Editing Piano (section)

===Electric, electronic, and digital===
[[File:Wurlitzer210.png|thumb|left|upright=1.1|Wurlitzer 210 electric piano]]
With [[Music technology|technological advances]], amplified [[electric piano]]s (1929), [[electronic piano]]s (1970s), and [[digital piano]]s (1980s) have been developed. The first electric pianos from the late 1920s used metal strings with a [[Pickup (music technology)|magnetic pickup]], an amplifier and a [[loudspeaker]]. The electric pianos that became most popular in [[popular music|pop]] and [[rock music]] in the 1960s and 1970s, such as the [[Rhodes piano|Fender Rhodes]] use metal tines in place of strings and use electromagnetic pickups similar to those on an [[electric guitar]]. The resulting electrical, analogue signal can then be amplified with a [[keyboard amplifier]] or electronically manipulated with [[effects unit]]s. In classical music, electric pianos are mainly used as inexpensive rehearsal or practice instruments. Electric pianos, particularly the Fender Rhodes, became important instruments in 1970s [[funk]] and [[jazz fusion]] and in some [[rock music]] genres.

Electronic pianos are non-acoustic; they do not have strings, tines or hammers, but are a type of analog [[synthesizer]] that simulates or imitates piano sounds using [[oscillators]] and filters that synthesize the sound of an acoustic piano.{{sfn|Davies|2001}} They must be connected to a keyboard amplifier and speaker to produce sound (however, some electronic keyboards have a built-in amp and speaker). Alternatively, a person can play an electronic piano with headphones in quieter settings.

Digital pianos are also non-acoustic and do not have strings or hammers. They use [[sampling (signal processing)|digital audio sampling]] technology to reproduce the acoustic sound of each piano note accurately. They also must be connected to a power amplifier and speaker to produce sound (however, most digital pianos have a built-in amp and speaker). Alternatively, a person can practise with headphones to avoid disturbing others. Digital pianos can include sustain pedals, weighted or semi-weighted keys, multiple voice options (e.g., sampled or synthesized imitations of electric piano, [[Hammond organ]], [[violin]], etc.), and [[MIDI]] interfaces. MIDI inputs and outputs connect a digital piano to other electronic instruments or musical devices. For example, a digital piano's MIDI out signal could be connected by a [[Patch cable|patch cord]] to a [[Sound module|synth module]], which would allow the performer to use the keyboard of the digital piano to play modern [[synthesizer]] sounds. Early digital pianos tended to lack a full set of pedals, but the synthesis software of later models such as the [[Yamaha Clavinova]] series [[physical modelling synthesis|synthesised]] the [[sympathetic strings|sympathetic vibration]] of the other strings (such as when the sustain pedal is depressed) and full pedal sets can now be replicated. The processing power of digital pianos has enabled highly realistic pianos using multi-gigabyte piano sample sets with as many as ninety recordings, each lasting many seconds, for each key under different conditions (e.g., there are samples of each note being struck softly, loudly, with a sharp attack, etc.). Additional samples emulate sympathetic resonance of the strings when the sustain pedal is depressed, key release, the drop of the dampers, and simulations of techniques such as re-pedalling.

Digital, MIDI-equipped pianos can output a stream of MIDI data, or record and play MIDI format files on digital storage media, similar in concept to a pianola. The MIDI file records the physics of a note rather than its resulting sound and recreates the sounds from its physical properties (e.g., which note was struck and with what velocity). Computer based software, such as Modartt's 2006 [[Pianoteq]], can be used to manipulate the MIDI stream in real time or subsequently to edit it. This type of software may use no samples but synthesize a sound based on aspects of the physics that went into the creation of a played note.