raising damper lift to lighten touch

[Greg Graham]

Does damper timing impact touch at normal playing
speeds?  (We are talking about grand pianos here).

My chapter held a lengthy technical last month on
touchweight.  The dampers were lifted by the pedal
when using gram weights on the keys to check up and
down weight, thus eliminating damper weight from the
equations.  

Someone asked the instructor about the effect of the
dampers.  The answer was:

"The touchweight we feel at normal playing speed is
mostly inertial, getting the hammer and shank up to
speed.  By the time the key hits the damper
underlever, inertia of the key does the work of
lifting the dampers, the hammer is moving close to
full speed, the initial inertial load has dropped, and
you hardly feel the damper at all."   

Inertial effects and "real" touchweight at playing
speeds are much harder to measure than slow-motion or
static weights, so we rely on our sense of touch.  I'm
not sensitive enough yet to feel small differences, so
I have a hard time proving or disputing the claim
above.

In light of our very detailed analysis of the action
we worked on, hammer weight and key leading are the
first things to check, and the easiest to change, if
an action is too heavy (assuming friction and geometry
problems have been ruled out).  Dampers didn't make it
to the top ten.

Damper timing does have a significant effect on the
ability to play legato or staccato.  Early lift makes
it easier to play legato.  Some jazz pianists prefer a
late lift for lots of separation, articulation, or
"bite".  At least that is the opinion of a few of our
chapter's more senior techs.  Sounds reasonable to me.
 

Greg Graham
PTG Associate Member, Lehigh Valley PA
(written and tech exam passed, tuning yet to go)




		
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