“Touch Design” is a recipe for the feel of the pianos’ touch, and consists of the measured, leverage, and friction in each key, using the new touchweight metrology.
The creator of Precision TouchDesign™, David Stanwood, found that Touch Design recipes vary widely from piano to piano, and that when touch design parameters are very consistent from note to note, the response of the keys will be very consistent as well.
Stanwood also discovered that the combined levels of touch design parameters will indicate if the piano will feel too heavy, too light, or just right. In addition he found that touch design parameters will tell if a piano is producing full tonal energy.
Precision TouchDesign(tm) – The Highest Standard
Stanwood Precision TouchDesigns™ may be used to reconfigure the touch of any grand piano thereby creating a degree of perfect touch and tone that is higher than any achieved before.
Before Touchweight
The Task of Playing Piano Is Made Easier
Think of playing the piano as artfully dancing up and down a staircase. With Precision TouchDesign™, the steps are very even and the staircase is just the right steepness. Without it the steps are uneven and the stair may be too steep or too shallow, requiring more difficult technique to negotiate.
Similarly, in a piano with Precision TouchDesign™, the multiple weight components such as hammer weight and lead weights in the keys are made to a highly accurate standard thereby guaranteeing smooth transitions from note to note with an ideal voicing of the tone. The action leveraging is designed to be not too heavy or too light but matched to the physique of the player.
After TouchWeight
Above is a cutaway of a grand piano key. Pictured is the side profile. The orange colored weights represent the necessary weight (which would in effect be our fingers pressing down the key) to balance the equation. The second diagram depicts those same ideas spread out. The numbers along the see-saw are the multiplying effects of those same levers. The picture here has a 5 to 1 ratio meaning that every gram at the hammer is multiplied by 5 at the keyboard. Though it looks like 5th grade math and paradoxically simple, when you add in the fact that the hammer is on a rotational axis and then you add in lead weights with friction points, the puzzle becomes more challenging.
Before TouchWeight
After TouchWeight
Jim Fariss is the only licensed
Precision Touch Design™ installer in Colorado
The process of TouchWeight and Touch Design begins with measurements at your piano and then the piano action moved to my shop and placed in the custom designed GrandWorks™ Regulation station.
Initially, the keys are measured for the amount of force required to press down to move the hammer and likewise, how much force the hammer and supporting components are pressing back.
Friction is noted and addressed. All hammers are removed and individually weighed. Likewise, the key weight is measured including the balance point. Characteristics of the action and keybed are noted that impact the action geometry. Many pianoists who suffer from arthritis find relief and joy to play once again by using Touch Design to lighten the feel of the action. To create a ligher feel yet maintain the performace, extensive modificiation is sometimes required. Here, changing the location and angle of brass capstan. With the capstan relocated, the heel of the whippen must also be relocated. What the new capstan line will look like. Making weight adjustments to the various componets, this is removing weight from the hammers. Adding weight to a hammer. Marking where lead to be added to the key will go. Inserting additional lead into the key. If you desire a consistent touch, including feeling heavier or lighter, allow me to customize your piano using Precision Touchweight Design.
