(from guest blogger Robert Furst)
ACTION REGULATION
Regulating a piano takes place when a tuner/technician must raise the pitch of an instrument. This means the piano may have to be tuned more than once. The reason can be the fact that the instrument has not been tuned in a long time, or in some cases it is because the instrument is new. The “true” tone of a new piano is only developed some nine months to a year after the date of manufacture. During this period the strings and wooden parts have continued to stretch, the varnish on the soundboard crystallizes, and the pressure on the soundboard through the bridge settles down to its natural and final state. There is also a subtle quality of freshness about the tone of a good piano in new condition which can only be described as “luster.” The same quality may be found in pianos fifty to sixty years old, which have been carefully used and expertly renovated. This quality is entirely lacking in instruments which have had heavy wear, or suffer from a “tired” soundboard. Once completely dissipated, the freshness cannot be re-created even by the most expert manipulation. It costs more to regulate a piano than to simply tune it.
The word “touch” applies to the performance of the piano as well as to the performance of the musician. When we say a piano has a good touch, we mean that the action has been so well made and so perfectly regulated that it responds instantly and accurately to any demands the most expert performer can make. When, in his later years, Beethoven played the piano, he could not hear the music at all. Pianos have been used and have been played well by people with almost every other type of physical handicap, but all who play must possess one thing in common: the ability to press down the keys. They have to have a sense of touch which tells them how hard to strike each note. The selection of notes and the tempo are determined by the composer. These are fixed and can be readily grasped by the performer, but the composer can only indicate in a general way what force is to be applied through using such symbols as “pianissimo” or “forte”. These, however, are broad terms; the many shadings of volume in between the marked signs on the music are left to the intuition and skill of the pianist, subject to the capacity of the piano to respond.
A player-piano can produce every note exactly as written by the composer and do it in perfect tempo, but it still sounds mechanical because it lacks the third dimension of. interpretive touch. A capable performer can strike a piano key with about twenty-seven different degrees of force. Since there is no way for the teacher or composer to communicate to the pianist just what force is to be applied to each note, it is clear that “touch” must be sensed, must be regarded as an art rather than as an exact science.
WHAT IS THE RIGHT TOUCH FOR A PIANO?
There is a tendency to place too much emphasis on piano actions being made extra light so that small children can play without risk of tiring. Children do not remain children very long and if they learn on a piano with an abnormal light touch, they will have to readjust themselves later to a standard touch which is not easy to do. Though there is not too much that can be done to change the touch after a piano has been manufactured, it is not difficult or expensive to design a piano with a very light touch. It is impossible, however, to make one that way and have it responsive enough for really good performance.
There is a common belief that a performer can produce tones of different quality by some special skill or technique in the way a piano key is struck or in the way it is manipulated after it has been depressed. This is not true, as no skill in required to play a single note. if the force of the blow on the key is the same, the tonal result will be the same whether the force is applied by a concert artist or a child. Once a key has been depressed, the performer loses all further control over the volume and quality of the tone of that note.
While the manner of striking or holding down a key makes no difference in the tonal effect, the force with which a key is struck can make a difference. Tests have shown that the character of tone, as well as the volume, is often affected by the force of the blow on the key. In other words, the harmonic mixture of the tone may vary with the volume; therefore, the overall tonal pattern of an entire chord can be affected by varying the force used on just one note in the chord. This explains why one artist might produce a more appealing effect than another artist playing the same composition on the same piano. The word “touch” applies to the performance of the piano as well as to the performance of the musician. when we say a piano has a good touch, we mean that the action has been so well made and so perfectly regulated that it responds instantly and accurately to any demands the most expert performer can make.
“Learn to play this one, then we’ll get you a better one”
There is a tendency to place too much emphasis on piano actions being made extra light so that small children can play without risk of tiring. Children do not remain children very long and if they learn on a piano with an abnormal light touch, they will have to readjust themselves later to a standard touch which is not easy to do. Though there is not too much that can be done to change the touch after a piano has been manufactured, it is not difficult or expensive to design a piano with a very light touch. It is impossible, however, to make one that way and have it responsive enough for really good performance.
If the touch is too light, the action will feel shallow and unresponsive because the keys, after being depressed and released, will tend to flutter and not return to playing position fast enough for good repetition. That is why professional musicians almost always want a definitely heavier touch than would be used if we were making pianos just for children to play, and why most piano makers compromise by having a medium touch so that the usefulness of the instrument will not be limited to just one type of performer.
The ideal touch is one that is capable of handling the fast repetition demanded by all good performers, yet light and elastic enough so that a child will not find it too difficult to play during his first year or two at the piano. It is better to have the action a little too heavy for perfect comfort the first year or two, in order to be right for the next fifty years.
In the final part of this post, we’ll explore piano woods, veneers, and plastics.
By Robert T. Furst, Author, Bluebook of Pianos and Piano Times, © 2011 Bluebook of Pianos *Piano Times copyright used by agreement in the State of California.
Our thanks to guest blogger, Robert Furst. Visit his website—bluebookofpianos.com—for more information about pianos.
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