Hi Kuang: You have touched on a sore spot between technicians and Pianist when you bring up the subject of being able to vary the tone without varying the volume. Some pianist have claimed to be able to make many variations of tone without playing louder or softer. Most of us technicians feel that the speed at which the hammer strikes the string is the main con- trolling factor in producing tone quality with its inherent power. There are physicists who are studying this claim. The only thing so far which they have come up with is that the keyboard thump sound does affect our perceived values of tone quality. So that if one "plays into the keys" he gets a different quality than when merely striking the keys with the same overall force to produce the same power. There was a lady teacher who was very popular with her pedagology which insisted on very relaxed arms wrists and shoulders after the key reached the bottom of its stroke. I believe her name was Matthei or Matthey from England. Who knows, you Kuang may become the one to put a firm handle on this big question as to whether or not the quality can be changed without changing the power. OK, we all know that the shift pedal can change the quality, and that with flutter pedalling, one can cause the tone to decay more rapidly. Jim Coleman, Sr.
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