Piano makers and piano retailers descriptions of the timbre of piano sound provides another resource of descriptive terminology.

Steinway describe their tone as:

The sound of the Steinway is one of power, warmth, richness and color. ³¹²

‘The distinctive, thunderous sound Steinways are known for.’³¹³

Attributes used in the Steinway publication to describe problems in tone colour are

‘metallic’; ‘brittle’; ‘brassy’.³¹⁴

Stuart & Sons describe their tone as:

A multi dimensional soundscape, expanded tonal range improving clarity, dynamic range and sustaining qualities due to greater control over the decay transients³¹⁵

the two pinned system [standard modern piano] produces muddiness, [the vertical coupling and the vertical soundscape], leaves the sound spectrum totally clean, right through³¹⁶

Wayne Stuart describes the Stuart piano sound:

People comment –

Our pianos are too clear in their sound, not suited to the 19thC repertoire. 1850-60s Brahms’s pianos were low tensioned and thin, in sound, with low resonance, low tension, and quite thin and low power. The sound that they know… a quasi ‘Steinway type’ sound, which everyone has copied for over 100 years.³¹⁷

In definitions of clarity, attributes are found:

the clarity of the image: sharpness, clearness, crispness, definition. (Opposite meaning) Antonyms: blurriness. ³¹⁸

Pianists describe the tone of the Stuart piano:

Bill Risby-

[The Stuart] resonates more with itself, the sum is greater than its parts. Extraordinary sustain hold down the note and the chords are heard [needs fixing]? completely clearly,…… there are a whole lot of extra sounds I can call upon in order to make music, ³¹⁹ new ideas which haven’t been tried before, …….
The harmonics are clearer. ³²⁰

³¹² “The Steinway Soundboard” Steinway & Sons, http://www.steinwaypianos.com/kb/how-it-works/soundboard , accessed 26th May, 2015.
³¹³James Barron, Piano –The Making Of A Steinway Concert Grand (New York: Times Books, 2006) ,176- 182.
³¹⁴ibid
^{315     6}Stuart & Sons Handcrafted Pianos (accessed 26th May, 2015).
^{316     7} “Innovations In The Piano”.
³¹⁷ Ibid
³¹⁸ New Oxford American Dictionary
^{319     8} “Innovations In The Piano”.