Keynote:
Acoustics of pianos: what we can learn from the analysis and simulations of historic instruments

    Antoine Chaigne

Historic pianos made during the golden age of the 19th century show a large variety of building parameters, in terms of geometry, materials and making process. From the analysis of pianos tones and vibrational quantities on these instruments, the function of these parameters in terms of sound level, time decay and spectral content of piano tones can be established and generalized to modern pianos. Simulating these instruments yields useful information on the consequences of modifications in the piano making on the tone quality, such as the string scaling and the soundboard design. In addition to these points, new emerging results and questions related to the acoustics of pianos will be presented in the lecture, such as the effects of the listening environment, the comparison between different piano action mechanisms, and the interest of energy analysis in the simulations.