Harpsichord: The elegant sound of a clavichord
Inventor of the harpsichord
The harpsichord was invented around 1397 in Padua, Italy, and the luthier Hermann Poll is the most likely inventor ([3]). Hermann Poll was born in Vienna around 1360, and there's a letter written in Padua where a lawyer named Giofvanni Lambertacci wrote to his son-in-law, Venetian friend Dr. Hermann Poll, a conversationalist and highly intelligent young man, was also the inventor of a musical instrument ([4]) called the clavicembalum (an early name for the harpsichord) ([5]).
The popularity of the harpsichord
The harpsichord grew in popularity in the 15th century, when it was impossible to tell whether keyboard music was written for harpsichord or organ, and by the 16th century the number of pieces written for harpsichord was increasing, influencing luthiers to develop better harpsichord. The harpsichord was at the heart of Baroque music in the 18th century, with contributions from composers such as Bach and Handel ([3]), before being replaced by the piano at the end of the 18th century ([6]).
The revival of the harpsichord
150 years after the harpsichord disappeared ([7]), the demand for harpsichord increased in the West after World War II. People's enthusiasm for the harpsichord was heated up by musicians, and interest in Baroque music grew. In the middle of the 20th century, a new wave of research into early music led to a revival of the harpsichord, and many 20th century composers wrote new works for the harpsichord, notably the Polish harpsichord player Wanda Landowska, American instrument maker John Challis introduced a modern approach to building instruments. John Challis tried to build on the tradition of earlier instruments by adding new modern materials such as metal and plastic to produce harpsichord that was more stable and could easily adapt to different environments ([8]).
The Pitch of a harpsichord
The modern international standard is a1=440Hz. Before this standard, the pitch of the music was determined according to the data of the instrument manufacturing or the taste of the people ([9]). However, the harpharp with the shifting keyboard device today usually has the following three commonly used pitches for users to choose from:
A=392Hz Baroque French pitch (used in 17th century) A=415Hz Baroque historical pitch (most commonly used in ancient music today) A=440Hz standard pitch (modern international standard)
Temperament system
Many musicians try to avoid the use of twelve equal temperament to play the harpsichord ([1)(0)(] [11]), in order to make the music of the period play a more beautiful tone, the use of ancient rhythm to play the ancient music of the period is very interesting.
The design of modern music and Musical Instruments is mainly made using the twelve equal law, the invention of which is currently documented in 1584 AD in China ([12][13]). Twelve equal law has been widely used in the last hundred years, and it is also a law system familiar and commonly used by modern people. Before this, the law system was based on the rules of nature, which is simply the pursuit of "purity". Whether it is octave 2:1 or fifth 3:2, it is pure, that is, there is no beat. But this system also creates the problem of uneven scales in the octaves.
The origin of musical rhythm
The story goes that one day Pythagoras walked past a shop, attracted by the sound of a blacksmith at work, and entered the shop ([13]). He became aware of the different sounds produced by hammering iron blocks with different weights ([13]). The moment Pythagoras watched these heavy tools swing before him, It also led Pythagoras to discover the harmonic ensemble. He realized that whenever the relative weight of the hammer struck the iron formed a number of simple ratios of 2:1 or 3:2 or 4:3 ([13]), the sound produced when they existed together created the most beautifully ordered notes.
Robert Fludd's painting Temple of the music (1618)([P1]) describes Pythagoras' entry into the blacksmith's shop
Pythagorean
Franchino Gafurio's 1492 painting Theorica musica describes Pythagoras as having formulated music in a mathematical way ([P2]).
The Pythagorean law had a profound influence on European music. The principle of the Pythagorean law is to make all the five intervals in an octave pure, but this also creates the problem of uneven scales in the octave. The difference between the two sounds is called "comma", in language "comma" represents the position of pause and rest, but in music "comma" refers to the small gap between the two sounds, even if the small gap is small, but for many musicians it sounds like a torture ([13]).
Worked out different laws
Since before the 9th century, people mainly used monophonic music, polyphony music began to be born after the 9th century, and the early polyphony music is composed of octaves, pure fourths and pure fifths, basically there is no contradiction with the Pythagorean law; It was not until polyphony matured in the 14th century, when it became common to use the third and sixth in combination, that Pythagorean law began to conflict ([13]). It was also known that it was not feasible to use the full fifth as a standard on the keyboard to assign the distance between each note, because tuning with the full fifth would limit the sweet timbilities of the three-sixth ([13]) and make it difficult to perform. If only 36 degrees were used to tune, the full fifth or full octave would not appear on the keyboard, which encouraged more scholars including philosophers, musicians, mathematicians, astronomers... There have been more than a hundred documented legal systems, as if they want to cram their ideas into the small keyboard, and in the various new forms, as long as the Pythagorean law based on changes will be supported by theorists ([13]), and each legal system will also have its advantages and disadvantages.
