| No Moon At All prt 2. Short chords with drums. Steinway prt 2 No Moon At All.wav Stuart prt 2 No Moon At All .wav |
| Sound table 5.18 |
When the short chords are played in prt 2 of No Moon At All the Stuart chords sound clearer more consistently at each dynamic. The Steinway sound is less defined at the softer playing of the chords.
The jazz ballad My One and Only Love was played on both pianos in the ‘behind the screens’ test at concert 5. The pianos were positioned out of the sight of the audience, behind screens. The audience evaluations of the piano sounds did not produce an overall perception, with percentage differences tallied at 50%. The sound of the trio behind the screens is captured in the audio extracts below.
My One & Only Love
| My One And Only Love bridge prt1. Trio. Steinway prt 1 My One & Only Love.wav Stuart prt 1 My One & Only Love.wav |
| Sound table 5.19 |
The melodies 1st section of this extract are played in both the low and high registers. The extreme high register of the Stuart is obviously brighter, though the Steinway is played more with exuberance, achieving generally a brighter mood and tone. The Stuart is played more reflectively. The overall tone of the Stuart sound could be described as being not as ‘bright’ as the Steinway.
| My One And Only Love bridge prt1. Trio. Steinway prt 2 My One & Only Love.wav Stuart prt 2 My One & Only Love .wav |
| Sound table 5.20 |
In part 2, the melodies are played in the same registers though the Steinway is played with more energy, generating a larger ensemble sound. The Stuart is being played lightly in a generally a quieter ensemble sound. The sound of the Steinway could be described as being ‘clearer’, and ‘brighter’ than Stuart in this extract.
Qu. No 14 &15 : ‘colourful’.
Survey question No 14 &15 asked the audience which piano sound was best described as being ‘colourful’. The overall audience perception across the 6 concerts was that 61% of participants said the Stuart piano sound was more ‘colourful’. At concert No 4, in the larger venue, a significant 82% of the survey participants described the Stuart sound as being more ‘colourful’ than Steinway.
Chordal resonance
Possibly an influence on this perception was the performance of an improvised introduction to the jazz standard On A Clear Day which experimented with the Stuart piano’s chordal sonorities. The sostenuto pedal which implements a selective sustain, standard in all modern pianos, was used in prt 1 of the
