Harpsichord Owner's Guide : A Manual for Buyers and Owners

Preface to the Paperback Edition ix Preface to the First Edition x Introduction 3(6) PART ONE THE HARPSICHORD AND ITS HISTORY How the Harpsichord Works 9(20) Keyboard 9(5) Jacks 14(6) Strings 20(2) Soundboard 22(4) Room 26(1) Listener 27(2) A Short History of the Harpsichord 29(20) Italy 29(5) Flanders 34(5) France 39(4) England 43(3) Germany 46(3) The Harpsichord in the Twentieth Century 49(5) The revival harpsichord 49(2) The modern harpsichord 51(3) Buying a Harpsichord 54(17) What kind of harpsichord should you buy? 54(6) New or used? 60(1) Should you buy a kit instrument? Should you build it yourself of have someone else build it? 61(2) Should you buy from famous makers, even though they may be half a continent away, or should you buy from a local builder? 63(8) PART TWO MAINTENANCE TECHNIQUES The Tool Kit 71(6) Tools 71(4) Tuning fork 71(1) Tuning hammer 72(1) Wire cutter 72(1) Hammer 72(1) Hook or nail 72(1) Voicing knife with spare blades 72(2) Voicing block 74(1) Small, long-nose pliers 74(1) Small scissors 75(1) Medium or large screwdrivers 75(1) Set of jeweler's screwdrivers 75(1) Six- or eight-inch mill bastard file 75(1) Six-inch steel rule 75(1) Small, sharp tweezers 75(1) Stand tool 75(1) Supplies 75(2) The Strings 77(13) Breaking strings 77(1) Changing a string 78(1) Tools and supplies needed 78(1) Making a string loop 79(5) Nail method 79(2) Hook method 81(3) Winding the string on the tuning pin 84(5) Threaded or tapered tuning pins with a hole 84(1) Tapered tuning pins without a hole 85(1) No-tech holeless pin string winding 85(3) Low-tech holeless pin string winding 88(1) Drilling a hole in a tapered tuning pin 89(1) Tools and supplies needed 89(1) The Jacks 90(16) Changing a tongue 90(1) Tools and supplies needed 90(1) Changing a Delrin plactrum 91(2) Tools and supplies needed 91(2) Voicing a Delrin plectrum 93(8) Tools and supplies needed 93(3) Cutting the plectrum to length 96(1) Thinning the plectrum 96(5) Changing and voicing a crow quill 101(1) Tools and supplies needed 101(1) Replacing a damper 102(1) Tools and supplies needed 102(1) Replacing a boar bristle in a wooden jack 103(1) Tools and supplies needed 103(1) Regulating the height of the jack 104(2) The Action 106(10) Removing the keyboard 106(2) Regulating the keyboard 108(3) Straightening the keys 108(2) Leveling the keys 110(1) Regulating the dip 111(3) Head stop 112(1) Rack stop 112(1) Jackrail stop 113(1) Adjusting the coupler 114(2) The Touch 116(9) Touch affected by lateral changes 116(3) Touch affected by vertical changes 119(1) Adjusting the stagger 120(5) PART THREE TROUBLESHOOTING THE HARPSICHORD String Problems 125(7) Strange sounds 125(4) Strings that beat 125(1) Strings that are damped 125(1) Strings that buzz 126(1) False strings 127(1) Downbearing 128(1) Slipping strings 129(1) Breaking strings 130(2) Jack Problems 132(10) Sticking jacks 132(3) Dirt 132(1) Humidity 133(1) The shape of the jack itself 133(1) Interference with the operation of the jack 134(1) Two jacks operated by one key 135(1) Weak and inconsistent notes 135(2) Plectrum too short 135(1) Register slot too wide 135(1) Poor return of the jack tongue 136(1) Hangers 137(2) Interference 137(1) The plectrum 137(1) The tongue and the spring 138(1) Jack height and damper setting 138(1) Crow quill 138(1) Leaking dampers 139(1) Frozen registers 139(3) Action Problems 142(7) Sticking keys 142(2) Sticking at the balance pin 142(1) Sticking at the guide 143(1) Warped keys 143(1) Naturals that catch sharps 144(1) Squeaky, wiggly, and noisy keys 144(2) Squeaky keys 144(1) Wiggly keys 144(1) Noisey keys 144(2) Loose and leaking buff pads 146(3) PART FOUR CARE OF THE HARPSICHORD Tuning, Temperaments, and Techniques 149(15) Tuning and temperament 150(1) Tuning 150(1) Temperament 151(1) A short history of temperament 151(4) Pythagorean tuning 151(1) Meantone temperament 152(1) Modified meantone temperament 153(1) Equal temperament 154(1) Tuning techniques 155(2) A tuning and two temperaments 157(6) The reference pitch 157(1) Pythagorean tuning 158(1) Quarter-comma meantone temperament 159(1) Modified meantone temperament 160(1) Completing the tuning 161(2) The need for frequent tuning 163(1) The Harpsichord as Furniture 164(5) Location 164(1) Cleaning the soundboard 165(1) Spills on the soundboard 165(1) Cleaning the keys 166(1) Cleaning the case 166(1) Moving the harpsichord 167(2) From room to room 167(1) To somewhere else 167(2) Epilogue The Well-Regulated Harpsichord 169(2) Notes 171(6) Index 177