Influenced by the mature development of polyphony music in the Renaissance, Pythagorean law began to be inappropriate for the needs of music at that time, and promoted the birth of Just intonation, Mean-tone temperament and other temperament systems. Instruments also developed from the form of accompaniment to the form of solo, ensemble and ensemble. Some musicians advocated the use of Just intonation ([13]), that is, the combination of the third and sixth intonation and intervals. Just intonation did not develop further until the 17th century. In its place comes the Mean-tone temperament ([13]), which has the advantage of smooth thirds and major sixes, and a sweet tone! However, its disadvantage is that some four degrees and five degrees within the prescribed tonality limits will sound sour and unpleasant to modern ears, and a certain key outside the prescribed range may produce Wolf sounds. In fact, each law system also has its advantages and disadvantages. When it is applied to the right movement, it can enjoy beautiful results, but it has great limitations in modulation, and when playing more than 2 sharps or 3 flats, the Wolf tone will appear, and the timbres will become rough and unusable.
In the 18th century, the foundation of tonic music was very solid, and music entered a new era, its structure began to pursue different styles, resulting in many modulation needs, musicians knew the importance of the twelve equal temperament and its convenience, and could use its unique enharmonic in the composition. At the same time, many instrument manufacturers began to use the twelve equal temperament on keyboard instruments, both in the harpsichord, organ and piano practice, with the birth of the piano in 1709 ([)(14)(]) and later widespread use, the twelve equal temperament was spread. By the 19th century ([)(14)(]) the twelve-equal temperament had become the standard for keyboard instruments, and by the 20th century the piano had matured, and the twelve-equal temperament was accepted and used by the general public until today.
The basic structure of the harpsichord
Basic structure
The support structure of the harpsichord is made of a wooden frame, the top and sides are covered by a shell, and the bottom is closed. It supports the string plate and the soundboard, and therefore the tension of the string, because one end of the string is fixed to the string plate from the rotating string shaft, and each string is stretched over the bridge attached to the string shaft, extending to the bridge mounted on the castanet, and the end of the most back string will hang from the string peg behind the tail. This structure is suitable for harpsichord sets with 4', 8', and 16' strings, 8' for the normal tone, 4' for the higher octave, and 16' for the lower octave, each with its own bridge and peg attached to the soundboard. Harpsichord strings are made of iron, brass or copper, and under the frame there is a picking device and a keyboard ([1)(5)(]).
Harpsichord keyboards consist mainly of one or two layers of keyboards, while larger harpsichord keyboards have up to five octaves or 54 to 61 keys per layer, and some have shifting harpsichord devices ([1)(5)(]).
Jack
The harpsichord is equipped with a vertical wood bar called Jack at the end of each key. The Jack bar is made of wood or plastic, and the Tongue bar is set on the top of the jack bar, which is rotated by the Axle on it. When the key is pressed, the Jack at the end of the key is lifted at the same time, and it is bounced back to its original position by the spring on the Tongue. A Plectrum is attached to the top of the tongue.
Plectrum
The material used for the Plectrum on the early harpsichord was mainly made of feather tube leather or plastic, while the modern harpsichord mostly uses a plastic called Derlin as the main material of the plectrum ([)(16)(]), but some hobbyists also use feather tubes as the material of the plectrum nowadays; The plectrum can be adjusted by carefully cutting the surface Angle of the plectrum with a knife. The ejector rod is at the end of the key, and the plectrum is under the string. When the key is pressed and played, the ejector rod is lifted, and the plectrum strikes the string to make the string vibrate. When the key is released, the ejector rod will fall at the same time, thereby turning the tongue and avoiding the string and returning to the original position, and the damper on the ejector rod will return to the string at the same time. To prevent the strings from continuing to ring.
Damper
The function of Damper on harpsichord is to prevent the string from continuing to sound, and the Damper's lint changes with the change of humidity and is compacted or worn for a long time, in which case it is necessary to replace and adjust it with a new lint.
