Touchweight Metrology Question

[A440A@AOL.COM]

Bill writes: 
>But let's put this in perspective. We're barely talking a few grams 
>disagreement here. Let me blindfold you, tape the end of your index 
>finger (so as to dull your tactile sense), and then balance a 1 or 2 
>grams wafer on top of that. Can you tell me when it is that the extra 
>weight hits the end of your finger.

Agreed, it would be hard to tell, however,  trying to play a Chopin etude or 
a Rachmaninoff concerto on a keyboard with an extra two to four grams of 
inertial resistance will certainly be noticeable to most highly skilled 
pianists.  The effect of the mass will be increased as speed of acceleration 
goes up,  so a piano that is easy to play slowly will start "hardening up" as 
one attempts to play it harder or faster.  

as to
>It never hurt Horowitz.

I don't know about that, his recordings sound pretty shallow and brittle to 
me. I heard his piano before the factory "restored" it,  it sounded like a 
tin can.  How much nicer the sound could have been will never be known, but 
that is the price of neurotic artistry.   
Regards, 
Ed Foote