What's all this I hear about Inertia ?

[David B. Stang]

After being almost instantaneously treated to some scolding,
sarcasm, condescention, and arrogance because of my previous
post, I will try again.

I was wrong about saying that an overall heavier key would feel the
same as another one with identical downweight. Here's a thought
experiment to show why: Even in a weightless environment, it takes
more force to accelerate something with more mass.  So, it takes
more finger force to accelerate more mass.  duh. sorry!

And if I was not clear enough in my use of the term "dynamic range"
I was just trying to say that since a faster keystrike results in a louder
sound on a piano, then the less able the finger is to accelerate the key,
the less loud the sound will be.

But I will reiterate my original point. Mass is the same as inertia. And
mass is proportional to weight. So on earth, two things with the same
weight have the same inertia. That's the point I had been kind of hung
up with.

Rotational movement is another kettle-o-fish altogether, and has
nothing to do with the point I (admittedly ineptly) was trying to make.


David B. Stang
Still green and trying to figure things out
Columbus Ohio