Turning the knobs moves a completely customized, proprietarily-fabricatedrail under the keys, attached to which are sliding pivots, which move back and forth under each key. Using SALA, the pianist actually alters the key balance point, the leverage point, of the entire action, which immediately and profoundly changes the relationship between the piano and the pianist.
Turning
the knob to the right moves the leverage point of the keys towards the
player. Turning to the left moves them back. A half turn
produces a noticeable change to the action/tone. A range of 5 full
turns is possible, producing an astonishingly wide range of change.
Turning
both knobs equally in or out produces equal change across the keyboard.
Turning them unequally makes for a “slanted” effect, allowing
different feels for the left and right hand.
An indicator gauge on either side of the key frame allows the pianist to see at what
position the leverage point is and allows for returning settings to
the preferred or default position.
The
normal function of the piano is not interfered with in any way.
Regulation settings are automatically maintained throughout all the
ranges. This gives the player a visceral sense of security, coupled with
a quick and magical change in the voice and feel of the instrument.
Artists
who have experimented with the SALA have reported experiencing a
“delicious paradox:” feeling a reliable and unchanging platform (stable
regulation specs: key travel, aftertouch, letoff and drop) on which
exciting and lightning-fast changes (in “resistance,” “heaviness,”
“lightness,”tone and timbre”) are taking place.
In
the long history of the instrument, pianists have always had to “take
what they get,” to not only make do, but to make inspiring art on an
often less-than-inspiring or not-appropriate-for-the-program piano. SALA
changes all that by offering multiple piano tones and touches within
one instrument—available at the turn of a knob.
A
U.S. patent was allowed for this invention; the various international
patents are around the corner. We have a dozen working SALA
devices across the U.S., and are in talks with both noted and famous
rebuilding shops and the premier piano stores around the country and the
globe to help us bring this revolutionary tool to the concert stage,
the recording studio, the piano teacher’s studio, and the player’s home.
