Electric piano

An electric piano is a musical instrument that has a piano-style musical keyboard, where sound is produced by means of mechanical hammers striking metal strings or reeds or wire tines, which leads to vibrations which are then converted into electrical signals by pickups (either magnetic, electrostatic, or piezoelectric).

The pickups are connected to an instrument amplifier and loudspeaker to reinforce the sound sufficiently for the performer and audience to hear.

Smaller electric pianos used short slivers of steel to produce the tone (a lamellophone with a keyboard & pickups).

Another factor driving their development and acceptance was the progressive electrification of popular music and the need for a portable keyboard instrument capable of high-volume amplification.

The sound is amplified through electromagnetic pickups, circuitry and a speaker system, making it the world's first commercially available electric piano.

The term "electric piano" can refer to several different instruments which vary in their sound-producing mechanisms and consequent timbral characters.

On Yamaha's pianos, such as the CP-70, the vibration of the strings is converted to an electrical signal by piezoelectric pickups under the bridge.

Wurlitzer electronic pianos (sometimes called "Wurli" as a nickname)[11] use flat steel reeds struck by felt hammers.

The other part of the fork, parallel and adjacent to the tine, is the tonebar, a sturdy steel bar which acts as a resonator and adds sustain to the sound.

[16] The tine is struck by the small neoprene (originally felt) tip of a hammer activated by a greatly simplified piano action (each key has only three moving parts including the damper).

The Rhodes piano has a distinctive bell-like tone, fuller than the Wurlitzer, with longer sustain and with a "growl" when played hard.

The Hohner Pianet uses adhesive pads made from an undressed leather surface cushioned by a foam rubber backing.

Roger Penney of Bermuda Triangle Band worked on the design and development of the original instrument for the Cannon Guild Company, a premier harpsichord maker located in Cambridge, Massachusetts.