's Clavinova is a long-running line of digital pianos]] A digital piano is a modern electronic musical instrument, different from the electronic keyboard, designed to serve primarily as an alternative to a traditional piano, both in the way it feels to play and in the sound produced. Some digital pianos are also designed to look like an acoustic piano. While digital pianos may fall short of the genuine article in feel and sound, they nevertheless have many advantages over normal pianos:

Compared to acoustic pianos, digital pianos are generally less expensive.

Most models are smaller and considerably lighter, but there are large ones as well.

They have no strings and thus do not require tuning.

Depending on the digital piano, they may include many more instrument sounds including strings, guitars, organs, and more.

They are much more likely to incorporate a MIDI implementation.

They may have more features to assist in learning and composition.

They usually include headphone output.

They often have a transposition feature.

They do not require the use of microphones, eliminating the problem of audio feedback in sound reinforcement, as well as simplifying the recording process.

Sounds

In most implementations, a digital piano produces a variety of piano timbres and usually other sounds as well. For example, a digital piano may have settings for a concert grand piano, an upright piano, a tack piano, and various electric pianos such as the Fender Rhodes and Wurlitzer. Some digital pianos incorporate other basic "synthesizer" sounds such as string ensemble, for example, and offer settings to combine them with piano.

The sounds produced by a digital piano are samples stored in ROM. Despite the fact that a digital piano plays samples, it is not a sampler because it lacks the ability to record samples. It does, however, qualify as a rompler.

The samples stored in digital pianos are usually of very high quality and made using world class pianos, expensive microphones, and high-quality preamps in a professional recording studio.

Digital pianos do have limitations on the faithfulness with which they reproduce the sound of an acoustic piano. These include the lack of implementation of harmonic tones that result when certain combinations of notes are sounded, limited polyphony, and a lack of natural reverberation when the instrument is played percussively. They often lack the incidental acoustic noises associated with piano playing, such as the sounds of pedals being depressed and the associated machinery shifting within the piano, which some actually consider a benefit. These limitations apply to most acoustic instruments and their sampled counterparts, the difference often being described as "visceral".

On an acoustic piano, the sustain pedal lifts the dampers for all strings, allowing them to resonate naturally with the notes played. Digital pianos all have a similar pedal switch to hold notes in suspension, but only some can reproduce the resonating effect.

For the vast majority of listeners, however, professional recordings made with a digital piano are difficult or impossible to distinguish from a recording made with an acoustic piano.

Many digital pianos include an amplifier and loudspeakers so that no additional equipment is required to play the instrument. Some do not. Most digital pianos incorporate headphone output.

Shape and form

P-140S]]

The physical form of a digital piano can vary considerably. Most vaguely resemble a low upright piano (but usually lacking a fully enclosed lower section). Others, notably Yamaha's "GranTouch" range are based on the casework of traditional upright or grand instruments. An opposite and recent trend is to produce an instrument which has a unique and distinctive appearance, unobtainable with a conventional instrument. Yamaha makes a model which is designed to stand against a wall and is far shallower from keyboard to back than any possible upright design.

Yet another form is the "stage piano", designed for use with a live band. This type of digital piano normally makes no attempt to imitate the physical appearance of an acoustic piano, rather resembling a modern synthesizer or music workstation. A distinguishing feature of most stage pianos is a lack of internal loudspeakers and amplification - it is normally assumed that a powerful keyboard amplifier or PA system will be used.

There are also digital piano modules, which are simply keyboardless sound modules chiefly containing piano samples. One early example of a digital piano module is the Roland MKS-20 Digital Piano.

Keyboard and pedals

Just like a traditional piano, a digital piano features a keyboard. A digital piano's keyboard is weighted to simulate the action of a traditional piano and is velocity sensitive so that the volume of the sounds depends on how fast the keys are pressed. Many instruments now have a complex action incorporating actual hammers in order to better simulate the touch of a grand piano; these hammers do not actually hit strings, but since a real piano's hammer is in free flight when it contacts the string it could be argued that this difference would not affect the instrument's touch anyway.

Many digital pianos, especially those which physically resemble a piano, have built-in pedals which modify the instrument's behavior in the same way pedals on a regular piano do. As with traditional pianos, some digital pianos omit the sostenuto and/or the una corda pedals. Some digital pianos have jacks for pedals to be attached at the user's option.

Other features

Most digital pianos implement a variety of features not found on a traditional piano.

