it's a spinet - a kind of nasty one. I'm guessing a neupert. Not a very good harpsichord by any stretch. That said, I like the performance, but a better instrument would improve things immensely.
Thin and pinched? Sounds to me like you've heard some bad harpsichords! Unfortunately, there are a lot of them around - I expect that many people with an unfavourable opinion of them just haven't heard a good instrument before. Or they've only heard over-compressed samples on the internet. Unfortunately, the harpsichord sound is more sensitive than most instruments to the kinds of compression that you usually hear - especially on youtube!
Yes, i know what you mean by sound compression--it's horrible:) even on this video alone it sounds like it changes compression rates (and thus "accoustics") at least three times...
About the thin quality ...i mean: like, think about the difference between virginal sound and harpsichord--i go for virginal. harpsichord pinches too close to the end for me. But, yes, for sure i have heard some sort of gorgeous charpsichords that use horn instead of metal and resonate soo sweet (on recordings).
Horn? Instead of metal? I'm not sure what part of the harpsichord you might be talking about - the only metal in most harpsichords is the strings, tuning pins, and various other pins for the bridge/nut and the like. Hinges for the lid too, I suppose! But nothing that could be replaced with horn.
Actually, maybe you're thinking of the plectra (the bits that actually pluck the string). Historically they were bird quill, but usually now they're plastic. Only a very subtle difference there. A lot of early 20th Century harpsichords used leather plectra, but almost none do now - it doesn't sound great and is a nightmare to regulate and maintain. Plastic and quill are much easier.
haha, when i said metal, i actually now figure out, i was confused with clavichord's copper "things".On harpsichord, yes,i read what you mean, i even visualise the swinging "thing" with it's tiny metal string. What i talk about (and kill me can't remember who/where) was a sound (and image!) of an "early" harpsichord where the plectrae were not attached to this rectangular swinging wood "thing" but were TRIANGULAR flat horn parts that fit in the slits--maybe i dreamt it?
Clavichord 'tangents' (the bit that's in contact with the string) are usually metal - brass, actually. I've never heard of using horn though.
I think some very early harpsichords might have used metal, with a much simpler jack design. No surviving historical examples exist of this, but there is a set of instructions from, IIRC, the mid-15th century in de Zwolle's treatise. I've only ever heard of one or two attempts at reconstructing this instrument he describes , though.
...if what i saw (or imagined) was correct there were these right-angle triangles in the slits held by the usual string-thin metal axis. The sharp angle of the triangular hits the string. The right angle is the area where the axis pierce it. then the other sharp angle is the one that is hanging and "swings": it swings as the strings that was just being hit slides along the long external side of the triangle.
I think I can picture what you're talking about. I don't know the de Zwolle manuscript well myself though - I've just heard of it. It may well be just as you describe. That's certainly not a normal jack/plectrum design for a harpsichord though. The wikipedia page for 'harpsichord' has a good diagram of the conventional setup (see figure 2).
Yes it is not the conventional, much more primitive:) i looked recently at photos of the "normal" jacks and even red one interesting page of a guy who made one (h.) and used short segments of nylon fishing line for "return-springs" in every jack!
I looked at the old french Diderot encyclopedia but there were the "normal" jacks: i seem to remember the rectanguar swinging "things" in the slits.
Fishing line is used quite often these days - the original boar bristles are still used by some, but it's a little tricky to get good ones, and to get the right strength, and then they have a tendency to get eaten by bugs eventually. !
Haha--that's funny! we put the fishing line and tell the little predators: eat this if you can, sucker! :D
Which reminds me of--i made recently this renaissance chromatic harp and had the stupidity to order strings from some "celtic harp mostly" company. So one of the longest strings wasn't even long enough to fit in the harp. I will surely order one but in the meantime i put almost matching diameter and material nylon cord for grass-cutting machine lol. It "works" just as fine :):)
Nope, spinet. Virginal's have the strings running perpendicular to the keys. Spinets have the strings running at an angle and are plucked at the same point on the string, that is just after the tuning pins, not in the middle as on a virginal. Praetorius, in the Syntigma, actually writes about a certain cleric he worked for, that the cleric was better known for the marring or virgins than the touching of virginals. ;-)
I'm going to correct myself here. A spinet is a virginal. There are actually two types of virginal The Spinet Virginal and the Muselar Virginal. The Spinet has the manuals on the left of the instrument and the strings are plucked at one end. The Muselar has the keyboard in the centre and the string is plucked in its centre. The Tudor/Elizabethan virginals were muselars. Spinets came a little later on ;-)
Rock on, dude. but where would you, personally, place italian virginals in that line of thought? They aren't muselars, which are oh so flemishy and flemish with their flemish papers and mottos...not to mention plastic busts of Sweelinck.
