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There are many variations of touch weight. These include, heavy touches, light touches, stiff actions, sluggish actions, fly-away actions, unevenness, and actions that respond as we would like. Friction is necessary, but too much friction in the wrong places causes havoc in a piano action. A grand piano action depends on gravity to function properly, and consequently too much or too little mass in the wrong place means weight added or subtracted to achieve balance and a functioning action. To a lesser degree, the same balancing act is necessary in an upright action. In uprights, springs rather than gravity play a large part in how an action feels and responds. Adjusting spring tensions can make a huge difference in the touch of a piano.
Action geometry is extremely important to a playable action. Over the years, manufacturers have used action parts of various sizes. If action parts are replaced, they must be exactly the right size. The difference of one millimeter can make an enormous difference in function and response. I have seen cases where incorrect parts have been used. In an effort to make the touch weight fall within playable parameters so much lead was added to the key sticks that despite the weigh-off numbers reading correctly, playing was virtually impossible. The problem is inertia. Yes, a washing machine motor can be made to move a freight train, but what an effort! The proper parts must be used, the geometry must be correct, and weights in the keys must be reasonable. High inertia means fast playing becomes difficult if not impossible, and fortissimo is also impossible. It’s simply not possible to make the key accelerate.
