In 2014 with direction from Wayne Stuart, the French piano technician &researcher Paul Corbin constructed a devicethat demonstrates the recent advancements by Stephen Paulello in steel wire drawing.Paulello’s new wire ‘XM” grade¹²² will support the extension of the piano compass to B8, 7902Hz. Corbin gave his demonstration device the title ‘Omega 6’ –

Omega (Ω) is the last letter of the Greek alphabet, in contrast with Alpha. It is notably used to indicate an end or limits. Number 6 stands for the six remaining notes (F#, G, G#, A, A#, B).¹²³

In his journal article Why extend the range of the piano¹²⁴ Paul Corbin outlines a history of the piano keyboard compass (ambitus).He denotes the expansion of the keyboard compass in the first half of the 19th Century as responses to the rapid advancements in steel technology from the 1820s.(The historic metallurgy advancements are noted in Appendix 1a.2).Corbin also offers his insights in playing the extended ranges of 97 & 102 keyed pianos. He makes the observation that the Stuart tone of the low range C0- toG#0, is more full and more bassy, not as ‘brassy’as the Bosendorfer Imperial piano sound .This observation is linked toa combination of Stuart piano design elements, the improvements in tonal quality of the lower frequencies of the Paulello strings and the harmonic transient controls implemented by the Stuart bridge agraffe. The vibrational changes imposed by the Stuart bridge agraffe are discussed in detail and tested in chapter 2 of this research. Corbin observes in his article, that the very low frequencies in the Stuart piano soundscape providea harmonic support to the soundscape particularly when played withpianissimo. At this softer dynamic, less upper partials are resonated and the fundamental is ‘sensed’ in the sound more clearly than if the very low note was played a forte. Wayne Stuart has directed me to this dynamic technique also. For me, the effect is like the gentle hit of the orchestral bass drum, subtly opening up the sound to a wider frequency range, without interfering in the internal tonal balance of the sound. Corbin also observes that the extended frequencies in the 102

^{122     6}Paulello, “Five Types Of Wires,”http://www.stephenpaulello.com/en/les-5-types-daciers
^{123     2} Corbin,11-19.
¹²⁴Corbin,11-19.