It's trivial to set up an experiment where you kick a single key with a solenoid and record the result. You can apply different velocity curves to the solenoid and see if there's any variation in timbre.
There probably will be. We're used to thinking of key velocity as a constant, but the escapement mechanism is quite complex and isn't truly instantaneous. There's almost certainly some room for dynamic velocity variation in touch as the key goes down.
Likewise with short vs long notes. I suspect there's some unconscious variation in key release dynamics, which will have a subtle effect.
What you're talking about is the more complex musical effect of many keys at once, with complex variations in timing (intentional and unintentional slurring of chords), dynamics (intentionally highlighting some chord notes over others), and all of the resonant interactions between open strings, dampers, and the frame.
> It's trivial to set up an experiment where you kick a single key with a solenoid and record the result. You can apply different velocity curves to the solenoid and see if there's any variation in timbre
Absolutely. Most of my comment is arguing how it would be not really useful, though, because perceived timbre (a.k.a. the kind that matters) is by definition wholly subjective, influenced by surrounding notes, etc.
There probably will be. We're used to thinking of key velocity as a constant, but the escapement mechanism is quite complex and isn't truly instantaneous. There's almost certainly some room for dynamic velocity variation in touch as the key goes down.
Likewise with short vs long notes. I suspect there's some unconscious variation in key release dynamics, which will have a subtle effect.
What you're talking about is the more complex musical effect of many keys at once, with complex variations in timing (intentional and unintentional slurring of chords), dynamics (intentionally highlighting some chord notes over others), and all of the resonant interactions between open strings, dampers, and the frame.
That would be much harder to analyse.