and more powerful sound than the Stuart, whereas at the same concert, the multiple choice survey questions responses were tallied to 80% of participants describing the Stuart sound as ‘brighter’ than Steinway. These observations are examined later in this section, using audio extracts from these performances.

Written Comments: ‘bright’ ‘mellow’, ‘smooth’, ‘deep’ and ‘round’.

As a singular attribute, ‘bright’ was used in the written comments of 30 participants, with 57% describing the Stuart sound as a ‘brighter’ sound. A small differential for perceptions of ‘bright’ for both piano sounds was apparent in the comments, except for concert 3, where 83% identified the Stuart sound to be brighter than Steinway. In contrast to all the above findings, 100% perceived the Steinway to be ‘brighter’ in the trio concert No 5, as previously mentioned.

‘Mellow’, ‘smooth’, ‘deep’ and ‘round’ were used as single attributes in written comments, though not exclusively as descriptors of the Steinway sound. The majority of written responses at concerts 2,3,4 and 6, described the Stuart as sounding more ‘mellow’, ‘smooth’ ‘deep’ or ‘rounded’ than Steinway. The audio excerpts from these concerts confirm this also. At the quieter dynamic levels, the Stuart sound presents more variation and clarity, which in many instances produces a sense of a purer sound than the Steinway. The 75% & 71% majority perceptions which described the Steinway sound as more ‘mellow’, ‘smooth’, ‘deep’ and ‘round’ in the responses to multiple-choice questions 4 &5 , was not replicated in the comments.

The Stuart tone was found to sound ‘deeper’ than Steinway in the lower notes, C2 65….Hz, in chapter four: