Editing Electronic keyboard (section)

==Concepts and definitions==
[[File:Electronickeyboard.jpg|thumb|right|288px|Playing an electronic keyboard.]]
* '''Auto accompaniment / chord recognition''': Auto accompaniment allows single key presses to trigger entire chords, often within a specific rhythm and style (e.g., rock, pop). Many keyboards can automatically play these chords in tempo with an onboard rhythm track, and offer the ability to form complex chords like inversions.
* '''Demonstration''': Most keyboards come with demo songs showcasing various sounds and effects.&nbsp; These can be used by salespeople, for self-learning with lighted keys highlighting the correct notes, or simply for enjoyment.
* '''[[Keyboard expression|Velocity sensitivity]]''' (or touch sensitivity) allows keyboards to mimic the sound variations caused by how hard a key is pressed. Cheaper keyboards offer basic volume control, while more expensive models replicate the tonal changes of acoustic instruments. This can be done with multiple sensors, multiple samples per key, or by modeling the sound behavior (ADSR envelope).
* '''After-touch''': A feature brought in the late 1980s (although synthesizers like the [[Yamaha CS-80|CS-80]] extensively used by artists like [[Vangelis]] featured after-touch as early as 1977) whereby dynamics are added after the key is hit, allowing the sound to be modulated in some way (such as fade away or return), based upon the amount of pressure applied to the keyboard.  For example, in some synth voices, if the key continues to be pressed hard after the initial note has been sounded, the keyboard will add an effect such as vibrato or sustain. After-touch is found on many mid-range and high-range synthesizers, and is an important modulation source on modern keyboards. After-touch is most prevalent in music of the mid to late 1980s, such as the opening string-pad on [[Cock Robin (band)|Cock Robin's]] ''When Your Heart Is Weak'', which is only possible with the use of after-touch (or one hand on the volume control). After-touch is not normally found on inexpensive, beginner-level home keyboards.
* '''[[Polyphony (instrument)|Polyphony]]''': In digital music terminology, polyphony refers to the maximum number of notes that can be produced by the sound generator at once. Polyphony allows significantly smoother and more natural transitions between notes. Inexpensive toy electronic keyboards designed for children can usually only play five to ten notes at a time. Many low priced keyboards can perform 24 or 32 notes at a time. More advanced keyboards can perform over 48 notes at a time with 64 or 128 notes being common. Digital pianos, has more complex polyphonic system and could perform by up to 256 notes.
* '''Multi-timbre''': The ability to play more than one kind of instrument sound at the same time, such as with the Roland MT-32's ability to play up to eight different instruments at once.
* '''Split point''': The point on a keyboard where the choice of instrument can be split to allow two instruments to be played at once. In the late 1980s it was common to use a MIDI controller to control more than one keyboard from a single device. The MIDI controller had no sound of its own, but was designed for the sole purpose of allowing access to more sound controls for performance purposes. MIDI controllers allowed one to split the keyboard into two or more sections and assign each section to a MIDI channel, to send note data to an external keyboard. Many consumer keyboards offer at least one split to separate bass or auto-accompaniment chording instruments from the melody instrument.
[[File:Casio Sampling Keyboard PT-280 (with ROM Pack), taken over by baby.jpg|thumb|right|200px|A child playing a Casio keyboard with small-size minikeys.]]
* '''Minikeys''': Most electronic keyboards have keys that are similar to the size of keys on an acoustic piano. Some electronic keyboards have minikeys, either because they are targeted at child users or to make the instrument smaller and more portable. 
* '''Accompaniment backing tracks''': Pre-programmed musical accompaniment tracks (also called '''rhythm pattern''' or '''rhythm style''' by some manufacturers), consist of a variety of genres for the player to use (e.g., pop, rock, jazz, country, reggae). The keyboard plays a chord voicing and rhythm which is appropriate for the selected genre. In general, programmed backing tracks usually imitate the sound of a [[rhythm section]] or an [[Musical ensemble|ensemble]]. Certain keyboards may include a feature that allows the performer to create, compose and customize their own accompaniments. This feature is usually called a '''pattern sequencer''', '''rhythm composer''', or a '''style creator'''.
