Until today, I believed that the sustain pedal "cancelled" the staccato effect on the piano; but today, my teacher pointed out to me that it is not at all like that: not only from a "psychological" performance standpoint, but also from a timbral one. And yet, I cannot explain how this is possible from a mechanical point of view: my familiarity with virtual instruments had always led me to translate hammer velocity solely in terms of volume, without the possibility of other dynamic modulations... and therefore that staccato coincided only with the "detachment," precisely, of the note.
I would like some pianist to clarify this mystery for me. Thank you.
It is a matter of weight. Staccato is concentrated force in an instant of time; one does not seek the bottom of the key, it is wrist and arm speed if one wants to achieve greater dynamics. The hammer strikes the string and the escapement does not even have time to escape. Conversely, when seeking the bottom of the key, the hammer strikes the string thanks to weight and escapes only to then be caught. Completely different dynamics regardless of the use of the sustain. It seems strange, but different attacks produce different sounds. I am taking an advanced course with an Italian concert pianist who is teaching me the Russian technique. Only weight is utilized, no muscles, there must be no tension. The sound produced is very round and beyond this, one assumes full awareness of the body while playing... Sustain aside, these hammers have infinite ways of striking the string and infinite sonic nuances...
Thanks, Simon! I think I've understood, but... I didn't understand (what a stubborn head...!). Perhaps, I should be able to observe the behavior of a hammer closely (maybe on a grand piano, I imagine).
That is: if I imagine the same thing on a different stringed instrument, like a guitar, it seems obvious to me; but I don't understand how the piano's lever mechanism can achieve an analogous effect. Whether the key stays away from the string before or after the escapement, after having been struck with the same path, how can it be different?
You can obtain a force by essentially modifying two variables that must nonetheless be non-zero. Mass and acceleration. Let's remember that acceleration is the derivative of velocity. Striking a string by providing velocity to a hammer is not the same thing as striking a string while also providing mass to the hammer (I am talking about the mass of the arm). What changes is the production of harmonics...
Remember that if well-regulated, the hammer escapes 2 mm from the string.
Thanks Simon, I'm starting to understand; I took it for granted that the harmonics were always the same, since the point where the string is struck does not vary; instead, I didn't quite understand how the escapement distance affects it, but perhaps I should better understand how it works. I will try to look for something on the web (I don't have a piano here).
If you are experienced with electricity. Think of a spark at 20,000 volts but very few amperes (the case of the fast hammer). Conversely, think of the same spark at 1,000 volts but with many amperes (the case where weight is applied).
Thanks, Simon; I know that in the second case one remains stunned and in the first not (if I'm not mistaken), but... I can't connect the dots. In particular, I don't understand how the speed of the hammer might not translate into volume.
Proof by contradiction: if a hammer travels at a speed of 300 km/h, I expect its mass to be multiplied by the speed and smash everything. In short, velocity x mass = weight, or am I wrong? If that's not the case, then, in digital sound, do volume and dynamics translate into velocity?
