How much does it cost to build a harpsichord?
Many of our harpsichords can be built for between $14,000 and $18,000, clavichords from $3,000. However, instruments can cost more depending on features and finish.
Are harpsichords still being made?
With time, such instruments came to dominate the scene, and the older heavy-frame instruments are almost never manufactured today. They retain historical value, however, since they were the instruments that early to mid-20th-century composers had in mind when they wrote their works.
Can you play harpsichord if you can play piano?
Anything that you can play on a piano you’ll be able to play on the harpsichord sans the dynamics, of course. So the Bach fugues that you play on the piano will translate well to the harpsichord.
Is harpsichord harder than piano?
It’s not. It is, as pianoman3 notes, easy enough to play the notes — one gets used to the different key size and spacing pretty quickly. However, the technique for harpsichord is quite different Not harder, just different. In order to bring out different voices one can’t use differences in volume!
How long does it take to make a harpsichord?
Actual working time will varying according to the stage of construction (our instruments can be built to whatever stage of completion you desire) but typically you should plan on 50 to 60 hours for the smallest instrument like the fretted clavichord and 250 hours and up for a larger instruments like the Flemish or …
Can you play chords on a harpsichord?
Playing all the notes of a chord together produces a very strong accent. Harpsichord players tend to do this only when they want a strident, percussive effect. Here is an example, from Domenico Scarlatti’s (1685-1757) Sonata in G, K105, where arpeggiating the chords would weaken their rhythmic drive.
Is the harpsichord touch sensitive?
Due to its primitive and weak plucking action, the harpsichord did not have a touch-sensitive keyboard; the player had practically no control over the volume of individual notes.
Can a harpsichord sustain notes?
My guide on the harpsichord is this: if sustaining a note increases the sonority of the following notes, does not detract from their clarity, and is in accordance with the phrasing and tonality of the music, then sustain it. This is a note-centered approach – the performer’s task is to let each note speak for itself.
What is a small harpsichord called?
The virginal is a smaller and simpler rectangular form of the harpsichord having only one string per note; the strings run parallel to the keyboard, which is on the long side of the case.
What is the difference between a virginal and harpsichord?
A virginal is a smaller and simpler rectangular or polygonal form of harpsichord with only one string per note running more or less parallel to the keyboard on the long side of the case. Many, if not most, of the instruments were constructed without legs, and would be placed on a table for playing.
What is a harpsichord player called?
A harpsichordist is a person who plays the harpsichord.
Why do harpsichords sound like that?
The strings are mechanically plucked and then muted, making the sound brittle, rattling and clipped, with no variation in dynamics, that makes the harpsichord sound more “formal” and precise than the more sonorous, romantic and ponderous piano.
Can you play with different dynamics on the harpsichord?
There are no dynamics possible on the harpsichord. To make the instrument louder, you must add another set (“rank”) of strings.
What were original harpsichord strings made of?
Historically, plectra were made of bird quill or leather; many modern harpsichords have plastic (delrin or celcon) plectra. When the front of the key is pressed, the back of the key rises, the jack is lifted, and the plectrum plucks the string.
What is the difference between a spinet and harpsichord?
What primarily distinguishes the spinet is the angle of its strings: whereas in a full-size harpsichord, the strings are at a 90-degree angle to the keyboard (that is, they are parallel to the player’s gaze); and in virginals they are parallel to the keyboard, in a spinet the strings are at an angle of about 30 degrees …
Is a spinet the same as a harpsichord?
spinet, small form of the harpsichord, generally wing-shaped, with a single set of strings placed at an oblique angle to the keyboard. The wing-shaped spinet may have originated in Italy during the 16th century; later it became known in France and England.
Why do harpsichords have two rows of keys?
Harpsichords with more than one keyboard (this usually means two keyboards, stacked one on top of the other in a step-wise fashion, as with pipe organs) provide flexibility in selecting which strings play, since each manual can be set to control the plucking of a different set of strings.