- A digital piano emulates the sounds that come from a traditional acoustic piano by using using digital recordings of various sounds that come from a piano. The digital piano's amplifiers and speakers replace the traditional piano's strings and hammers. Each stroke or action on a digital piano is assigned a weight to produce or imitate a specific action of an acoustic piano.
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The technology involved in a digital piano is quite impresive. It includes a keyboard that recognizes the weight value assigned to every key movement, a sensor to detect the speed with which the keys are played, and a digitized sound bank to store each sound recording for playback.
The digitized sound bank is full of sounds recorded for each note that were made by recording actual music coming from a traditional piano.
The technology is such that when you hit a key, the sensor will tell how hard it is hit, which will generate a noise that is not only the correct note but at the right sound level: Hit the key softly and you will hear a soft sound; hit it with more force and the opposite happens. -
Unlike an acoustic piano, digital pianos can emulate other instruments and even make unique electronic sounds. Many come programmed with sounds mimicking a pipe organ, a harpsichord or even a full orchestra. Generally speaking the more you pay the more bells and whistles your digital piano will have. A low-end digital piano can be purchased for well under $1,000, with a high-end model costing upwards of $6,000.
Because everything is digitally stored, you can use the input jack to plug in a set of speakers to blast your music, or insert a set of headphones to play in relative silence.
