Digital Piano

Overview

A digital piano reproduces the sound and feel of an acoustic piano using recorded samples and electronic synthesis rather than struck strings. When a key is pressed, a sensor measures how fast it travels and the instrument plays back a stored recording of a real piano note at the matching loudness. A weighted action gives the keys the graded resistance of a hammered piano, so the playing technique transfers, while the sound is generated entirely in the digital domain and reproduced through built-in amplified speakers or headphones.

Sound begins at the Graded Hammer Action, an 88-key graded hammer mechanism whose weighted hammers and return springs mimic acoustic key feel. Each keystroke is read by the Key Scan Board, which scans rubber dome contacts to capture note and velocity. That data passes to the Sound Engine Board, where a DSP tone generator retrieves waveforms from the sample ROM and converts them to analog audio through the DAC. The Amplifier & Speaker Unit amplifies the signal and drives a stereo speaker pair in a ported enclosure.

How it works

The instrument is organized around its electronic signal chain housed in the Cabinet & Chassis. The player interacts through the Control Panel, selecting voices and settings via buttons, a rotary encoder and an LCD. The Pedal Unit provides three pedals whose switches feed the sound engine to sustain, soften or selectively hold notes. The Sound Engine Board is the heart of the system: it holds the controller, DSP, sample ROM and DAC, and routes audio to the amplifier and to the headphone and line jacks on the Jack Panel. MIDI and USB on that panel let the keyboard act as a controller for, or be driven by, external gear, so the same key action can play either internal or external sounds.