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A MIDI keyboard can control a synthesizer, but it is not a synthesizer itself. MIDI keyboards send MIDI data, which includes information about the notes being played, the velocity of each key press, and various other types of expressive control, to other devices capable of interpreting that data. Synthesizers, whether they are hardware or software, take that MIDI data and use it to generate sound, allowing the MIDI keyboard to control the pitch, timbre, and dynamics of the sound produced.