We always thought that the rich variety of tones that can be coaxed from a piano, from the tinny sound of an Old West saloon piano to the rich tones of a concert grand, were due mainly to the ...

In Florence around 1700, the Italian instrument maker Bartolomeo ... fewer octaves than a modern piano, a device operated by the player's knee to 'dampen' the sound, and a knob on the fascia ...