-70's analog circuits, and a modelled electric guitar can be made of granite and have a neck twenty feet long if you want.

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 10 2005 at 12:59
Originally posted by James Lee James Lee wrote:

Absolutely. Electric pianos and organs (and even the Mellotron) are mechanical in nature, not electronic...there's not much difference between an electric piano and a guitar, both use the pickup microphones to take a quiet sound and send it to an amplifier; the tone of the device still depends on the physical components. There's some flexibility (like organ drawbars and tone knobs and such) but you still have a basic unchanging 'real' sound source to work with.

Synthesizers are basically just fancy electronic buzzers; the sound is generated from basic electronic waves and subsequently altered through circuitry. The tone of the instrument depends only on how the circuit (real or computer-modelled) is designed and how creative you get with the settings. With flexible (and/or more numerous) circuit routings, the possibilities of even a basic primitive analog synth (such as the Minimoog) are staggering.

Virtual synths are even one step beyond that, in that the 'circuit' (or even the 'mechanics') are computer-modelled to behave any way you like. A modelled Minimoog doesn't have to worry about the limitations of mid-70's analog circuits, and a modelled electric guitar can be made of granite and have a neck twenty feet long if you want.



Makes sense to me. Thanks James!
I bleed coffee. When I don't drink coffee, my veins run dry, and I shrivel up and die.
"Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso? Is that like the bank of Italian soccer death or something?" -my girlfriend
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 11 2005 at 12:04
Veddy interesdding!!!
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 12 2005 at 10:49
I'd like to  know how a clavi(net) differs from all the other keyboards. An analog clavi, not a digital one, that is.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 12 2005 at 21:43

Clavinets are more related to harpsichords than pianos, but the basic principle is the same: when you press a key, a hammer ('striker' for the Clavinet) hits a string, causing audible vibrations. Like an electric piano or guitar, the Clavinet has built-in pickup microphones to amplify the sound.

What makes a Clavinet so unique? The strings (more like electric guitar strings than piano wire, lots of percussive attack but very little sustain), the 'strikers' (rubber rather than wood or metal) and the biggest humbucker pickups I've ever seen, with a very unique design and response. The Clavinet is also more responsive than many electromechanical keyboards, allowing for wide variations in tone depending on your playing style.

Plus, they really get the most out of effects (overdrive, wah pedals, phasers, etc.) because their tone and output is comparable to electric guitars, which the vast majority of effects were designed for.

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 14 2005 at 12:00
Thanks dude!
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 14 2005 at 16:56
Herbie Hancock is a clavinet god... its just such a funky keyboard!
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"Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso? Is that like the bank of Italian soccer death or something?" -my girlfriend
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 14 2005 at 22:37
yep, the Clav holy trinity for me is Herbie, Stevie Wonder, and the Commodores...and John Paul Jones from "Trampled Underfoot" is the classic rock runner-up. 
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