Identifying sounds by their elements, without aesthetic or subjective context, is associated with the 20th century musical emphasis on the colour of sound, where the vertical and gestural portrayal of sound established the inner look at sound itself, ‘the Physics of sound, how sound behaves’378
Composed gestural phrases by Australian contemporary composers Colin Bright and Ross Edwards were used to demonstrate this. The evidences of Stuart tonal characteristics in chapter four could also be described elemental sound, purely identified by their actual sonic vibrations. The legendary electronic music composer Peter Zinovieff describes a similar process, where after realizing the properties of sounds, the sounds are recreated in musical ways.
To be able to analyse a sound, put it into sensible musical form on a computer, [or manuscript] to be able to manipulate that form and recreate it in a musical way,379
The following vocabulary of Stuart piano sounds combine pianistic techniques and instrumental tonal qualities.
Combinations of four distinctive Stuart elements of sound and design are manipulated in the vocabulary of sounds:
i) Wide tonal spectrum;
ii) Expanded frequency range;
iii) Tonal stability and sustain ;
iv) Pedal combinations: dolce (dolce), sostenuto (sost), una corda (U.C.) damper (Ped).
Stuart Piano Pedals
The Stuart piano has four pedals. The dolce pedal is the fourth pedal, positioned furthest to the left. This pedal is similar to the soft pedal in an upright piano design, which positions all the hammers closer to the strings, therefore reducing the distance of the hammer travel to the string, which has the effect of reducing the dynamic range of loudness. The overall volume of the sound is reduced without changing the tonal range of the instrument’s soundscape. The dolce pedal lowers the keys to reduce the
378 Wayne Stuart speaks in 13 “Innovations In The Piano,”
379Peter Zinovieff spaking in :Porthmeor Productions. “What the Future Sounded Like,” YouTube Video 26:54 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KkW8Ul7Q1I Porthmeor Productions,Adelaide: 2006.
http://www.whatthefuturesoundedlike.com/; http://www.ems-synthi.demon.co.uk/
