Sarah Fox wrote: IMO, the only function of keystick inertia is to make the piano feel > "familiar" to pianists who are trained on pianos with lots of keystick > inertia. However, I doubt it results in a better instrument, and I would > expect that the instrument will ultimately evolve to a lower keystick > inertia and a heavier hammer. Sarah, Good work on explaining all this. I agree with you in general but I believer there may me times when increasing the key's inertia would be beneficial. If we make the action as efficient as possible making it easier for the pianist to play me could truncate the musician's dynamic range. If the piano reaches it's full power at a playing level of mf or f, for example, any expressive shading above this level will be lost. I made two graphs showing what I am thing about here: [link redacted at request of site owner - Jul 25, 2015] [link redacted at request of site owner - Jul 25, 2015] You also wrote that the inertia of the hammer does not add to the inefficiencies of the action because it's force will be transferred to the string. This is an interesting point but I think there will be a hefty penalty paid by a massive hammer due to the compliance of the shank and other parts. The most efficient action would probable have little or no counter balancing leads and light hammers. Unless you are a 90 pound weakling such an action would be less that ideal. John Hartman RPT John Hartman Pianos [link redacted at request of site owner - Jul 25, 2015] Rebuilding Steinway and Mason & Hamlin Grand Pianos Since 1979 Piano Technicians Journal Journal Illustrator/Contributing Editor [link redacted at request of site owner - Jul 25, 2015]
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