CBH Winding a string loop III — the Greenhalgh Manœuvre

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Carey Beebe demonstrating winding a harpsichord string hitchpin loop, using a technique devized by London harpsichord technician Malcolm Greenhalgh.

Harpsichord strings often break at importunate times. With minimum equipment on stage, the wire can be held under the ball of the foot: On some floor surfaces, the shoe might need to be removed to avoid kinking the wire.

The secret of a successful loop is all in the angles and the tension. To begin, the tuning hammer is hooked over the loose end of the wire. Both parts of the wire must be wrapped around each other in order to produce a double helix which will hold pitch. If the loose short end of the wire is able to twist around while being held with the same tension and somewhat less than 90° to the clamped long length, a double helix will automatically result.

To avoid forcing a permanent twist which would make the string sound false on the instrument, only a few turns are made before backing off. The loop is continued by eye for perhaps 35mm. By changing the angle to exactly 90° and supporting the twist with the index finger, three or four close turns are intentionally wrapped around the central core to neatly terminate the winding.

Finally, the loose end is twisted around in a circle to kink and break it off far more cleanly than cutters allow.

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