Digital pianos are implemented for MIDI, so they can control or be controlled by other electronic instruments and sequencers. They may also have a disk drive or other external media slot to load MIDI data, which the piano can play automatically. In this way, a digital piano can function as a player piano.

Some digital pianos have a built-in sequencer to aid in composition. They usually let you record a minimum of 2 tracks.

A digital piano may have lights associated with keys so that a beginning piano player can learn a piece by playing lit keys.

Some digital pianos can transpose music as it is played. This allows the pianist to play a piece using the fingering of a familiar key while the piece is actually heard in another.

A standard piano creates natural reverberation inside its soundboard and in the room where it is played. Digital pianos often have a feature to electronically simulate reverb as well. Other digital pianos may have additional reverberation options such as a "stage simulation."

In addition to reverberation, some (as seen on Yamaha's and Kawai's websites) have additional effects to add to the sound such as a "chorus" effect.

Other typical high-quality voices that go along with piano are strings, harpsichords, organs, etc.

Since the 1980s, computers and digital pianos have connected via MIDI to perform various functions such as software synthesis (computer-generated sound), musical notation (printing of music), Musical sequencer (recording of MIDI and digital audio) and interactive music lessons (from lesson supplements to complete courses of study). Since 2000, a generation of CEMI (Computer Enhanced Musical Instruments) has emerged that incorporates software and internet technologies into musical instruments.

The ePiano is one example of how CEMI technology is incorporated into digital pianos.

Manufacturers

Manufacturers continue to develop technology for both sound and feel covering a wide range of quality and cost. Well-known manufacturers of digital pianos include Yamaha, Roland, Kurzweil, Clavia, Casio, Korg, Kawai.

See also

Electronic piano

Clavia

Clavinova

Privia

References

External links

BosendorferImperial.com - includes history of the 290SE (first reproducing computer controlled pianos developed in 1978), their modern CEUS system, with complete audio files of songs & images.

- digital piano resource site

Kiplinger's Personal Finance Sep 1996

Kiplinger's Personal Finance Apr 2001

Practical Piano Pedagogy: The Definitive Text for Piano Teachers and Pedagogy Students Alfred Music Publishing, 2003

Playing piano and keyboards David & Charles, 2004

Category:Electric and electronic keyboard instruments Category:Electronic music instruments Category:Piano

Roland (Frankish: Hruodland) (died 15 August 778), also known as Count Roland, was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the Matter of France. Historically, Roland was military governor of the Breton March, with responsibility for defending the frontier of Francia against the Bretons. His only historical attestation is in Einhard's Vita Karoli Magni, which describes him as Hruodlandus Brittannici limitis praefectus ("Roland, prefect of the limits of Brittany") when narrating his death at the Battle of Roncesvalles, when the rearguard, under his command, and the baggage train of a Frankish army was beset by rebellious Basques.

Roland's death during retreat from a campaign in Spain was transmogrified in later medieval and Renaissance literature. He became the chief paladin of the emperor Charlemagne and a central figure in the legendary material surrounding Charlemagne, collectively known as the Matter of France. The first and most famous of these epic treatments was the Old French Chanson de Roland of the eleventh century. Two masterpieces of Italian Renaissance poetry, the Orlando innamorato and Orlando furioso, are even further detached from history than the earlier Chansons. Roland is poetically associated with his sword Durendal, his horse Veillantif, and his horn Oliphaunt.

History

There exists only one historical mention of a French Roland, found in the section of Vita Karoli Magni on Roncevaux Pass, written by Charlemagne's courtier and biographer Einhard. The passage appears in Chapter 9:

Roland was evidently the first official appointed to direct Frankish policy in Breton affairs, as local Franks under the Merovingian dynasty had not previously pursued any specific relationship with the Bretons. Their frontier castle districts such as Vitré, Ille-et-Vilaine) south of Mont Saint-Michel are now divided between Normandy and Brittany. The distinctive culture of this region preserves the present-day Gallo language and legends of local heroes such as Roland. Roland's successor in Brittania Nova was Guy of the Breton March, who like Roland, was unable to exert French expansion over Brittany and merely sustained a Breton presence in the Carolingian Empire.

According to legend, Roland was laid to rest in Blaye, near Bordeaux. Tradition states that the hero Roland was buried in its basilica, which was on the site of the citadel.

Legend

Roland was a popular legendary figure in medieval Europe. Over the next several centuries, Roland became a "pop icon" in medieval minstrel culture. According to many legends, he was a nephew of Charlemagne (whether or not this was true is unknown), and turned his life into an epic tale of the noble Christian killed by Islamic forces, which forms part of the medieval Matter of France.

