A measurement of piano playing
How reliably the top note is the loudest note of its chord.
The same passage — Chopin Étude 10/1, 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.
Share of chords whose highest note carries the highest velocity.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ravel Ondine | 61 | 50 | 65 | 78 |
| Chopin Étude 10/1 | 31 | 35 | 67 | 81 |
| Nocturne Op. 48/1 | 27 | 60 | 72 | 87 |
| Rachmaninoff Prelude | 29 | 57 | 78 | 88 |
| Pathétique II | 47 | 69 | 78 | 84 |
| Chopin Étude 10/12 | 19 | 64 | 78 | 96 |
| Chopin Ballade 4 | 12 | 70 | 80 | 89 |
| Schubert Op. 90/3 | 43 | 74 | 82 | 91 |
| Schubert Op. 142/3 | 9 | 79 | 86 | 90 |
| Fantaisie-Impromptu | 20 | 77 | 86 | 93 |
| Ravel Pavane | 33 | 76 | 89 | 94 |
| Gymnopédie 1 | 23 | 70 | 90 | 99 |
| Nocturne Op. 9/2 | 32 | 84 | 91 | 96 |
| Träumerei | 31 | 81 | 92 | 100 |
| Clair de lune | 27 | 85 | 93 | 98 |
| Brahms Op. 118/2 | 28 | 87 | 94 | 98 |
| Mozart K. 545 | 37 | 84 | 94 | 100 |
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 1.31. 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.