Thank you also to Professor Bob Anderssen at the CSIRO, for contributing his expertise on the behaviour of transient soundwave envelopes.

My special thanks go to acoustic scientist Dr John Bassett for introducing me to the analytical techniques and theories of sound wave analysis. John spent many hours supervising my analytical processes and trialling experimental methods for the testing of piano sound quality. Dr Bassett devised the 180° microphone array for the tests conducted in chapter four and he engineered each recording session.

Thank you to my Aboriginal music colleagues in Sydney and Menindee for introducing me so generously to the stories and cultural business of our land. Especially, Richard Green, Matthew Doyle, Clarence Slockee, Marlene Cummins, Karen Smith, all the Kirk family, Peter McKenzie, Charlie Trindall, Graeme Merritt, Brenda Gifford, Clint Bracknell,Vic Simms, Jodie Edwards, Michael Birk and Kayleen Kirwin. Thank you to the students and staff at Eora TAFE Chippendale and the students and staff of Menindee Central School for their highly valued participation in the various musical and visual art projects for this research.

Thank you to Graham Jones and Jepke Goudsmit the at the Kinetic Jazz Festivals. At these festivals from 2010 to 2015, many of Sydney’s jazz pianists played the Stuart & Sons piano for the first time. The discussions and performances at these festivals contributed significantly to my comprehension of how jazz pianists and jazz audiences perceive the sound of the Stuart piano.

Special thanks to Ms Julia Torpey-Hurst, Dr Chris Sainsbury, Helen Bub-Connor and Rick Ball for their guidance and care taken inadvising meof the intricate sensibilities associated with Australian Indigenous cultures.

Thank you to the Sydney historian Keith Vincent Smith for his thorough work and support of this project. Keith has walked me through the various sacred Aboriginal sites around Sydney Harbour and shared his deep knowledge of the Indigenous history of Sydney. Keith also discovered the 1793 transcription of the Sydney Aboriginal chant, Barrabul-la, which significantly contributed to this research.

Thank you to the Sydney Conservatorium staff, Guy McEwan, Jarrad Salmon, Jonathan Palmer, Jacqui Smith, Julie Simonds, and Chris Prasad.The collaborative OUR MUSIC events could never eventuate without your combined assistance and professional craft. Thank you to the Conservatorium music students who collaborated with their Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander colleagues the OUR MUSIC festivals in 2012 and 2014.

Thank you to Ms Deborah Cheetham AO, Toni Lalich and the Short Black Opera Company for their creative input for OUR MUSIC 2014.