Recent technology has generated a wide variety of electronic keyboards available to the church musician. This article defines many of the technical terms that are used to distinguish the varieties of keyboards available and provides guidelines for their use.
The word keyboard has taken on new meaning in the last decade or so. Most of us think of keyboards in the context of musical instruments, especially the piano, we have experienced all our lives. These instruments have evolved over some 500 years, and with the appearance of the piano in the eighteenth century, have remained essentially unchanged.
Today the word keyboard describes a bewildering variety of instruments. Keyboards are everywhere: small, mini-instruments that fit into a backpack, semi-portable “electric pianos,” keyboards stacked one upon another like some sci-fi organ, and especially keyboards of all types as the instrument of choice for the teenager. In fact, the keyboard has replaced the guitar as the instrument of the younger generation. But what about the church?
Electronic keyboards are now found in churches and have potential that is just beginning to be explored. Yet most of us are a bit uncomfortable about these new instruments, wondering how to use them and even if we should use them. Before exploring these questions, it is helpful to define a few terms which will give some perspective for any discussion of the use of electronic keyboards in church. Let’s begin with general terms that may or may not apply to any specific electronic keyboard.
A Glossary of Terms
MIDI. MIDI is an acronym for musical instrument digital interface. It is an international standard, agreed upon by manufacturers in the industry, a “language” that enables any MIDI-equipped device to communicate with any other MIDI-equipped device. Computers can “talk” to electronic keyboards; a synthesizer can be played from a guitar or organ console. MIDI technology has revolutionized the commercial music industry and is beginning to impact music publishing. MIDI will touch almost all musicians of the future.
Sequencer. A sequencer electronically records all information (pitch, rhythm, key velocity, and duration) while an instrument is played and then plays it back through that instrument or another MIDI-compatible instrument. The recorded information is stored digitally in computer memory and during playback the instrument is activated from this memory. Thus a sequencer is more like a player-piano roll than a tape recorder, since the sequence is played back through the instrument, not as an audio recording. Computers can have a sequencer program. Sequencers are a part of some electronic keyboards or can stand alone as a separate little “box.”
Track. Track is the term used in sequencing when the performer plays once through a song using a particular sound (e.g., piano). This track can then be replayed while another is “laid down” (e.g., a percussion part). Both could then be played back while a melody line is performed on the same keyboard. Thus it is possible to be a one-person band! Of course, there are some problems here; if the first track does not slow down for a cadence, the subsequent tracks must not slow or the ensemble will collapse. Singing with such tracks must be rhythmically perfect without extra time for breathing or expression. This is one reason why such sequenced tracks work better for pop music, which tends to have a more stable pulse than traditional concert, choral, or congregational music.
Touch Sensitive. Keyboards can be made to respond to the most subtle degrees of touch. As varying pressure is applied, loudness could increase or decrease or vibrato could change in intensity or depth. A fast stroke could result in a sharp beginning for a sound, a gentle stroke the opposite. A piano has a touch-sensitive keyboard, but the best electronic keyboards are, in their own way, more touch-sensitive than an acoustic piano. (To refer to an instrument as acoustic implies that it is a real one rather than an electronically generated imitation of a real instrument).
Polytimbral. Keyboards can be designed so that they produce more than one sound simultaneously. For example, keyboards can be split, with the lower half providing one sound (e.g., string bass) and the other half another (e.g., piano). Many polytimbral keyboards are such that different sounds occur simultaneously, some via a previously prepared sequencer track and some live, played by the performer. Thus one can play a duet (or trio or quartet) with oneself.
Electronic Keyboards
Now, what about the keyboards themselves? Before examining the various types available, a bit of history would be helpful. Early in this century, the new technology of electronically generated sounds made possible the first electronic organs as well as a few other instruments, specifically the Ondes Martinot and Theremin. They produced undulating, spooky sounds that were employed by a few composers of the time.
In the 1960s rapidly evolving electronic technology made possible much more sophisticated, synthesized sounds. Instruments called synthesizers (remember the famous Moog synthesizer?) began to appear. By the 1980s, electronic keyboards had become much more sophisticated and at the same time affordable and user-friendly. These electronic keyboards have been around long enough that various categories or types seems to be emerging.
Portable Keyboards. These instruments range in size and quality and tend to have a few pre-set sounds. Most have a small amplifier and speaker system “on board” and are relatively inexpensive. They are practical, easy to use and move about, and do offer the advantage of staying in tune (assuming they are in tune from the beginning).
Electronic Keyboards. These instruments are somewhat more sophisticated than their portable cousins and are designed to imitate an acoustic piano. Some do quite well, complete with weighted, touch-sensitive keys. Some offer optional sounds (e.g., harpsichord, concert grand, barroom upright). While still portable, they are more expensive than the simplest electronic keyboards and usually require a separate audio system. Most have their sounds permanently stored in memory that is largely unchangeable.
Samplers. Samplers and synthesizers are more complex than the keyboards above and at the same time more flexible. A sampler takes a digital “picture” (a short recording) of a real sound which then can be played back at any pitch level. Any sound can be sampled and played back: rain, thunder, water running, voices, birds, instruments. Special aural effects as well as reasonably realistic acoustic instrumental sounds are possible. Electronic modification or change of sampled sound is also possible. Unfortunately, real, high-quality, musically satisfying samples of acoustic instruments are very difficult to achieve because instruments produce complex sounds, sounds which change in timbre as the pitch range changes. While simple in concept, the process of sampling quickly becomes complex and requires voluminous data storage (computer memory in other words). Quality samplers are expensive ($2,000 and up!) and always demand quality external audio equipment.
