This may be rather remarkable: “Grand Feel,” developed by Fujii Piano Service in Kagoshima.
A grand piano has a repetition mechanism1, enabling it, in 1 second, to repeat the same note 13 to 14 times, but an upright piano cannot do so.
In addition, because gravity lowers the hammers in a grand piano, the interval between striking the strings and the hammers moving away is short. The hammers do not suppress the strings, allowing rich overtones to emerge. In an upright piano, by contrast, the hammers move horizontally and cannot make effective use of gravity. They suppress the strings, reducing the overtones and making the sound less brilliant.
Fujii Piano Service’s “Grand Feel” solves these problems. It improves hammer movement by fitting each hammer with 2 springs, achieving, in 1 second, 14 repeated strikes and producing rich overtones.
This NHK video clearly shows how it works.
I hope this kind of upright-piano mechanism becomes widespread soon.
Footnotes
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