The music from this piano sounds sweeter than any piano you've heard before. It's a mathematical fact. This is the sound of a conventional piano. And this is a Stuart Piano.

When a piano key is hit it operates a hammer that strikes a string causing vibrations which are transmitted to the soundboard. The string vibrations start off vertical, but because of what's called elliptical polarisation, end up vibrating horizontally, causing a change in tone. It is an unwanted fact in all pianos and it was accepted that it would stay that way.

"Piano music is actually deliberately written fast to cover the fact that it doesn't sing well and Wayne Stuart and the piano technology profession have known this for many years and different people had tried to solve the problem."

After years of experimentation, Wayne Stuart developed a special clamp to keep the vibrations vertical. Eager to discover if his invention was a fluke or could be scientifically proven he called in the expertise of Robert Anderssen from the Australian science agency, CSIRO.

"He said that he'd developed all this intuition over the years for how to build this piano. But he was concerned that there wasn't a scientific foundation underneath what he'd done that this was the right way to go."

Applying the maths of vibrating strings, some of it going back to Pythagoras, Robert was able to show mathematically that the clamps ensured a more harmonious and clearer singing sound.

"Those notes are more harmonious because the string is kept vibrating vertically and the energy in the vibrations is dissipated more slowly and that's what the musicians call sustain and volume."

The Australian designed Stuart piano means a sweeter sound for concert pianists and eventually for upright pianos in the family home.

Dr. Robert Anderssen
Computer Science and Information Technology Building
Australian National University
North Rd
Acton ACT 2601
Bob.Anderssen@csiro.au