Timeline for When we press a piano key, why does a high pitch note not run for as long as a low pitch note?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
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Mar 26, 2020 at 19:04 | comment | added | user50691 | @HeatherS., with all due respect this does not clearly address the question. I'm choosing to down vote it because of the misinformation contained within. Higher strings have just as many harmonics as lower ones and it is not clear that the explanation that longer strings "...do not let go of their vibrations..." is true or reveals what process is really involved. | |
Mar 24, 2020 at 1:02 | comment | added | user9480 | The lower strings have more mass and do not let go of the vibrations as quickly as the higher strings. What makes you think that this depends on mass in this way? | |
Mar 23, 2020 at 12:27 | comment | added | MMazzon | @Tim I'm sure there is more than one system, but typically, low keys have a single, thick string for each key, middle keys have pairs of thinner strings for each key, and top keys have sets of 3 strings (thinnest) for each key. It's common that each of these 3 groups use the same string gauge (hence 3 gauges total) but it's also possible to have more than 3 groups, perhaps on more expensive pianos. In any case the length of the string gradually decreases within each group, so that the string tension required to tune each key correctly is about the same for all strings. | |
Mar 23, 2020 at 12:12 | comment | added | Tim | I realise that, hence the comment. You're saying the lower strings have more harmonics (which by definition are higher) and they resonate with other strings. True - but only those which are undamped, and resonate for a very short time. There seems to be a conflict, that's all. Play a low note, and the only strings which will vibrate sympathetically will be the undamped much higher ones, which have a fast decay anyway. What am I missing? | |
Mar 23, 2020 at 11:47 | comment | added | Heather S. | @MMazzon, it is apparent looking inside my piano that there are many different gauges of string. The lowest strings have visibly different thicknesses. Each set of strings (for each key) has a different length, like a harp. I would not call that a gradual change, but graduated. | |
Mar 23, 2020 at 11:39 | comment | added | Heather S. | @Tim, the highest strings do not even have dampers since they vibrate for such a short time, so the sustain pedal does nothing to them. | |
Mar 23, 2020 at 11:17 | comment | added | Tim | @MMazzon - I was under the impression that most pianos had a good dozen different gauges of string, not three. | |
Mar 23, 2020 at 10:14 | comment | added | MMazzon | On a piano, higher strings are not necessarily thinner, just shorter. For example, a common piano setup is to have just 3 different gauges of strings: thicker ones for the bottom two octaves or so, thinner ones for the top two octaves or so, and mid-sized ones for all the keys in between. The tension of the strings is also about the same, and what changes is the length of the strings, which gradually decreases in higher keys. | |
Mar 23, 2020 at 9:49 | comment | added | d-b | Your answer doesn't make sense. If the strings receive the same amount of energy, the weight of the string doesn't matter. The thin light string might lose the vibrations faster but since it must have started with "more" vibrations it should "be done" at the same time as the heavy string. | |
Mar 23, 2020 at 8:15 | comment | added | Tim | Basically, inertia. The resonating harmonics will really only be a valid point when the sustain pedal is operated, don't you think? | |
Mar 23, 2020 at 1:07 | history | answered | Heather S. | CC BY-SA 4.0 |