A measurement of piano playing
How far the top of a chord is lifted above the notes beneath it.
The same passage — Mozart K. 545, 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.
Top-note velocity minus the mean velocity of the other notes of the chord. Roughly 0.24 dB per unit.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chopin Étude 10/1 | 31 | -3.4 | 4.6 | 8.7 |
| Ravel Ondine | 61 | 1.9 | 6.0 | 11.7 |
| Chopin Étude 10/12 | 19 | 6.2 | 9.1 | 14.7 |
| Nocturne Op. 48/1 | 27 | 6.1 | 10.2 | 12.8 |
| Rachmaninoff Prelude | 29 | 6.1 | 10.4 | 14.6 |
| Chopin Ballade 4 | 12 | 7.6 | 11.9 | 16.7 |
| Pathétique II | 47 | 9.6 | 12.7 | 16.9 |
| Fantaisie-Impromptu | 20 | 8.9 | 14.5 | 20.2 |
| Schubert Op. 142/3 | 9 | 12.3 | 15.1 | 20.0 |
| Schubert Op. 90/3 | 43 | 9.7 | 15.6 | 21.6 |
| Ravel Pavane | 33 | 9.5 | 15.6 | 23.2 |
| Clair de lune | 27 | 10.7 | 17.1 | 21.3 |
| Mozart K. 545 | 37 | 9.4 | 17.6 | 23.1 |
| Träumerei | 31 | 11.9 | 18.2 | 28.5 |
| Gymnopédie 1 | 23 | 10.4 | 18.5 | 26.3 |
| Brahms Op. 118/2 | 28 | 12.5 | 18.7 | 25.9 |
| Nocturne Op. 9/2 | 32 | 13.0 | 18.8 | 23.1 |
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 1.62. 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.