A measurement of piano playing
How often block chords are rolled at all.
The same passage — Träumerei, bars 2–3 — 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.
Share of block chords spread by more than 30 ms.
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 | 2 | 8 | 41 |
| Mozart K. 545 | 37 | 1 | 18 | 38 |
| Chopin Étude 10/12 | 19 | 7 | 25 | 40 |
| Rachmaninoff Prelude | 29 | 13 | 30 | 51 |
| Pathétique II | 47 | 13 | 34 | 56 |
| Chopin Ballade 4 | 12 | 28 | 34 | 54 |
| Nocturne Op. 48/1 | 27 | 24 | 36 | 52 |
| Gymnopédie 1 | 23 | 10 | 39 | 81 |
| Schubert Op. 142/3 | 9 | 33 | 40 | 51 |
| Fantaisie-Impromptu | 20 | 31 | 43 | 59 |
| Nocturne Op. 9/2 | 32 | 16 | 44 | 72 |
| Ravel Pavane | 33 | 13 | 45 | 72 |
| Träumerei | 31 | 13 | 47 | 93 |
| Clair de lune | 27 | 23 | 48 | 78 |
| Schubert Op. 90/3 | 43 | 21 | 49 | 82 |
| Ravel Ondine | 61 | 35 | 49 | 62 |
| Brahms Op. 118/2 | 28 | 24 | 62 | 85 |
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 0.57. fair Usable, but the error is worth stating alongside any single value.