differential characteristics, ‘bright & clear’ and ‘mellow & clear’ for example²⁵² . In many cases it was apparent in the responses of both experienced and inexperienced listeners, that this was the first time the Stuart piano had been heard played live in a concert performance. Three questions of the survey produced results at each concert that identified trends of audience perception. General perceptions were realized by tallying numbers of response types, and sometimes, as in the case of questions 4&5, the general perceptions in the responses to the multiple-choice questions were contradicted by the perceptions written in the comments. The quantity of multiple-choice responses far outnumbered the quantity of written responses, though the participants’ use of the attributes in the written comments was significant, in that in most cases participants used the same attributes that were listed in the corresponding multiple-choice question.

The audience responses demonstrated that over 50% of the audiences identified distinctive characteristics in the sounds of both pianos that corresponded to the findings for both these instruments in chapter four. 66% of the survey participants identified the Stuart sound as sounding ‘brighter’ than the Steinway sound and 71% identified the Steinway sound as sounding more ‘mellow’ than the Stuart sound. These results concur with the findings of chapter four which showed the Stuart piano sounds consisted of a greater number of prominent upper partials with larger amplitudes than the Steinway sounds, which accounts for the perceptual identification that the Stuart sound sounded ‘brighter’ than the Steinway sound. The ‘mellow’ attribute was an alternate attribute choice to ‘bright’ in survey questions 4 & 5, which attracted responses with a large differential result of 71% in the affirmative of the Steinway sound.

Qu.4 How do you describe the sound of the Stuart Piano (Brown Piano)
A. Bright and Clear 61% responses.
B. Mellow and Clear 39% //

Qu.5. How do you describe the sound of the Steinway Piano (Black Piano)
A. Bright and Clear 29% responses
B. Mellow and Clear 71% //

Both the free comments and the multiple-choice responses were examined for patterns of similarity and compiled into majority or minority % differences. Other results showed that 60% of the participants identified the ‘clarity’ and ‘resonance’ of the Stuart piano as being more distinctive than the Steinway, and 90% of participants described the Steinway sound as ‘just as I’d expect a piano to sound’.
66% of participants responded with a preference for the Steinway sound in responses to a simplified multiple-choice in Qu.6&7, about an overall preference, Qu.6 not as good as Stuart ; Qu.7 not as good as Steinway. 63% of participants evaluated the Steinway sound as being ‘rich and full’ and 60% responded that the Steinway sound was more ‘powerful’. 58% survey participants responded that the Stuart sound was more ‘percussive’, and 61% chose the term ‘colourful’ to describe the Stuart sound. The survey findings are discussed in more detail from page 177, ‘Piano Contrasts- Audience Surveys.’

²⁵²William Brent,”Physical and Perceptual Aspects of Percussive Timbre” (PhD diss.,University of California, 2010).8.