Johnstaf yes this correct . I recently attended a seminar made for piano teachers to exchange views on teaching methods , grade exams etc . One of the topic discussed was pedalling , as it one ‘obscure’ topic , where teaching is not really systematic and codified , and in many cases ignored despite its fundamental influence on piano sound . What was very interesting was to see the different views on term of semantics about the various type of pedalling . We ended up agreeing on the following
- Half pedalling : full depressing of sustain followed by partial depressing ( 25, 50 or 75%)
- Half damping : partial depressing (25,50,75)
- Vibrato pedalling : full depressing followed by successive partial depressing reducing progressively the amplitude ( 75 , then 50, , then 25) ( used in diminuendo or morando)
- Flutter pedalling : half damping position first followed by total or quasi total release , repeated multiple times very quickly . ( used in scales and arpeggios)
- Re- pedalling . Pedalling to sustain the note release rather than the attack . So, pedalling to catch the decay of a note or chord, irrespectively of the fact that theses notes have been sustained of not before being released .
- All of the above is a simplification of the multitude possible cases .
Joseph Banowetz and Rubinstein books facilitated the discussion .
So far the only VST that implement the above very well are pianoteq and Garritan CFX . I was told that Ravencroft does it well too, but haven’t tested it , so cannot guarantee.
also the terminology used by Garritan is the best one ie partial pedalling and re-pedalling , as in academic terms , half pedalling is a specific implementation of partial pedalling rather than a category ,
Sorry for boring and long academic post .
