PEARL RIVER STRIKES AGAIN WITH INNOVATIVE PIANO HAMMER SYSTEM
During the early 1700s, a craftsman from Florence, Italy, who made musical instruments was unhappy with the limited dynamic range available to harpsichord players. Bartolomeo Cristofori opted to replace the harpsichord’s plucking mechanism with a hammer system, which he named “gravicembalo col piano e forte,” or “harpsichord with soft and loud.”
In the subsequent years, the piano hammer underwent modifications; initially, Cristofori covered his hammers with deer leather.
Cristofori later introduced a mechanism that would catch the hammer during the rebound to prevent it from bouncing off the strings after escapement. Subsequently, Johann Andreas Stein devised the Viennese/German hammer action, which enhanced the player’s control by adding a damper pedal. These improvements in sound and dynamics influenced Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven to compose music that still captivates audiences today.
For more than two centuries, German-made hammers held sway over the piano industry until the Pearl River Piano Group directed its R&D division to develop a revolutionary hammer management system called PR2.0. This pioneering system was unveiled at Music China 2020, as part of a vast product rollout by the top-selling piano manufacturer worldwide.
The Ritmüller RSH models, as well as the Kayserburg Artist and Excellent Series, employ the PR2.0 hammer, which features high-quality Wurzen AA grade German white outer felt made from wool sheared from live sheep. The felt is shaped and secured around hand-picked hardwood cores for maximum durability and structural soundness. The hammer shanks have been updated to incorporate the grand piano design, providing optimal balance, and each hammer must pass at least five inspections before receiving quality control certification.
The PR2.0 hammer’s inner felt differs between models. The Ritmüller RSH range, for example, has a refined blue color that produces a clear and unadulterated sound. On the other hand, the Pearl River Prestige Series upright pianos utilize an exceptional red inner felt and rare hornbeam wood hammer cores to generate the richness and sonority of more massive instruments, while simultaneously broadening the bass’s sweet spot.
More than three centuries have passed since the first piano hammer struck a string, and yet the Pearl River Piano Group persists in advancing its innovations to enhance the playability and acoustic quality of this iconic and significant musical instrument. While the PR2.0 hammer system is a remarkable accomplishment, it is merely one of many milestones yet to come.
