[CAUT] Piano Response or how heavy the action is.

[Chris Solliday]

Hey Ric,
so touch and tone are part and parcel. I'm not surprised. Probably should
factor in what the pianist is used to as well. That may in fact be a  more
determining factor. Might want to fact check all that.
Best regards,
Chris Solliday

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Richard Brekne" <ricb at pianostemmer.no>
To: <caut at ptg.org>
Sent: Friday, June 12, 2009 12:16 PM
Subject: [CAUT] Piano Response or how heavy the action is.


> Hi all
>
> I've used this last school year to pay very close attention to what
> various pianists mean by "the piano is heavy" or "it is light"... i.e.
> what usually most of us would think in terms of physical weight of the
> action and have come to the conclusion that the greatest majority of
> pianists simply are not concerned with, and perhaps not even
> significantly affected by (at least directly) physical weight concerns.
> For them it is simply a matter of what they hear in response to how much
> energy they use to play. They also seem to for the most part base their
> appreciation (positive and negative) for a piano based on whether they
> like a very responsive instrument or one that requires more effort to
> drive into brilliance.  It seems like only when they get into issues of
> repetition and the like are they concerned with things that touch on the
> actions physical properties.
>
> Case in point... we've a CFIII that has specified 59-57 grams downweight
> and a minimum of 25 grams upweight by the factory compared to a S&S D
> that is 50-47.  Now thats a chunky difference really.  Yet the Yamaha,
> which was allowed to get bright, overly bright really has been described
> by every single pianist this year as being much lighter then the S&S.
> The S&S is simply darker voiced... and really not allllll that much so.
> Friction issues have been purposely addressed on both to isolate that
> from the situation.
>
> I have no doubt that despite this very precise balancing and evening out
> of action weights and key to key ratio can and does play a very
> significant role in how the pianist overall perceives (positive or
> negative) the piano, but in the end... it is the voicing of the
> instrument that is the key to the pianists sensation of whether the
> instrument is "good" or "bad", and most certainly whether the instrument
> is heavy or light.  Real physical impedance only indirectly affects this
> perception.
>
> Cheers
> RicB