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Noun

piano action - action consisting of a system of levers that move a felt hammer to strike the strings when a key is depressed

action mechanism, action - the operating part that transmits power to a mechanism; "the piano had a very stiff action"

damper block, piano damper - damper consisting of a small felted block that drops onto a piano string to stop its vibration

hammer - a striker that is covered in felt and that causes the piano strings to vibrate

forte-piano, piano, pianoforte - a keyboard instrument that is played by depressing keys that cause hammers to strike tuned strings and produce sounds

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References in periodicals archive

On the other end of the spectrum are those instruments with a true piano action, but which produce sound with high-resolution samples instead of strings.

Random Access: Have Your Cake And Eat It Too! The Ever-Expanding World Of Hybrid Pianos

They even manage to play drums and crash cymbals with the help of a deconstructed piano action, the Verge reported.

Now, band of drones that can play music

These instruments have a genuine piano action, with all the wooden parts normally seen in an acoustic piano.

Pensacola State College

This characteristic also means that the 88-note piano track on ProSonus' Studio Reference Disc over-emphasizes the sound of the piano action. But sometimes acoustic instruments, in particular brass, tend to lack body.

Audio-Technica ATH-A700 Headphones ($299): www.audio-technica.com

He explains patiently and clearly how the piano action evolved.

Pianos from the little Czech Village of Divisov are sought after worlwide

(27) An intriguing aspect of her approach to piano technique is that her understanding of the piano action is strongly determined by the need for illusion: "Sometimes [the player] presses the key firmly after it has been played in order to prolong its vibration, occasionally striking [the key again]." (28) Most likely she refers to what was known in German-speaking countries as Bebung.

Helene de Montgeroult and the art of singing well on the piano

And neither of these archetypes bears much resemblance to the fortepianos of Bartolomeo Cristofori inventor of the first successful piano action.

A Florentine harpsichord: revealing a transitional technology

Using a clockwork mechanism as a comparison, Frick draws a connection between the escapement of the piano action with the pedal mechanism of the double harp.

Zur Geschichte des Hammerklaviers

Nineteenth-century instrument builders made so many changes to the piano action that keyboard players needed a new approach to technique.

The ABCs of gen X, Y(P), Z: do music teachers get better with age and experience?

He is a curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and thus has immediate access to the earliest surviving piano by Cristofori (the 'inventor' of the piano) as well as another early piano action in a converted spinettino, originally made in 1585 by Bonafinis.

The Early Pianoforte

Silbermann's pianos were nearly the last to copy Cristofori's mature piano action largely without change.

The Early Pianoforte