Piano hammer bounce-back prevents it from damping string vibration

Evidence

There is, however, an additional effect that is particularly relevant to the sound source in the piano, and this relates to the fact that the strings of a piano are under very high tension and therefore very hard compared with those on a harpsichord or plucked orchestral stringed instrument. Strings on a piano are struck by a hammer which is “fired” at the string from which it immediately bounces back so as not to interfere with the free vibration — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 1115

Categorization

Category: Causal Relationships

• QUESTION: Why does the hammer’s bounce-back matter for tone — does slower rebound (felt hardness, escapement) change which partials survive? Worth tracing to piano action design.

Related

• Piano hammers rebound and strike strings multiple times per note (similarity 0.84)
• Hammer impact speed and mass trade off to shape a piano’s tone (similarity 0.83)
• Piano hammers strike strings two to three times per keypress (similarity 0.80)
• String stiffness raises the frequency of a piano’s higher modes relative to the fundamental. (similarity 0.80)
• Pianos use multiple strings per note to improve energy transfer and loudness (similarity 0.79)
• Slightly mistuned piano strings produce richer, longer-lasting sound (similarity 0.79)