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General Asylum General audio topics that don't fit into specific categories. |
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In Reply to: I think the left one of those pianos... posted by David Aiken on September 11, 2008 at 20:46:53:
David Aiken,
Yes, the instrument on the left is a double manual harpsichord. With the pedals and slanted "cheeks"- the panels to the sides of the keyboards, the pedals and unpainted case- traditionally only Italian and somewhat rarely German harpsichords were finished.
The one on the is easy to recognise as a non-traditional instrument probably made in Germany in the 60's to 80's by a company like Neupert, Speerhaake, or possibly Sabathil. These German harpsichords were made in an attempt to make them stable and reliable, but are typically immensely heavy- (up to 4 times) compared to historic ones and the timbre is typically tubby and mushy. They very often used long string scale lengths to get a longer sustain which required a heavy structure and with the scale shortening required, there often used overwound strings in the bass- nasty. The structure was made even heavier as these have open bottoms- like pianos in an effort to radiate more sound, but they lose both resonance and structural strength. The photo harpsichord has seven pedals and is therefore sure to have the dreaded 16' stop (one octave below normal) Even quite short instruments of these makers were often encumbered with a 16' stop that encumbered the soundboard- used on only a few really large German instruments, and the 16' stops on these modern instruments are pure mud. The 16' also added a row of jacks, the weight of which made the keyboard feel heavier and sluggish- making rapid ornaments difficult. With 7 pedals there's probably also a Lute (nasard) stop too- yet another row of jacks to lift.
You can hear this kind of harpsichord in old Vox recordings by Anthony Payne.
I don't know Mr. Rubin's work, but he made one of the worst possible choices for harpsichord !
Cheers,
Bambi B
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Follow Ups
- Yes, it's certainly a harpsichord- and probably one of the nastiest - Bambi B 10:02:33 09/12/08 (8)
- RE: Yes, it's certainly a harpsichord- and probably one of the nastiest - David Aiken 13:46:55 09/12/08 (7)
- RE: Yes, it's certainly a harpsichord- and probably one of the nastiest - Bambi B 15:03:37 09/12/08 (6)
- RE: Yes, it's certainly a harpsichord- and probably one of the nastiest - David Aiken 01:34:44 09/13/08 (5)
- John Challis harpsichords- the hubris of wrong-minded engineering - Bambi B 08:09:07 09/14/08 (4)
- RE: John Challis harpsichords- the hubris of wrong-minded engineering - arandypeck 21:12:08 08/05/13 (0)
- RE: John Challis harpsichords- the hubris of wrong-minded engineering - John Schauer 14:50:58 05/15/13 (1)
- RE: John Challis harpsichords- the hubris of wrong-minded engineering - ars.esquilina@earthlink.net 20:27:30 07/31/15 (0)
- RE: John Challis harpsichords- the hubris of wrong-minded engineering - David Aiken 13:45:45 09/14/08 (0)
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