Q1) The three pedals you will find on a grand piano are sustaining, sostenuto and una corda. The sustaining pedal lifts all the dampers up allowing the note to last longer when a key is pressed and not held. The way sound is created on a piano is when a key is pressed on the piano the hammer hits the string and the string vibrates and it creates sound via the vibrations being made.
The sostenuto pedal is similar to the sustaining pedal. It only lifts the dampers on the center of the piano. This means when you press a middle C key on the piano without holding it the duration of the key being pressed will last longer. Whereas if you hit a higher octave C key the sound will stop instantly after you take you finger of the key. This means that if you want the duration of the note to last longer you will have to press and hold the key.
The una corda pedal shifts all the hammers to the right. Una corda means 'one string' in Italian. So what this means is when a key has been pressed with your foot is on the una corda pedal the hammer on the piano will hit one string only. This can give a lighter feel while pressing a key on the piano whereas if you press a key with your foot off the pedal it can sound much more heavy and deeper in tone.
Q2) Grand pianos are bigger and take up more space than a upright piano. The strings on a grand piano are longer than the strings on a upright piano. A grand piano is more expensive than an upright piano. The soundboard on a grand piano is laid horizontally whereas a upright piano's soundboard is laid vertically. A grand piano is much harder move around whereas a upright piano is easy to move around
Q3) The things you can control on a midi keyboard are volume, pitch and duration of the note that is being played. MIDI stand for Musical Instrument Digital Interface. This means that the midi keyboard only reads midi information. The midi keyboard doesn't have and sampled or synthesized sounds; It acts like a controller. What I mean by this is if someone was to record a rhythm on Logic Pro 9 he/she would find a good drum kit and then use the midi keyboard to create that rhythm. When a person is recording a melody or rhythm the velocities can vary depending on how hard of soft the keys are being pressed.
The duration of the note is another parameter a midi keyboard can handle. For instance chords or single notes can be played for a long or short duration depending on how a person feels about it. Notes in melodies are usually short and smooth. An example for this would be if I had and idea for a melody and chords I would select two good synths on Logic Pro 9 and then record it on Logic. If I wanted to look at the duration of the midi region I would look in the history section of Logic and this would enable me to look at how long the melody and chords have lasted for.
Q4) When someone is recording a melody on Logic he/she can make the duration of the melody or chord last longer using a portable sustaining pedal. The portable sustaining pedal will act like the sustaining pedal on a grand piano. It will make the duration of the notes last longer without pressing and holding the keys on the midi keyboard. This makes recording chords and melodies easier.
The portable sustaining pedal can do the same thing on an electronic keyboard as well. The pianist can plug the sustaining pedal in the electronic keyboard and he/she can play melodies and chords for longer without pressing and holding the keys as much. This can help with hands not getting cramped or stressed while playing the keyboard.
The midi and electronic keyboard are not acoustic instruments whereas a grand piano is an acoustic instrument. The midi and electronic keyboard don't have hammers, strings and dampers on them. The sounds that are on a electronic keyboard are either synthesized or sampled. A midi keyboard only reads information. This means that the midi keyboard does not hold any synthesized or sampled sounds. The sustaining pedal on the keyboard acts like an on/ off switch. So no matter how hard or soft your foot is on the pedal it will still sustain the notes you have played on the keyboard whereas using the sustaining pedal on a grand piano will enable you to have more control while playing.
Q5) Recording with a MIDI keyboard can be easier for a person if he/she is good at playing the piano. If not then he/she will have to use the pencil tool and piano roll to paste notes in. Sometimes recording melody can be a bit tricky for a person's ability. This means that the person creating the melody would have to create a MIDI region, open the piano roll and start pasting notes in with the pencil tool. This is one disadvantage of recording MIDI data. The reason for this is because it takes more time to create and also the person creating the melody will have to paste notes and change the legato of the notes if necessary. If a signed artist has been given an objective to create a remix within a week it is vital that he/she records the melodies, chords and rhythm using the MIDI keyboard rather then using the piano roll to paste notes.
