Digital Keyboard Resonance

Joined
Jun 27, 2022
Messages
62
Reaction score
22
I acquired my first digital keyboard about 3 years ago. I noticed that if I do not repeatedly use the sustain pedal that there is essentially no resonance similar to an acoustic piano. Is this a characteristic of digital keyboards in general or just to my nearly 20 year-old instrument?
Thank you so much.
 
Joined
Jul 31, 2025
Messages
18
Reaction score
11
Location
Ohio
You have to use your sustain pedal in order for the notes to have sustain(resonance?). This is a characteristic of most, if not all digital keyboards. Some, if not all sustain pedals have a polarity switch so if your notes are sustaining when the pedal is not depressed, adjust the polarity switch on the pedal(if it has one) so that the note(s) sustains when the pedal is depressed. Hope this helps you out!!
Merry Christmas!
 
Last edited:
Joined
Jul 1, 2022
Messages
40
Reaction score
16
@Rizzo - I don't know the specifics of your keyboard, but for any digital keyboard that tries to emulate an acoustic piano, there are two possible routes:

1. Sampling (recordings of actual piano notes, nowadays multiple recordings per note, at different velocities).

2. Physical modeling (software that builds the sound up from an algorithm which "understands" hammers, felt, strings, etc).

Some keyboards only use sampling (and my guess would be the older the keyboard, the more likely this is the case).

Some keyboards only use modeling (Roland V-Piano).

Some keyboards use both. For example the Numa XPiano uses sampling plus modeling for acoustic pianos (this is how they are able to offer you control over how much string resonance you want), and modeling alone for electric pianos.

My simplistic understanding of string resonance (based on over 50 years of playing real pianos, and almost 20 years of using digital pianos) is that it is the result of the complex interactions among all the strings that are currently "undamped" (free to vibrate), whether they are being struck or not.

Sampling alone (playing and recording one note at a time) obviously cannot capture any of these interactions.

I *think* you need physical modeling to have string resonance.
 

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Members online

No members online now.

Forum statistics

Threads
15,222
Messages
96,092
Members
13,841
Latest member
Maestro_316

Latest Threads

Top