It all depends. Virginalls (coll.) were made all over Europe (France, Italy, Germany, England mainly). The spinet seen here is a bentside spinet. Bentside spinets appeared much later (around the 1630's). Pre-1630, spinets and muselars were rectangular with the strings running parallel to the keyboard. Flemish spinets had a recessed keyboard while Italian spinets had a protruding keyboard.
deff a spinet .... different sound and shape
cav0129 2 years ago
I know nothing about musical intraments exept from what a learned from legend of zelda, so bare with me. But whats the difference?
Narashava 2 years ago
a spint is pretty much a small harpsichord and the strings run horizontally
it creates a slightly different sound too
cav0129 2 years ago
that's a spinet, not a harpsichord :)
nice playing though
fluffytom82 2 years ago
This is magical! <33
iViolin1990 3 years ago
Praeludium BWV 999 (c-minor)
k1schw1 4 years ago
it's a spinet - a kind of nasty one. I'm guessing a neupert. Not a very good harpsichord by any stretch. That said, I like the performance, but a better instrument would improve things immensely.
jaddle 4 years ago
It sounds a bit like piano with metal hammers :)
Which in a way is good because i can't stand the thin pinched sound of "normal" harpsichords with all notes having the same velosity.
8R8 4 years ago
Thin and pinched? Sounds to me like you've heard some bad harpsichords! Unfortunately, there are a lot of them around - I expect that many people with an unfavourable opinion of them just haven't heard a good instrument before. Or they've only heard over-compressed samples on the internet. Unfortunately, the harpsichord sound is more sensitive than most instruments to the kinds of compression that you usually hear - especially on youtube!
jaddle 4 years ago
Yes, i know what you mean by sound compression--it's horrible:) even on this video alone it sounds like it changes compression rates (and thus "accoustics") at least three times...
About the thin quality ...i mean: like, think about the difference between virginal sound and harpsichord--i go for virginal. harpsichord pinches too close to the end for me. But, yes, for sure i have heard some sort of gorgeous charpsichords that use horn instead of metal and resonate soo sweet (on recordings).
8R8 4 years ago
Horn? Instead of metal? I'm not sure what part of the harpsichord you might be talking about - the only metal in most harpsichords is the strings, tuning pins, and various other pins for the bridge/nut and the like. Hinges for the lid too, I suppose! But nothing that could be replaced with horn.
jaddle 4 years ago
Actually, maybe you're thinking of the plectra (the bits that actually pluck the string). Historically they were bird quill, but usually now they're plastic. Only a very subtle difference there. A lot of early 20th Century harpsichords used leather plectra, but almost none do now - it doesn't sound great and is a nightmare to regulate and maintain. Plastic and quill are much easier.
jaddle 4 years ago
haha, when i said metal, i actually now figure out, i was confused with clavichord's copper "things".On harpsichord, yes,i read what you mean, i even visualise the swinging "thing" with it's tiny metal string. What i talk about (and kill me can't remember who/where) was a sound (and image!) of an "early" harpsichord where the plectrae were not attached to this rectangular swinging wood "thing" but were TRIANGULAR flat horn parts that fit in the slits--maybe i dreamt it?
8R8 4 years ago
Clavichord 'tangents' (the bit that's in contact with the string) are usually metal - brass, actually. I've never heard of using horn though.
I think some very early harpsichords might have used metal, with a much simpler jack design. No surviving historical examples exist of this, but there is a set of instructions from, IIRC, the mid-15th century in de Zwolle's treatise. I've only ever heard of one or two attempts at reconstructing this instrument he describes , though.
jaddle 4 years ago
...if what i saw (or imagined) was correct there were these right-angle triangles in the slits held by the usual string-thin metal axis. The sharp angle of the triangular hits the string. The right angle is the area where the axis pierce it. then the other sharp angle is the one that is hanging and "swings": it swings as the strings that was just being hit slides along the long external side of the triangle.
8R8 4 years ago
It can swing only one way from the slit--the other way is blocked so it resists upon hitting the string...Anything similar in the codex?