Before rushing out to purchase a sampler instead of finding four good brass players for Easter, it is well to remember that what makes individual, live music-making exciting to experience is its imperfection and infinite variety. Samplers are too perfect, lacking the incredible subtlety of even amateur-level performers, to say nothing of really fine performers. It is one of the amazing ironies of all electronically produced sounds that they tend to be too perfect and our ear hears perfection as sterility—a kind of strange, unreal, boring flavor to the sounds. To produce musically convincing imperfections—the infinite variety of subtle changes in articulations and quality of tone that a real instrument can achieve—is the great challenge facing any attempt at the electronic generation of an acoustical sound. To create electronically the effect of an ensemble (a group of acoustical instruments, each with its own imperfections to give life and interest to the composite sound) is an even greater challenge.
All of the above notwithstanding, a good sampler can do a fine job of sounding like an acoustic piano and will do certain other instruments (tuned percussion instruments being one example) with astounding fidelity. Single musical lines also tend to come off better than complex sonorities, because the individual line can be mutated somewhat through the use of the touch-sensitive keyboard and other controls that most samplers and synthesizers include which allow the performer to instantly modify a specific sound. But it is important to remember that the more subtle the acoustic sound, the more difficult it is to reproduce it via sampler since its many nuances are impossible to program.
Synthesizers. A synthesizer combines and manipulates individual dimensions (parameters) of a sound, generating it electronically. The skilled synthesist can produce a wide variety of interesting and useful sounds, many of which are remarkably like acoustic instruments. A recent development has seen the inclusion of some sampled sounds from acoustic instruments in the database or memory of the synthesizer. These sounds can then be modified and combined with synthesized sounds for remarkable results. Good quality synthesizers (in the same general price range as samplers) also require external audio equipment, and just like samplers vary widely in price depending upon features and degree of flexibility. (Features can include, but are not limited to, an on-board sequencer, polytimbral capability, and touch sensitivity.)
Since the skills to produce good sampled or synthesized sounds are very complex, most users rely upon previously derived collections of “sounds” that can be purchased as floppy disks or cartridges and “loaded” into the memory of the instrument. Many synthesizers come with a number of pre-engineered “sounds” stored in their memory, ready to be used by the performer. Thus it is not necessary to know how to program a synthesizer to produce sounds in order to use it.
Audio Equipment. Most of the better-quality electronic keyboards require separate audio equipment. It is important to remember that these instruments are designed to produce, not reproduce, musical sounds. Most have a wider pitch range than most pipe organs. Typical church PA systems are totally inadequate for these instruments. Most home stereo systems are also inadequate and in fact can be damaged by the wide dynamic and pitch range of even a medium-quality electronic keyboard. Any consideration of a keyboard also must include consideration of an adequate audio system to project the sound. Small, portable, and reasonably effective systems are available for a modest cost. More extensive, perhaps permanent installations, will be required if the better keyboards available today are to sound at their best, especially in larger worship spaces.
As this discussion makes clear, the amazing world of the electronic keyboard can be quite complicated. However, it is not to be feared. Almost every congregation has someone (usually a high school or college student) who is “into” electronic keyboards. These people are enthusiasts who would be happy to share their knowledge. After a basic session with an enthusiast (a good way to begin might be to take this article along and ask that each term defined be demonstrated for you), it might be helpful to go to a music store for additional information. If you can find one, the best resource is a business dealing exclusively in electronic keyboards. Often the employees are more knowledgeable than those in a general music store, and you will not be distracted by clashing cymbals or wailing guitars. The best time to visit is earlier on a weekday; in other words, never go when school is not in session unless you want to compete for attention with all the young enthusiasts. Upon visiting such a resource, make clear your interest (church, not rock band!) and how much experience you have had to date. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. If you feel that your needs are not being met, the specific store visited may not be the place where you should purchase equipment. After all, you will need some help and advice after the purchase as well.
Electronic Keyboards in the Local Church
A few applications in the musical life of the local congregation are immediately obvious. Convenient, always-in-tune keyboards are now possible for the church school or the choir room; in fact anywhere in church where a simple accompanying instrument is needed. While these keyboards may not replace a good quality grand piano, they are better and more flexible in many situations, if only because of their size, than the typical old upright piano which is so common in choir rooms and church-school rooms.
Once one moves beyond the use of a keyboard as a replacement for an acoustic piano, things become more complex. Sequenced accompaniments or adjunct parts for accompaniments are possible but do raise musical problems since the potential for spontaneous addition of rubato is destroyed if one must stay synchronized with the previously sequenced accompaniments. Sequenced tracks for leading of congregational song present special problems. One’s best notion of the perfect tempo for a hymn may change between Saturday when the sequenced tracks were done, and Sunday morning, when the congregation attempts to sing with them.
There is also the question of musical ethics in using sampled or synthesized sounds to replace or in place of live instrumentalists. Is it morally correct to use synthetic devices, especially in churches where honesty is proclaimed as a virtue? On the other hand, is it better to use a few sequenced tracks done well than a live performance so poor that it gets in the way of the music and our worship? Since there is no single or easy answer to these questions, it is important to explore and discuss how these new instruments can best contribute to the musical life of the congregation. My own conviction is that their greatest possibilities lie in their ability to create new sounds; sounds that real instruments cannot make. In this way, we find additional expressive possibilities for singing new songs to the Lord as well as enriching our singing of the old songs.