** In addition to the basic accompaniment tracks, some keyboards have an extra feature to play different loops in conjunction with the backing track itself.
* '''Accompaniment sections and synchronization''': Usually, backing tracks comprises two to four sections, as well as fill-in patterns, introduction/ending patterns, and various synchronizations to improve the effects of the accompaniment.
* '''Tempo''': A parameter that determines the speed of rhythms, chords and other auto-generated content on electronic keyboards. The unit of this parameter is ''beats per minute''. Many keyboards feature audio or visual [[metronome]]s (using graphics on a portion of the display) to help players keep time.
* '''Auto harmonization''': A feature of some keyboards that automatically adds secondary tones to a note based upon chords given by the accompaniment system, to make harmony easier for players who lack the ability to make complex chord changes with their left hand.
* '''Wheels and knobs''': Used to add effects to a sound that are not present by default, such as [[vibrato]], [[panning (audio)|panning]], [[ADSR envelope|envelope]],  [[tremolo]], [[pitch bending]], [[portamento]] and so on. A common control on contemporary keyboards is the '''pitch bend wheel''', adjusting the pitch of a note usually in the range of [[major second|2 semitones]]. The pitch bend wheel is usually on the left of the keyboard and is a spring-loaded [[potentiometer]]. Some keyboards include a [[joystick]], which often combines all the aforementioned functions in one control unit.
* '''Drawbars''': Usually found only on high-end, expensive keyboards and workstations, this feature allows the performer to emulate digitally-modeled sounds of a [[tonewheel|tonewheel organ]] (hence ''drawbar''). It consists of nine editable virtual sliders that resemble the drawbars of a tonewheel organ, and features various effects such as rotary speaker, percussion, and tremolo.
* '''Piano simulation''': A common feature of the [[digital piano]], [[stage piano]], and high-end workstations that allows real-time simulation of a sampled [[piano]] sound. It provides various piano-related effects, such as room reverberation, [[sympathetic resonance]], piano lid position (as on a grand piano), and settings to adjust the tuning and overall sound quality.
* {{anchor|Keyboard action}}'''Keyboard action''' describes the mechanism and feel of the keyboard. Keyboards can be roughly divided into ''non-weighted'' and ''weighted.''
** '''Non-weighted keyboards''' have a light, springy feel to their keys, similar to the action of an organ. The least expensive keyboards, often with non-full size keys, use keys that are mounted on soft rubber pads that also act as electronic switches. Most electronic keyboards use spring-loaded keys that make some kinds of playing techniques, such as backhanded sweeps, impossible, but make the keyboards lighter and easier to transport. Players accustomed to acoustic piano keys may find non-weighted spring-action keyboards uncomfortable and difficult to play effectively. Conversely, keyboard players accustomed to the non-weighted action may encounter difficulty and discomfort playing on an acoustic piano.
** '''Weighted keyboards''' indicate that some kind of effort has been made to give the keyboard more resistance and responsive feel similar to that of an acoustic piano.
*** ''Semi-weighted keys'' is a term applied to keyboards with spring action like a non-weighted keyboard but that have extra weight added to the keys to give them more resistance and responsive feel.
*** ''Hammer action keys'' use some kind of mechanism to replicate the action of a mechanical piano. This is often achieved with some kind of lever mechanism connected to the key.
*** ''Graded hammer action keys'' do what hammer action keys do, but also has a different feel on the low versus high notes as on a mechanical piano keyboard. The lower note keys have a higher resistance than the higher note keys.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tania |title=What Is A Semi Weighted Keyboard? |url=https://sound-unsound.com/what-is-a-semi-weighted-keyboard/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201026092435/https://sound-unsound.com/what-is-a-semi-weighted-keyboard/ |archive-date=2020-10-26 |access-date=2020-10-02 |website=Sound Unsound}}</ref><ref name="PMT UK">Glynn, Lee (2018) [https://www.pmtonline.co.uk/blog/2018/06/27/weighted-keyboards-weighted-keys-matter "What are weighted keyboards & why do weighted keys matter?"] pmtponline.co.uk</ref>