A measurement of piano playing
Whether the pedal is caught before or after the chord it holds.
The same passage — Gymnopédie 1, bars 1–3 — 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.
Median of (pedal press time) minus (the nearest preceding chord onset). Large positive values are syncopated pedalling: the harmony sounds first, the pedal catches it after.
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 | 31 | 47 | 72 |
| Chopin Étude 10/12 | 19 | 42 | 64 | 87 |
| Fantaisie-Impromptu | 20 | 67 | 90 | 130 |
| Mozart K. 545 | 37 | 50 | 93 | 163 |
| Schubert Op. 90/3 | 43 | 53 | 97 | 179 |
| Bach Prelude in C | 24 | 68 | 115 | 307 |
| Schubert Op. 142/3 | 9 | 82 | 117 | 140 |
| Ravel Ondine | 61 | 56 | 125 | 254 |
| Chopin Ballade 4 | 12 | 106 | 136 | 169 |
| Rachmaninoff Prelude | 29 | 81 | 137 | 210 |
| Nocturne Op. 9/2 | 32 | 93 | 159 | 256 |
| Nocturne Op. 48/1 | 27 | 117 | 168 | 297 |
| Clair de lune | 27 | 132 | 180 | 283 |
| Gymnopédie 1 | 23 | 89 | 215 | 319 |
| Pathétique II | 47 | 116 | 220 | 279 |
| Ravel Pavane | 33 | 145 | 232 | 354 |
| Brahms Op. 118/2 | 28 | 143 | 246 | 324 |
| Träumerei | 31 | 159 | 253 | 426 |
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 0.73. fair Usable, but the error is worth stating alongside any single value.