[SOUND CONTACTS] Aspects of touch and timbre in piano performance. The effects of key velocity, articulation and temporal duration on sound

Abstract

The concept of touch in piano pedagogy is generally described by using abstract adjectives often linked to imagination, leading to a blurred and controversial definition of the term touch, often confused with timbre. In the last decades, new data-collection technologies and MIDI-based analysis allowed researchers to measure key-control specific features in timbre nuances modeling [Goebl-Bresin-Galembo 2004; Bernays-Traube 2011; 2013].

Within the field of piano performance, the present study attempts to objectively describe piano touch and the means with which it can be controlled, by: (1) providing elements for an adequate scientific understanding of touch; (2) clarifying the relationship between touch and timbre; (3) defining the extent to which the parameters of key-velocity, tempo and articulation vary as a function of different types of touch.