Digital Piano Function Series: The Split

Right hand on piano, left hand on bass, and you're ready to jam.

Well, according to our process manuals, the split is next on our list. The split, like the name, is a utility that splits the piano keyboard into two smaller keyboards; separate voices may be assigned to each of them, effectively dividing the piano into two different instruments, one dedicated on high register and the other on lower.

The point on which the keyboard is divided is called the ‘split point’; for the majority of Dynatone digital pianos this is initially set to F#4 (F# right above the middle C), but the point may be set to any pitch to meet the user's preference and needs. Also, as with the layer, the split “accompaniment” voice has separate volume value that is independent from the main volume, allowing the player to address any potential balance issues between the two voices.

One musical practice that has been common throughout our history is that of having a “melody” part and an “accompaniment” part, found in the major bulwark of both classical and popular music. While not necessarily, a fair portion of these consists of a “melody” instrument on the high register, and an “accompaniment” instrument on the lower range. Sounds familiar? Again you no more need two players to observe the fine custom - activate the split mode on your digital piano, pick whatever instruments of your fancy for the two voices, and you're ready to go.

Some of our entry models have a couple of voices that are grouped together as split-specific; in this case, the voices included are the ones traditionally regarded as 'bass', which follows the norms of common musical practice, and assigned to the “left” part of the keyboard. On more advanced models, however, the player have total freedom of choosing whichever voice he or she desires as either the main “right” or the split “left” voice; it is totally feasible to pick a heavy instrumental "low" voice for the right while assigning a melodic instrument to the left, creating a highly unusual but nevertheless interesting instrumental combination.

Digital Piano Function Series: The Layer

Hi everyone!

After writing a few numbers of posts about our featured digital piano, I’ve noticed that whenever I addressed the versatile utilities of our products, the words are then summarized into “the traditional digital piano utilities”, without providing any explanations of what they exactly are and what they actually do. From now on, I intend to regularly post a series of introductions on the conventional digital piano utilities that are found on our products, more or less depending on the model – this includes layer, split, reverb & effect (chorus), transpose, tune, twin piano to name a few. In other words, what digital pianos are capable of these days.


The Layer - You no more need two players to play two instruments.

The first on our list, the layer, is basically just that - playing two instruments at once. Using the layer mode incorporates an additional voice of instrument (“layered voice”) to be played along with the “main voice” simultaneously, allowing its player to sound two instruments by playing one piano keyboard. A combination commonly used in churches and other casual settings is that of piano and strings - the ensemble of piano and strings has been consistently exploited throughout the history of music, hence the appeal of this particular choice of layer – but other types of instrumental combinations can be also effective, and such exploration greatly expands the palette of tone colors.

On Dynatone’s digital piano models, the volumes of the main voice and the layered voice can be set individually, independent from each other. While some of the entry-level products offer limited palette of few voices designated specifically as layer-only voice, our more advanced models allow the players to choose any of the voices incorporated in the piano either as a main voice or a layered voice.

I hope this post and the consequent ones to follow would provide the general picture of what digital pianos today are actually capable of doing!

Dynatone Digital Piano: SDP-500

Hello, everyone!

The enormously popular SDP-500 digital piano is the subject of today. The SDP-500, unlike the models that has been discussed previously, is a model with polished body, with its piano casing manufactured at a facility that also produces casings for acoustic pianos. The outlook of the piano is simple and clear; with its polished body and refined design, the SDP-500 have the look of your ordinary acoustic piano.

SDP-500 digital piano

Like most of our other models currently in production, the SDP-500 also features the ARHA keyboard. It offers 24 types of voices, as well as 2 types of split-specific and 3 types of layer-specific voices. These voices, along with other versatile utilities, are assigned to the keys themselves and six buttons on the left. While the piano does not have these assignments printed on it due to it having polished body, it compensates with a key-map that contains all of the needed information. All of the traditional digital piano features - layer, split, reverberation and etc. - are there, as well as recording features and access to general midi voices via MIDI connections. A maximum of 128 notes of polyphony is possible.

One particular note to be made about the SDP-500 is the D-box located right below the keyboard. The D-box consists of all of the outgoing and incoming jacks, and serves as a kind of terminal of communication between the piano and other MIDI-capable devices. Headphone jacks are also located on the D-box, making its use as convenient as it gets. The placement of the speaker box of the SDP-500 is also of calculated choice; it is placed right under the keys, so that its sound would be freshly delivered without being unnecessarily censored.

An all-around digital piano, the SDP-500 catches the pivotal points of quality as musical instrument, with quality tones, versatile utility and user-friendly design. Dynatone also offers the SGP-500, the grand variant of the SDP-500, with same performance specifications and the unique look of a smaller, 'slim' grand.