Tone Production by the Pianist

[Erwinspiano@aol.com]

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In a message dated 11/27/2005 8:30:01 A.M. Pacific Standard Time,  
Erwinspiano writes:

  Hi Don
   Excellent thoughts & experiences. I too remember  standing around My Dads 
Yamaha dealership ,both of us scoffing about the  idea that a pianist could 
change the tone of the piano.. Hey I was young. And  wrong. I've had the 
experience many times.
 Once upon a time (grin) two sisters came to play a Steinway M  for sale. the 
first played mechanical Bach & I couldn't beleive this piano  could sound 
that ugly,harsh & strident. Then up steps hers sis playing  some fluid articulate 
piece with a touch to match & the piano melted like  butter. Amazing.
  I will comment that In My opinion the more precisely the  piano is 
regulated & coupled with a fine voicing evens the playing field a  bit & allows more 
pianisit an oppurtunity to create a beautiful sound  via larger tonal resources.
  BTW The glue collar is not one I'd given much thought about
  Well done
   Dale Erwin

-----Original  Message-----
From: Don Mannino <donmannino@comcast.net>
To:  Pianotech <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Fri, 25 Nov 2005 10:07:19  -0800
Subject: Re: Tone Production by the Pianist

At 08:24 AM 11/25/2005,  you wrote: 

>John Dorr asked: " 
>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? 

John, 

This is an interesting  topic to me, as I have experienced this effect very 
decisively under different  circumstances. When I was in college studying music 
I used to feel that tone  could not be changed by how one played, but over 
time I have come to the  opposite conclusion. 

The first effective demonstration was  at a piano competition, on piano 
selection day. All of the piano technicians  nervously sit in the audience while 
the competitors move from piano to piano  and decide in the space of 20 - 30 
minutes which piano to use. So in a short  time I could hear multiple pianists 
play the same 5 pianos, and wow do the  pianos sound different with different 
pianists! The effect is not at all  subtle - a particular piano can sound 
horrible with one player, then the next  player will make it sound wonderful. 

Some of this is not  simply how each key is pressed. How the pedal is used, 
how the notes are  connected for legato play, and how chords are voiced all 
make a tremendous  difference in the tone, and are all simple to explain. There 
are more  differences in the overall tone quality, though, that comes from the 
playing  of the key itself. One pianist can make a very fine piano sound thin 
and harsh  and short toned, while the next can make it sound warm and lush and 
 singing. 

Another demonstration was done at the Kawai  laboratory which was more 
scientific. A concert grand was set up in the  anechoic chamber with a mechanical 
playing device. The piano was digitally  recorded at a variety of volume level 
with a machine playing the key. The  machine produced a very hard, unyielding 
blow on the key, from soft to  loud. 

Next a pianist sat at the same piano in the same  room, and played the same 
note at varying loudness levels. This was also  recorded. 

The resulting recorded notes were then matched up  for precise volume levels 
and compared. The two different tones sounded like  different pianos, and 
their spectrum display (actually a "waterfall" style  display showing the sound 
across a range of frequencies and over time to show  the decay) was clearly 
different. 

When tuning you will find  this happening, especially in the mid to upper 
treble. When measuring a piano  using Cybertuner, for instance, it is sometimes 
possible to find a particular  style of key playing that produces a clearer 
tone with better sustain. I can't  describe how the keystroke is done, exactly, 
but it is firm without being  hard. And it changes with different pianos. 

The best  explanation I have for why there are differences comes from seeing 
how hammer  shanks flex and hammer heads vibrate on the way up to the string 
in slow  motion films (those of you who have seen my Kawai action seminar know 
what I'm  talking about). Given that a particular hammer velocity should 
produce a given  volume level from the piano, how the hammer is accelerated to that 
velocity  will affect the shank flex and hammer head vibration, and therefore 
the tone  will be different. A pliable touch will accelerate the hammer 
slowly at first,  reaching the target velocity just at letoff. A hard and 
unyielding touch will  accelerate the hammer more suddenly, causing more shank flex and 
more head  vibration, which will affect the tone because of the way the 
hammer head is  moving as it hits the string. 

Another side of the tone  picture is the contribution of various other noises 
in the action to the tone.  The thump of the key at the bottom definitely 
contributes to the tone quality,  for instance. The vibration of the hammer head 
after impact produces a  definite knock that we perceive as part of the piano 
tone (and this is  affected by the shank stiffness near the hammer head along 
with the glue  collar size, as well as hammer rail design, etc.). A pianist 
who plays hard  but not deep will create different noise in a particular action, 
so the tone  will be perceived as different. 

Action centers have a great  affect on tone - and when considering the hammer 
head movement towards the  string, one can understand why. But more than 
simply loose or tight, the  hardness of the bushing and the flex of the hammer 
flange at the birds-eye  affect how controlled the hammer is and any side-to-side 
vibration of the  head. 

So, piano tone production is horribly complex in it's  makeup, and one can 
get lost trying to take into account everything that goes  into it. All of these 
factors do contribute very strongly to not only the type  of tone produced by 
each pianist, but also how each pianist can have a  particular style of 
action (including centers, keys, key punchings, shank  stiffness, hammer weight and 
hardness, etc. etc. etc.) that will work best for  their style of play. Piano 
teachers tend to become especially sensitive to  this, as they hear many 
different students on the same piano making different  tone. They may not be able 
to defend the idea conceptually, but they will  relate it experientially with 
great conviction! 

I think I  sense a new PTG seminar in the works here. I'll give this more 
thought . .  . 

Don Mannino RPT 






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