Tone Production by the Pianist

[Nichols]

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John,
     The archives are full of this one, but I'm not sure what the subject 
lines will look like. As for explaining the physics, that's your trick 
question. As a tech, I can reduce the action characteristics down to 
numbers, but as a player and knowing real players, I have to admit that 
there are unmeasurable factors. "Love" is as good as any, when you're 
talking about a feedback loop such as a piano. I have watched a superior 
piano teacher produce tone with her pinky that I couldn't reproduce.
     We live in a world where easily half the people believe in an 
invisible friend. Why shouldn't we be able to transcend the laws of 
physics? Isn't that why we call them "laws"? I mean, the word "law" implies 
that we humans created it, and can amend it to our needs and wants.
    The various responses that could follow your query may not resolve any 
lingering doubts, but life is full of mystery. Enjoy.

Guy


At 07:40 AM 11/25/2005 -0700, you wrote:
>In your experience and philosophy can different pianists create different 
>tones on the same piano, at the same volume (velocity of the hammer 
>striking the strings) with different touch techniques?  It seems to me 
>that the player always throws the SAME weight at the SAME target and 
>doesn't have a direct connection with the string at the moment of impact, 
>so would therefore have no control over what the tone generated by the 
>instrument is, except and unless they could somehow control the checking 
>point of the hammer so that it influenced a very small part of the 
>acoustics.  Shouldn't MY (drummer's touch!) mezzo-forte middle C sound 
>exactly like Chick Corea's on the same instrument?
>
>I ask because I have a piano teacher friend who insists that SHE and her 
>students are ultimately in charge of tone.  And when I ask her to 
>demonstrate, she really can't.  She just plays louder or softer on her 
>Steinway.  Sure, the tone changes with volume, but she can't prove to me 
>that she's capable of tone change at the SAME volumes.  She holds her 
>ground, though, and says, "Well I can't do it right now, but I know that 
>sometimes when I play I can make it SO BEAUTIFUL, and other times..." and 
>goes on to say that it has to do with the "love" she inputs to the 
>keys.  I responded that I thought it was her emotional attachment to the 
>music at the moment and the voicings her fingers were able to  respond 
>with, by which I mean each individual finger is capable of its own 
>velocity (and therefore TONE character) that expresses the music according 
>to her emotional interpretation.
>
>Sorry to get so long-winded about it.  It's really a simple question, 
>isn't it?        Does the pianist have the ability to influence tone 
>character differences at the same dynamic level?  If so, can you explain 
>the physics of that?
>_______________________________________________
>pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives
>

"To announce that there must be no criticism of the President,
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