PTD REGISTERED NUMBER: 354

All genuine Precision Touch Designs in Europe are registered with the PTDAE [Academy of Europe], in order to monitor and maintain standards, and to reassure customers that the Design has been approved and certified.

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Not much is known about PTD, yet, especially in Britain, so musicians have not had the opportunity to experience it, but I would urge anyone who loves to play the piano to seek out the opportunity. At the moment, it seems to me that the vast majority of musicians and, likewise, the majority of Piano Technicians, have either not heard about PTD, or are indifferent to it (or - on the part of technicians -  are actually antipathetic towards it even though they have no experience of it!) but, when they get the opportunity they are bowled over by it. As I was!

What PTD solves is the age-old problem of Inertia in piano actions - i.e. the Resistance, posed by the Mass in the mechanical assembly of moving parts, to the Energy generated by your finger when you touch down a key. Because of this there are inconsistencies, from one Action to another, in the feel of the Action when you play - even when they have an identical 'downweight' (the minimum weight/force required to set the key moving). When different piano actions have the same 'downweight', they will 'feel' very similar when played at this most pianissimo level (which is almost never!); but as soon as you start playing through the full dynamic range (which is all the time!), they 'feel' quite different - lighter or heavier, more or less (un)even. This is because of Inertia. You feel Resistance. It's easy enough to move a heavy weight slowly, but much harder to accelerate it rapidly. Too much resistance makes playing heavy and difficult; too little and the Action becomes light and you lose control. We want it 'just right'!

David Stanwood set out to investigate this problem. Employing the best traditions of the Scientific method, he analysed many Actions, good and bad, to determine what, precisely, made them that good or bad, working with pianists to arrive at a consensus of what was ideal. His great achievement, and great service to the Trade, was to distill all this research and data into a simple formula, which came to be known as the Equation of Balance. What this formula does, is find the optimal pivoting point of the key lever in relation to the weight at the front of the key and the weight of the hammers and wippens on the back of the key, and apply this equilibrium to every note in the Action. The result is a beautifully smooth Action from top to bottom, with great control over the dynamic range. If you're as inexpert a player as I am, you may even begin to understand what professional pianists mean by nuance and 'tone colour'; pianissimo, even! Any appropriately trained piano technician can now determine, by Design,  how a reconditioned Action will turn out, and tailor it to the requirements of the customer - greater or lesser dynamic resistance; lighter or heavier feel of touch; louder or quieter - with much more surety and confidence than was previously possible.

Compared to other musicians, most pianists are uniquely disadvantaged in that they never have the experience of playing a truly marvellous instrument [for argument's sake let's say a Steinway Concert Grand costing £130,000+!]. At best, we might have a decent upright in good nick, or even a small grand, at home, which hasn't been regulated or refelted or toned for a few decades. It's not bad; you get by; you're used to it; you like it well enough, and you get it looked after - but it's nothing like that dream Steinway in the parallel universe piano heaven!  If you're a professional pianist then you have to endure very indifferent or even downright appalling instruments. Such challenging experiences have even led some pianists to develop the theory that they need to practise on heavy, difficult actions, just so they're able to deal with the horrors in the real world. This is not an acceptable state of affairs! All other musicians, with their flutes and guitars and penny whistles, can have the finest quality instruments with them at all times, throughout their lives. With PTD, though, the field is levelled - any Grand Piano Action can be upgraded to perform to the highest level. That is not to say we can turn it into a Steinway concert grand - we haven't learnt how to turn 5' into 9', yet - but we can, with PTD and the 'Equation of Balance", get any action to perform to its ultimate potential, and "feel" like the very best.

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