A measurement of piano playing
The same overlap measure, applied to the accompaniment.
The same passage — Pathétique II, bars 1–4 — from the recordings that sit lowest and highest on this measurement. Every clip is a note list replayed on one sampled grand at one gain, so the only difference you are hearing is the playing.
Key-overlap ratio over the accompanying figuration.
Every piece in the library, with the range across its recordings. The units mean the same thing in every row, except for basic tempo, which is in each piece’s own beat.
| Piece | Recordings | Lowest | Median | Highest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nocturne Op. 48/1 | 27 | -0.73 | -0.69 | -0.51 |
| Ravel Ondine | 61 | -0.60 | -0.51 | -0.28 |
| Nocturne Op. 9/2 | 32 | -0.66 | -0.43 | 0.10 |
| Clair de lune | 27 | -0.50 | -0.35 | -0.09 |
| Pathétique II | 47 | -0.74 | -0.33 | 0.05 |
| Schubert Op. 90/3 | 43 | -0.43 | -0.32 | -0.12 |
| Rachmaninoff Prelude | 29 | -0.38 | -0.29 | -0.19 |
| Schubert Op. 142/3 | 9 | -0.36 | -0.24 | 0.05 |
| Mozart K. 545 | 37 | -0.42 | -0.23 | -0.06 |
| Chopin Étude 10/12 | 19 | -0.30 | -0.15 | -0.06 |
| Fantaisie-Impromptu | 20 | -0.23 | -0.11 | -0.01 |
| Chopin Ballade 4 | 12 | -0.26 | -0.10 | 0.01 |
| Chopin Étude 10/1 | 31 | -0.26 | -0.08 | 0.19 |
| Brahms Op. 118/2 | 28 | -0.11 | 0.04 | 0.59 |
| Träumerei | 31 | -0.01 | 0.11 | 0.25 |
| Gymnopédie 1 | 23 | 0.07 | 0.12 | 0.18 |
| Bach Prelude in C | 27 | -0.20 | 0.14 | 1.07 |
A Disklavier capture — the pianist’s own key sensors, no microphone — was rendered to audio, transcribed as if it were a recording, and re-measured. The error the transcription step introduces, as a multiple of how far pianists actually differ on this dial, is 1.60. noisy The transcription moves this dial about as far as pianists differ on it, so no claim should rest on where a single recording sits.