A measurement of piano playing

Dynamic range

The distance from the quietest playing to the loudest.

What it sounds like

The same passage — Bach Prelude in C, bars 20–22 — 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.

Least

Keith Jarrett, 1987 — bars 20–22, dynamic range 17 vel9 s

Peter Hill, 2016 — bars 20–22, dynamic range 20 vel10 s

Most

Fazıl Say, 1998 — bars 20–22, dynamic range 47 vel12 s

Lang Lang, 2020 — bars 20–22, dynamic range 45 vel12 s

How it is calculated

95th minus 5th percentile of all note velocities.

How much pianists differ on it

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
Bach Prelude in C	27	17	28	47
Chopin Étude 10/1	31	26	35	44
Mozart K. 545	37	32	41	50
Gymnopédie 1	23	36	44	62
Träumerei	31	36	47	56
Schubert Op. 90/3	43	39	48	57
Clair de lune	27	39	49	63
Pathétique II	47	42	49	59
Chopin Étude 10/12	19	41	49	58
Fantaisie-Impromptu	20	40	52	59
Brahms Op. 118/2	28	44	52	64
Ravel Ondine	61	41	52	65
Ravel Pavane	33	48	56	65
Schubert Op. 142/3	9	49	56	61
Nocturne Op. 9/2	32	46	58	70
Nocturne Op. 48/1	27	53	62	71
Chopin Ballade 4	12	58	62	69
Rachmaninoff Prelude	29	55	68	77

How reliably it can be measured

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 2.08. 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.

All measurements