The tale of Roland's death is retold in the eleventh century poem The Song of Roland, where he is equipped with the Olifant (a signalling horn) and an unbreakable sword, enchanted by various Christian relics, named Durendal. The Song of Roland was adapted and modified throughout the Middle Ages, including an influential Latin prose version Historia Caroli Magni (also known as the Pseudo-Turpin Chronicle), which also includes Roland's battle with a Saracen giant named Ferracutus who is only vulnerable at his navel (the story was later adapted in the anonymous Franco-Venetian epic L'Entrée d'Espagne (c.1320) and in the 14th century Italian epic La Spagna (attributed to the Florentine Sostegno di Zanobi and likely composed between 1350–1360).

Roland's friendship with Olivier and his engagement with Olivier's sister Aude are told in Girart de Vienne by Bertrand de Bar-sur-Aube. Roland's youth and the acquisition of his horse Veillantif and sword are described in Aspremont. Roland also appears in Quatre Fils Aymon where he is contrasted with Renaud de Montauban against whom he occasionally fights.

, France]]

In Norway, the tales of Roland are part of the 13th century Karlamagnús saga.

In Italy, Roland, as Orlando, is the hero of Orlando Innamorato by Matteo Maria Boiardo. After Boiardo's death, the epic was continued as Orlando furioso by Ludovico Ariosto (See below for his later history in Italian verse). In the Divine Comedy Dante sees Roland's spirit in the Heaven of Mars together with others who fought for the faith.

In Germany, Roland gradually became a symbol of the independence of the growing cities from the local nobility. In the late Middle Ages many cities sported the display of a defiant Roland statue on their marketplace. The Roland in Wedel was erected in 1450 as symbol of market justice, and the Roland statue in front of the town hall of Bremen (1404) is listed together with the town hall on the List of World Heritage Site from the UNESCO since 2004.

In Aragón there are several placenames related to Roldán (o Rolando): la Breca de Roldán (in Spanish la Brecha de Roldán, in French La Brèche de Roland) and Salto d´o Roldán (in Spanish El Salto de Roldán).

In Catalonia Roland (or Rotllà, as it is rendered in Catalan) became a legendary giant. Numerous places in Catalonia (both North and South) have a name related to Rotllà. In step with the trace left by the character in the whole Pyrenean area, Basque Errolan turns up in numerous legends and place-names associated with a mighty giant, usually a heathen, capable of launching huge stones. Interestingly, Basque word erraldoi ("giant") stems from Errolan.

In the Faroe Islands Roland appears in the ballad of "Runtsivalstríðið" (Battle of Roncevaux)

More recently Roland's tale has been exploited by historians exploring the development of the early-modern Christian understanding of Islamic culture. In 1972 P. M. Holt used Roland's words to begin an essay about Henry Stubbe: "Paien ont tort e crestiien ont dreit" — "Pagans are wrong and Christians are right."

He appeared as a central character in a sequence of verse romances from the fifteenth century onwards, including Morgante by Luigi Pulci, Orlando Innamorato by Matteo Maria Boiardo, and Orlando furioso by Ludovico Ariosto. The Orlandino of Pietro Aretino then waxed satirical about the "cult of personality" of Orlando the hero.

The Orlando narrative inspired several composers, amongst whom were Claudio Monteverdi, Jean-Baptiste Lully, Antonio Vivaldi and George Frideric Handel, who composed an Italian-language opera with Orlando.

The English expression, "to give a Roland for an Oliver", meaning either to offer a quid pro quo or to give as good as one gets, recalls the Chanson de Roland, and Roland's companion Oliver.

In popular culture

The game "Fire Emblem: Rekka no Ken" has a character named Roland, one of the ancient heroes of the Scouring, who passes the sword Durandal to the main character. Several other characters in the game also take their names from the Song of Roland.

The darkwave band The Cruxshadows released a song entitled "Roland," inspired by this legend, on their single Quicksilver.

Roland is the leader of the Paladins in the live action movie Jumper (2008).

Roland is the default name for the Paladin champion class hero in the game Master of Magic.

Roland is in Age of Empires II.

Notes

References

Adriana Kremenjas-Danicic (Ed.): Roland's European Paths. Europski dom Dubrovnik, Dubrovnik 2006 (ISBN 953-95338-0-5).

Category:Matter of France Category:Medieval legends Category:Fictional knights Category:Franks Category:Frankish people Category:778 deaths Category:French folklore Category:French heroic legends