{"id":14607,"date":"2021-01-29T17:53:12","date_gmt":"2021-01-29T22:53:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/?p=14607"},"modified":"2025-10-02T10:54:35","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T14:54:35","slug":"how-electric-piano-works","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/how-electric-piano-works\/","title":{"rendered":"How does an electric piano work? The anatomy of an electric piano"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A grand piano<\/strong> is a complicated instrument.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s big, unwieldy, and needs significant upkeep. As a result, as technologies advanced throughout the 20th century, the piano was naturally one of the first instruments that manufacturers ‘electrified.’ An electric piano could fit into a small apartment, be taken on the road, and best of all, be a lot cheaper than a full grand piano. Although they were never intended to fully replace grand pianos, electric pianos remain extremely popular in a wide variety of musical genres. In this article, let’s take a look at how these instruments work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Splice INSTRUMENT is a virtual instrument plugin that puts world-class sounds at your fingertips. <\/strong>Download it for free<\/strong><\/a> and start making music with hundreds of pro-quality presets\u2014plus new, exclusive Free Drops every month to keep your ideas flowing.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s start by understanding how a traditional grand piano makes sound.<\/a> According to piano manufacturer Kawai, there can be over 8,000 parts to a piano action.<\/a> For our purposes, though, it\u2019s enough to understand that when you press a key on a traditional grand piano, you cause a hammer<\/strong> to strike a string<\/strong>. The string vibrates, and this vibration is transferred to the soundboard<\/strong> through the bridge<\/strong>. The soundboard vibrates the air, essentially amplifying the string\u2019s vibration to create the sound we hear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An electric piano is similar to a traditional grand in how it amplifies a vibration created by hammers and strings. Unlike a grand, however, electric pianos use electromagnetic pickups to amplify the sound instead of a soundboard. There are three main types of electric pianos, differentiated by the element that vibrates to produce the sound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

String<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Some electric pianos actually still sport string and hammer actions much like a traditional grand piano, but feature piezoelectric pickups as a means of amplifying the sound. Perhaps the most notable example of an electric piano that uses strings is the Yamaha CP-70.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since grand pianos also use strings, playing this kind of electric piano feels the most like playing a traditional instrument. The CP-70 was wildly popular among touring keyboardists since it was easy to mic up and delivered a powerful sound that could keep up with the rest of the instruments on stage. However, tuning this kind of electric piano is tricky \u2013 it\u2019s similar to tuning a real piano, which is an art form in and of itself. Throwing it around with the rest of the band\u2019s gear after a show probably didn\u2019t help keep the strings at their perfectly ideal tunings! While a sizable vintage market exists for these instruments, they\u2019re less popular today compared to their tine and reed counterparts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s what a CP-70 sounds like, emulated using the software instrument available in XLN Audio\u2019s Addictive Keys Complete Collection<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tine<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The iconic timbre of many electric pianos is generated by a hammer striking a piece of steel wire, called a tine<\/strong>, that’s attached to a tonebar<\/strong>. The tonebar resonates with the struck wire, acting as an asymmetrical tuning fork. Think of the tuning fork as the counterpart of the vibrating string of a traditional grand piano, and the tonebar as the soundboard-like resonator (except each key has its own tonebar). Each individual fork is tuned using a small spring that adjusts the length of the tine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Please excuse my amateur playing as you enjoy this tine piano demo, created using the Mark One instrument from Addictive Keys Complete Collection:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reed<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Some electric pianos, most notably the Wurlitzer models, use reeds<\/strong> as sound sources. When a key is pressed, a hammer strikes a metal reed, which is amplified via an electrostatic pickup. Perhaps the most idiosyncratic sound of all electric pianos, the reed system makes these instruments capable of producing a wide range of sounds, from soft and sweet to barking and distorted. Although the reeds have an unmistakably beautiful sound, they’re also prone to degradation, as we learned firsthand from working on the Wurlitzer 200A at the Splice studio (pictured below).<\/p>\n\n\n

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Electric pianos with reeds are incredibly difficult to tune. The pitch varies based on the length of the reed, so fine tuning is achieved by adding a specific amount of solder to the tip of the reed to make it the exact \/ perfect length. This is a finicky business, to put it generously. If stray metal shavings and bits of solder touch things they shouldn\u2019t touch, the piano\u2019s onboard amplifier can short out, causing nasty popping noises and even complete blowouts. These instruments have earned their reputation as divas \u2013 but when they\u2019re really singing perfectly, it\u2019s a transcendentally beautiful experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s a demo recording of the Wurlitzer from the Splice studio:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Try Addictive Keys Complete Collection for free<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Learn about how the components of an electric piano work together to produce and amplify sound, the differences between the most popular instruments, and more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":14608,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1696,1702],"tags":[1741,1649,333,1473,666,1718],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow does an electric piano work? 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