String line
Harpsichord strings are very fine (about 0.20mm to 0.60mm in diameter), the strings are made of iron, brass or copper and other materials, unless it is violently twisted and adjusted, the strings are not easy to break in normal use. But occasionally a string will break, and the solution is to replace it with a whole new string.
stop
Many harpsichords have stoppers, operated by Hand Stop([16]) or Pedal Systems, and each key may be equipped with two or three sets of strings (4', 8', or 16'), each with a set of Jacks. The player can choose to use different stops through the push rod or pedal system, and the stops can choose to operate in a single or arbitrary connection.
Lute Stop
Some harpsichord have a set of arpeggiated Lute stops. The principle is that by moving a pushrod, a small felt or leather piece built into a wooden strip is pressed against the string line to produce special sounds such as the plucking of a lute. Harpsichord uses these devices to control, volume, timbres and various special sound effects to exert its unique color.
Harpsichord had to be tuned frequently, and J. S. Bach tuned his harpsichord every morning. Forkel has said that Bach could be tuned in fifteen minutes, whereas today for a harpsichord, an experienced harpsichord lawyer can usually tune a full-size concert harpsichord with more than 180 strings in about forty minutes ([16]). Since the harpsichord has a much shorter sound than a piano, a fast and easy tuning method must be used. In addition to the traditional human ear tuning, it is also possible to use a built-in intonator with a classical rhythm, but I strongly recommend that harpsichord tuners have at least a basic understanding of the major rhythm systems of early music.
The program of harpsichord tuning
The order of harpsichord tuning is that in a single harpsichord tuning, the middle part is divided first, and then the bass and treble areas are adjusted; For a double harpsichord, for example, 2×8'(two sets of 8 feet) 1×4'(one set of 4 feet) can be tuned first for the front 8 feet and then for the back 8 feet and 4 feet ([)(1)(7)(])([18]).
Control of the harpsichord tuning wrench
First of all, find a comfortable position to sit down, with one hand holding the meaning of the tone and key at the same time, the other hand holding the tuning wrench gently turn, because the harpsichord string axis and string line are smaller than the piano, so it is necessary to use a relatively light force to turn the tuning hand, otherwise it may lead to unnecessary broken strings.
When tuning the harpsichord, it is necessary to master the control of the tuning wrench. When using the tuning wrench to turn the string shaft, you can apply a small amount of pressure directly down and turn the string shaft vertically at the same time. Do not apply any lateral, front or back pressure on the string shaft. The downward pressure also helps to maintain the tightness between the string shaft and the wrench in the tuning wrench hole. Before tuning the interval from one note to the second note, carefully lift the wrench vertically up from the string shaft to remove it, and then insert the tuning wrench vertically down into the other string shaft, turning the string shaft as little as possible.
Treatment of the harpsichord's severe run
Harpsichord is a very easy to run out of tone, when the harpsichord is seriously out of tone (such as more than a semitone or more), the tuning process must be fast, if it is a higher semitone, the tone can be lowered to a little below the standard value, if it is a lower semitone, the tone can be adjusted to a little above the standard value, and finally make a fine adjustment.
The Pythagorean law
When tuning Pythagorean law (please refer to Table 1), you can first start from A, refer to the order of Table 1 below from A to E to start tuning, down to B, B up to F#, F# down to C#... And so on, when all the fifths in an 8 are adjusted, it is completed, and it should be noted that for example, when tuning the E note going up from the A note (the fifth), two tones should be adjusted to the pure fifth (that is, no beat), and the octave should also be adjusted to the pure (no beat) until the final return journey arrives between G# and Eb, there will be a Wolf note, which can be moved as needed.
Twelve equal temperament temperament
When tuning with twelve equal temperament, after completing the tuning sequence (see Table 2), if they are found to be narrow without irregular beats, then the division will be correct. There is another way to check that you can try to go up from the F-A third and check that the regularity of comparing their increases is correct ([19]).
Rhythm system
When we operate the main temperament system in intonation, we can find that whether Pythagorean needs pure fifths, width three, Just intonation pure fifths and some pure thirds, Mean tone Tempterment is pure thirds and narrow fifths, so just like we operate twelve mean temperament now. Just because the interval is different in the width of each interval is appropriate.
Conclusion
The harpsichord has stood through the centuries, in part because it has been constantly improved and perfected; As a harpsichord lawyer, it is necessary to take root in theoretical knowledge and working practice, to enhance oneself theoretically through studying, thinking and discussing, and to clearly understand the structure of ancient and modern law system and the principle of musical instrument operation; In practical work, we must cultivate good skills, effectively cope with and meet the needs of musicians, and complete various tasks with an attitude of excellence, so that harpsichord lawyers can stand the test of time
#Harpsichord # Clavichord # Music history # Music creation # Symphony