Tonal control from the keyboard

[Michel Lachance]

Dear Richard and list,

What I can tell from all the years servicing pianos, is that a good
deal of pianists do need education regarding the mechanism of the
piano.  And what I find worst, is that a lot of them think they don't.

I always find very touchy talking about pianos with pianists.  Very
often they have their own idea on the subject; but their conception is
most of the time based on subjective criterias.

On the other hand, this is not very surprising when one understand
they try to approach the instrument very much like they are used to do
with the music they perform:  with artistic images.  Regarding
technical aspects however, thousand words may be better than an arts
picture.

Some pianists even feel utterly outraged when I state that, velocity
being equal, the sound of a note will be exactly the same, whether it
is played by Martha Argerich's hand, a cat's paw or a robotic arm.
And everybody knowing how a piano works can only agree with this.

Another one of my "did-you-know-that-statement" is that merit of a
technician can be heard right after the first note, and the one of a
pianist only after the second one.  It is the way pianists CONNECT one
note to the other that makes the "sound", the "touch" and the "magic"
that caracterize the great performers.  Don't take me wrong, there is
not depreciating in that statement.  It only means that their merit is
even greater.

Regards,

Michel Lachance, RPT

Richard Moody wrote:
>
> The only thing a piano keyboard can do in regard to tonal quality (or
> control) is vary the velocity of the hammer.  The harder the key is
> pushed, the more velocity the hammer has as it strikes the string.
> So in that regard the only tonal control a pianist has from the keys
> at least on the down ward stroke results from  the velocity of the
> hammers.
>         If one is not able to observe the grand piano action in action in
> and out of the piano, there are models that show the movement of the
> hammer as the key is depressed.  At the point of let off, the hammer
> is no longer in contact with any mechanism as it flies toward the
> string. During this "free flight" or "travel" no more control can be
> given to the hammer.  So if you can see this you realize that there
> is a split second before the hammer hits the string that is beyond
> the control of the pianist.
>         When you press down on the key of a grand piano, very slowly, so
> slow that you will not produce a sound, you will feel resistance
> toward the bottom of the dip, and then it sort of "snaps" through,,
> and on a finely regulated piano, this "snap through" will be enough
> to produce a tone no matter how hard you try not to. Well maybe after
> 5 or 6 go throughs you might be able not to cause the hammer to
> strike.
>          The beginning of this resistance is the beginning of what
> technicians call "let off".This is the point which the mechanism must
> dis-engage itself from the hammer.  You can visualize  in order for
> the hammer to strike the string, there must be a period of time where
> it can freely rebound from the string. To do this, it must be free
> from the mechanism for a split second. Other wise it would "block" So
> now you know the considerations the first piano makers had to deal
> with.  Actually the problem was, what to do with the hammer after it
> had struck the string.  Look at toy pianos for example.
>         Any how it is important to realize  as the hammer strikes the string
> it has been beyond the control of the key for an x amount of time.
>         At this point we are at the proverbial, "one picture is worth a
> thousand words".  In less than 10 years one might be able to send a
> "moving picture" (is that mjpg ?)over computers that would be worth a
> thousand chapters.
>         In the mean time, I  hope that music students would be granted at
> least one class session devoted to the workings of  the mechanism of
> the piano and the movement of the piano hammer.
>         We come to a point where  we are beyond the physical aspects of the
> piano mechanism, so when the teacher says to play through to the
> bottom of the key, or press harder at the bottom of the dip, for
> greater tonal control, we know we are in the mind over matter, or
> metaphysical aspects of tonal control from the keyboard.
>         For the influence of dampers on tone, that's taken up next semester.
>
> Richard Moody
>
>
> ----------
> > From: KUANG <v137z2ng@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu>
> > To: pianotech@byu.edu
> > Cc: V137Z2NG@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu
> > Subject: Re: String breakage
> > Date: Friday, April 11, 1997 4:42 PM
> >
> >
> >
> >       Right now I'm trying to figure out why alot of pianists believe a
> > note played at same dynamic can have different tone quality depends
> on how
> > you play it (there might be a reason behind it).
>
>         {perhaps you mean "on how the key is pressed"...?...rm}
>
> >Can this be easily explained?  Or is this a wives' tale?  Can
> someone with a very good
> > understanding of action/mechanism express their opinions?  Are
> modern
> > pianos designed so pianists can change the tone quality while
> playing
> > (e.g. during a performance) as much as they want without
> > voicing/regulating?  Is there a way a technician can optimize a
> piano to
> > do this?
>
> > with regads,
> > Kuang Wang