im maien

heres a little renaissance tune called im maien. Im playing it on my upright tangentenfluegel, an instrument based on the c1440 de Zwolle treatise. This is a theoretical instrument with no other known extant examples. I made it as a musical sculpture and research project. Please excuse the quality, but I hope you enjoy this glimpse into early string-keyboard history!

Category:

Music

Tags:

• tangent
• clavicytherium
• clavichord
• harpsichord
• renaissance
• early
• music

[pianoclarinet89]

so its like an upright harpsichord?

i know someone that has a piano with a knob and when u pullit it sounds like a harpsichord

its weird i play the piano alot and i want to build a harpschord soon

[ofacteur]

it isnt a harpsichord...fundamentally it is a protopiano, because it is actuated by little hammers made of brass :)

[hammerguy1512]

do you know of any good professional recordings of this tune?

[ofacteur]

I dont...The version that I know of for this tune is actually written for 3 viols, and I just transcribed it for my instrument from memory of the melody (I had music for it 15 years ago :)

[Karlfalcon]

@pianoclarinet89

19th century pianos sometimes had a whole series of effect "stops" like an organ. Gradually they died out in popularity. What your friend has is probably a "mandolin rail" stop - commonly found in many player pianos.

[VanDragul]

sehr gut =) gefällt mir!

[allengarvin]

It's not a clavicytherium. That's an instrument that has a plucking action like a harpsichord.

This sounds like a clavichord with no dampening. I'd like to see a diagram of the action... is the hammer accelerated toward the string? Does the hammer remain in contact if you hold down the key?

I love the vertical arrangement that lets you also pluck it like a psaltry. It's certainly an interesting construction.

[yermyahu]

thank you for sharing your instrument with us. I built a simpler type 'proto-piano' a year ago but mine is not in a vertical arrangement and has no dampering...it uses 'hoppers' instead of hammers. Perhaps I'll put it on here someday. Very nice renaissance styling!

[marcelowork]

this instrument name is CLAVECITERIUM, a harpsichord, with vertical chords or a dottad psaltery, Claviercithara

[hammerguy1512]

what a beautiful sound