1915] on The Piano-Player— Scientific Aspects 403 



succession it is advantageous to hold the controlling lever lirmlv so as 

 to stop all vibration in the regulating bellows. This not only im- 

 proves the repetition but it obviates all the strain on the ankles in 

 pedalling, which under ordinary conditions is considerable. 



12. In every case the exertion of pedalKng is greatly reduced, not 

 improbably by about 50 per cent. This result admits of explanation, 

 but it must be regarded as based on experimental- rather than 

 theoretical evidence. 



13. Some players have separate regulating bellows for the bass 

 and treble parts. In an experiment kindly arranged by Messrs. 

 Broadwood at Easter 1914, it was shown that this did not interfere 

 with the working of the device, the two regulating bellows being 

 attached to a common connexion. In this case the controlling lever 

 had to be connected with the bellows by a wire over six feet long 

 passing over two pulleys, and yet this did not interfere with the 

 production of marked effects, otherwise unobtainable. 



14. A very remarkable result is that a very small effort often 

 produces a considerable difference in the effect. It is possible to 

 emphasize a particular note or chord by a suitable stroke of the 

 pedals alone, and of course, the necessary pressure must always be 

 supplied in this way, but the lightest possible touch of a finger applied 

 to the lever will often produce a conspicuous improvement in the 

 effect. On the other hand, the sudden jerk on the controlling lever 

 often strains the connexions considerably, and I found that even 

 strong wires were very liable to break with the strain, particularly 

 when passing over small pulleys. 



15. Experimenting with pianos of different makes, both upright 

 and horizontal, operated by either detachable or interior players, 

 has led to practically identical results. 



A comparison of the present results with the subject matter of 

 Professor Tobias Mathay's treatise on " The Act of Touch " will show 

 that the underlying principle is the same in both cases, namely, that 

 differences of expression are obtainable by suitably varying the pres- 

 sure applied by the finger to the key, or by the vacuum to the 

 pneumatic during the small fraction of a second occupied by the 

 descent of the former or the collapse of the latter. It was not till 

 after my experiments were practically complete that I became aware 

 of Mathay's work, so that the present results were all obtained inde- 

 pendently. Much might be said in regard to the physiological aspects of 

 the problem, as a great deal depends on the state of tenseness of the 

 muscles of the hands and feet in playing. I have always maintained 

 that the existing practice of making everything depend on foot 

 control can never lead to satisfactory results, but that the hand must 

 be used as well, and must be made to actually feel the changes of 

 tension in the wind chest as is rendered possible by my device. 

 Again, an average critic reading Mathay's book would think he had 

 indulged in an absurd amount of over-elaboration in classifying the 



