Introduction to Synthesizer Controls

Video Transcript

"Hi, I'm Ben Anderson with Expert Village. And today I'm here to talk to you about the different controls on a keyboard and what they're used for. So there are a lot of different controls that are on a keyboard. Many of them involve different things like volume. There are other things called attack and resonance and release and cut-off, which are all very important to the influence of the sound that you're working with. Other controls that you work with on a keyboard are switching through and toggling through the built-in sounds that your keyboard will come with. Many keyboards will come with at least fifty or so sounds to choose from, to manipulate different instruments. And there are many different controls to be able to cycle through them. Over here on the left side of the keyboard, we have our volume control knob, as well as the different types of knobs that will affect the way your sound is going to sound to your ears, including your attack and release, cut-off, and resonance. Over on the right side of the keyboard, you will see--you have perform and tone select buttons. And those will be able to help you cycle through all the different sounds you'll be able to find within your keyboard. When you're playing in a live band, a lot of times, if one built-in sound, say, rings out longer than what you would want it to, there's the release button that you could use, and you could change the release of the sound. What that would do is then shorten the length of the sound. It would make the sound not last as long as when you play it. For example, the sound there holds and sustains for a while. Now, if I change the release and I shorten it, it cuts off immediately. So that's an important thing to consider when playing with these different controls. And that's only one of the many options that you do have with a keyboard."