8R8 4 years ago
I think I can picture what you're talking about. I don't know the de Zwolle manuscript well myself though - I've just heard of it. It may well be just as you describe. That's certainly not a normal jack/plectrum design for a harpsichord though. The wikipedia page for 'harpsichord' has a good diagram of the conventional setup (see figure 2).
jaddle 4 years ago
Yes it is not the conventional, much more primitive:) i looked recently at photos of the "normal" jacks and even red one interesting page of a guy who made one (h.) and used short segments of nylon fishing line for "return-springs" in every jack!
I looked at the old french Diderot encyclopedia but there were the "normal" jacks: i seem to remember the rectanguar swinging "things" in the slits.
8R8 4 years ago
Fishing line is used quite often these days - the original boar bristles are still used by some, but it's a little tricky to get good ones, and to get the right strength, and then they have a tendency to get eaten by bugs eventually. !
jaddle 4 years ago
Haha--that's funny! we put the fishing line and tell the little predators: eat this if you can, sucker! :D
Which reminds me of--i made recently this renaissance chromatic harp and had the stupidity to order strings from some "celtic harp mostly" company. So one of the longest strings wasn't even long enough to fit in the harp. I will surely order one but in the meantime i put almost matching diameter and material nylon cord for grass-cutting machine lol. It "works" just as fine :):)
8R8 4 years ago
scolastico e didascalico !
insulajupiter 4 years ago
it isn't a harpsichord, is is a spinet with lute register.
bubbelah 4 years ago
Whats the first piece being played
psychowolfman 4 years ago
Prelude In Dm
blockleg 4 years ago
Who are those idiots around her talking like they're deaf? Do they need to be slapped?
heituzi 4 years ago
This Harpsichord sounds nice because it's loud and has substance. I hate those tinny ones.
Very nice. BRAVO!
YGYGYGYGYGYGYGYGYGYG 4 years ago
Easy but beautiful JS Bach compositions for beginners-
indigoblue555 4 years ago
è un preludio di bach.. facilissimo
it's a Bach prelude
Killerproff 4 years ago
What is it for a piece of music? Sounds french style ...
k1schw1 4 years ago
Actually you're all wrong. It's not a spinet either, it's virginal!
DannyNewman 4 years ago
Nope, spinet. Virginal's have the strings running perpendicular to the keys. Spinets have the strings running at an angle and are plucked at the same point on the string, that is just after the tuning pins, not in the middle as on a virginal. Praetorius, in the Syntigma, actually writes about a certain cleric he worked for, that the cleric was better known for the marring or virgins than the touching of virginals. ;-)
sk8nruff 4 years ago
typo; or=of..but, ya know, details.
sk8nruff 4 years ago
I'm going to correct myself here. A spinet is a virginal. There are actually two types of virginal The Spinet Virginal and the Muselar Virginal. The Spinet has the manuals on the left of the instrument and the strings are plucked at one end. The Muselar has the keyboard in the centre and the string is plucked in its centre. The Tudor/Elizabethan virginals were muselars. Spinets came a little later on ;-)
DannyNewman 4 years ago
Rock on, dude. but where would you, personally, place italian virginals in that line of thought? They aren't muselars, which are oh so flemishy and flemish with their flemish papers and mottos...not to mention plastic busts of Sweelinck.
fagottehautboy 4 years ago
It all depends. Virginalls (coll.) were made all over Europe (France, Italy, Germany, England mainly). The spinet seen here is a bentside spinet. Bentside spinets appeared much later (around the 1630's). Pre-1630, spinets and muselars were rectangular with the strings running parallel to the keyboard. Flemish spinets had a recessed keyboard while Italian spinets had a protruding keyboard.
DannyNewman 4 years ago
a spinet, not a hrpsichord.good music though.
Rob6456 4 years ago
I am sorry but that is not a harpsichord. It is a spinet. But it is still nice.
naslam74 4 years ago
Awesome !!! I love it
CCaliforniaG 4 years ago
Beautiful.
grumblebug 4 years ago
Beutiful
grumblebug 4 years ago
Beautiful Lady, Beautiful Music, Beautiful Instrument and Beautiful Scenery :) HEAVENLY!!!
thesurfinbirds 4 years ago
That's awesome, but I must say this is probably not a harpsichord. This is a spinet.
andrerendeiro 5 years ago
Love this song. It's played very well and professionally too. Yet with soul..
Perfect.
saaka1 5 years ago
thats awesome, love the lute stop sound:)
PianoHead26 5 years ago
oh, but it has an absolutely gorgeous sound!! <3
pfaft 5 years ago