Perception of touch quality in piano tones.
Both timbre and dynamics of isolated piano tones are determined exclusively by the speed with which the hammer hits the strings. This physical view has been challenged by pianists who emphasize the importance of the way the keyboard is touched. This article presents empirical evidence from two perception experiments showing that touch-dependent sound components make sounds with identical hammer velocities but produced with different touch forms clearly distinguishable. The first experiment focused on finger-key sounds: musicians could identify pressed and struck touches. When the finger-key sounds were removed from the sounds, the effect vanished, suggesting that these sounds were the primary identification cue. The second experiment looked at key-keyframe sounds that occur when the key reaches key-bottom. Key-bottom impact was identified from key motion measured by a computer-controlled piano. Musicians were able to discriminate between piano tones that contain a key-bottom sound from those that do not. However, this effect might be attributable to sounds associated with the mechanical components of the piano action. In addition to the demonstrated acoustical effects of different touch forms, visual and tactile modalities may play important roles during piano performance that influence the production and perception of musical expression on the piano.
Institute of Music Acoustics (Wiener Klangstil), University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, Anton-von-Webern-Platz 1, 1030 Vienna, Austria.
Werner
W
Goebl
Sound and Music Computing, School of Computer Science and Communication, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Lindstedtsvägen 3, 11428 Stockholm, Sweden.
Roberto
R
Bresin
Schulich School of Music, McGill University, 555 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, Quebec H3A 1E3, Canada.
Ichiro
I
Fujinaga
D061725:Accelerometry; D000328:Adult; D001307:Auditory Perception; D003463:Cues; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D004867:Equipment Design; D004864:Equipment and Supplies; D005260:Female; D005385:Fingers / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009146:Music / Q000523:psychology*; D013016:Sound; D013018:Sound Spectrography; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D014110:Touch; D055815:Young Adult