Electronic Keyboard - History

History

Electronic keyboard is combination of processes of pressing mechanical keys and producing sounds by means of electric circuitry.

In the 12th century clavichord and harpsichord were developed. As technology got developed more sophisticated and standard keyboard got developed with 12-tone keyboard. In the 18th century, the piano was adopted which allowed a new way of controlling volume by varying the force of the press.

The next step was to develop electronic sound technology. The first musical instrument was Denis d'or which was built by Vaclav Prokop Dovis in 1753. It was incorporated with 700 strings temporarily electrified to enhance their sonic qualities. In 1760 Jean Baptiste Thillaie de Laborde developed clavecin electrique. This was keyboard instrument incorporated with plectra and activated by electricity.

But both instruments were not using electricity to produce sound. Elisha Gray invented one of first electric musical instrument called musical telegraph. It was making sound from electromagnetic circuit's vibration. He incorporated basic single note oscillator. Next he added loudspeaker consisting of diaphragm to make data audible.

In 1906, Lee de Forrest invented the triode electronic valve. In 1915 he invented the first vacuum tube instrument the audio piano. Then until the invention of transistor, the vacuum tube was essential component in electric instruments.

In 1935, the hammond organ was introduced. It was capable of producing polyphonic sounds. More developments were made with the Chamberlin Music Maker in late 1940s and the Mellotron in the early 1950s.

The first step towards the electronic piano was by Rhodes with the pre-piano. It was a three and a half octave instrument. The next generation was capable of doing self-amplification. In 1955, the Wurlitzer Company released first electric piano, the 100.

The invention of musical synthesizers in the 1960s was a step towards the modern keyboard. As technology became more developed, huge synthesizers evolved into portable instruments that could be used in live shows.

This began in 1964 when Bob Moog produced his moog synthesizer. It did not have the same keyboard, but its next generation was equipped with a built-in keyboard. The keyboard was monophonic, only able to produce only one tone at a time. Some instruments such as the EML 101, ARP Odyssey, and the Moog Sonic six were polyphonic, meaning they could produce two different tones at once when two or more keys were pressed. The next number of electronic keyboards produced were combination of organ circuits and synthesizer processing. These were Moog’s Polymoog, Opus 3, and the ARP Omni.

The invention of the musical instrumental digital interface(MIDI) as a standard for digital code transmission digital technology development caused great development in keyboard technology.