harpsichord
Sign in to savethumb|right|300px|This harpsichord is the work of two celebrated makers: originally constructed by Andreas Ruckers in Antwerp (1646), it was later remodeled and expanded by Pascal Taskin in Paris (1780).
AI overview
A harpsichord is a keyboard instrument where strings are plucked by mechanical mechanisms when you press the keys, producing sound. It was an important instrument in European classical music from the Renaissance through the Baroque period, with skilled makers like the Ruckers family and Pascal Taskin creating elaborate and valued versions that were sometimes modified and improved over centuries.
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Article
25 sectionsContents
- History
- Mechanism
- Strings, tuning, and soundboard
- Multiple manuals and choirs of strings
- Case
- Variants
- Virginals
- Spinet
- Clavicytherium
- Ottavino
- Pedal harpsichord
- Other variants
- Compass and pitch range
- Decoration
- Music
- Renaissance
- Baroque era
- Classical period
- Music of the harpsichord revival
- See also
- Footnotes
- References
- Sources
- Further reading
- External links
thumb|right|300px|This harpsichord is the work of two celebrated makers: originally constructed by Andreas Ruckers in Antwerp (1646), it was later remodeled and expanded by Pascal Taskin in Paris (1780).
A harpsichord is a keyboard instrument that makes its sound by plucking a set of strings. In a harpsichord, depressing a key raises its back end within the instrument, which in turn lifts one or more jacks, each a thin strip of wood holding a small plectrum made from quill or plastic; each plectrum plucks a single string. The strings are under tension on a soundboard, which is mounted in a wooden case; the soundboard amplifies the vibrations from the strings so that the listeners can hear them. Harpsichord often include more than one choir of strings. Various devices are used to select which choir will sound when playing; these can include simple levers, or in more elaborate instruments the deployment of more than one keyboard.