Petrof MAA

Latest News

David Helfgott & Petrof Pianos

When at home David Helfgott performs on a Petrof Piano

Dizzy’s Jazz Club Select Petrof

One of the best Jazz Clubs in Australia has purchased a hand-crafted Petrof Storm as their main piano

Australian Guild of Music Education Inc. call Petrof piano 'beautiful', 'remarkable' and 'very responsive to play'

The Australian Guild of Music Education Inc. used a Petrof piano at their recent Graduation Ceremony

Tickets on sale for David Helfgott Fundraising Concerts

A fascinating man with an amazing gift, David Helfgott’s life has taken some of the most improbable

Petrof Support David Helfgott Fundraising Concerts

The benefits of music in education are well documented, but many school music departments

Limited Edition Petrof Mistral Concert Grand Piano Now Available in Australia

The 145th Anniversary Limited Edition Petrof P284 Mistral Concert Grand Piano is an absolutely stunning instrument in every sense of the word

Magnetically Accelerated Action

Petrof’s patented Magnetically Accelerated Action (MAA) solves the conflict between the static and dynamic attributes of a keyboard.

The static weight reaction is felt when touching a key delicately to create a pianissimo sound. The other effect, the “dynamic-load", occurs when striking a key with a strong force to create a fortissimo sound.

Counterweights are traditionally used to balance the mechanism’s resistance and to enhance the static reaction, but this process can burden the system with inertial force.

The dynamic characteristics are equally important for creating the correct tone, as well as for reaching the maximum time for a note within an interpretation.

Improved research in magnet production, which has led to the operating life of magnets being counted in centuries, has led to attempts to solve the problem of system balance, not by burdening the system, but easing the stress with magnets.

Petrof’s MAA has displayed the best results, reflecting more than 140 years of experience in the development and construction of piano and grand piano actions.

In the new patent, the work of action parts is influenced by the permanent magnets.

The magnetically accelerated grand piano action is a traditional piano action whose dynamic behaviour has been influenced by the installation of two correspondingly-oriented permanent neodyne magnets into the wippen rail and wippen part so that they repulse each other. With their forces, the magnets improve the dynamic behaviour of the piano action.

The MAA permits easier initiation of the wippen and hammer head movement and allows for a gradual weakening of magnetic effects when a key goes down and the wippen goes up, gradually distancing the magnets.

There is faster and easier movement of action parts and keys and key balancing is achieved with smaller weights, or a reduction of the weight of keys at the front part.

When a key is touched and released the wippen and key move into their original positions faster.

The MAA system means there is a reduction of moving inertia masses during the keys and action parts movement and a reduction on the load of the leverage system of the keyboard and action.

While the system takes pressure off the instrument, thereby increasing the instrument’s working life, it also enhances the user experience as it allows for faster repetition and makes the piano easier to play, while sustaining the traditional static balancing of the keys.

It allows for easier changes in the dynamics and technique of piano playing and lowers the physical exertion of a pianist.

This can benefit piano players of all levels, with experienced pianists having more potential to interpret challenging pieces for a longer time, while smaller demands are placed on children and learners, both during practice and playing of music.

The MAA system is also environmentally friendly, as it is made from brass, thereby eliminating the use of toxic lead from the production process.