With electronic keyboards everywhere able to synthesize almost any sound, is there any demand for new harpsichords? Can piano builders make them, or is it a special art which only trained individuals could do - upon request? Can a standard piano be converted?
It seems that the last two well-known builders of them died a few years ago.
I’m sure that many have been preserved and still in good working order - as with pianos and violins.
No direct knowledge, but seems as tho the last few I’ve heard/heard of were built by the player. Not sure if someone makes “kits” or how much was custom fabricated.
There are certainly kits. I attended a harpsichord concert in my town a year or so ago, and the lady played a kit-built harpsichord.
They certainly make them in Britain. The Harpsichord Society lists sixteen makers:
https://www.harpsichord.org.uk/acquiring/
There used to be a maker about half a mile from where I live, but not sure if they are still there anymore.
Here’s one made in 2006. He chose a harpsichord instead of a piano because it’s much easier: The harp of a piano is under tremendous tension, such that no material other than steel could be strong enough.
(Aside: The Yamaha company originally made pianos. But since they had the tooling to make strong steel parts anyway, they decided to branch out into other products needing strong steel parts, like motorcycles)
I know a guy from college who lives in Massachusetts and owns and plays harpsichord. (I think he mentioned getting a virginal from a music friend recently.) I vaguely remember him saying he built one from a kit (or was that the bagpipes?).
Here’s a company in Connecticut that makes harpsichords and harpsichord kits:
Hey, I know some of those people! Sadly, Mark Ransom (listed under “Hire”) passed away last December. A lovely if somewhat eccentric man.
There’s not a huge demand for new harpsichords for actual performances, where original 17th- and 18th-century ones are preferred, but conservatories and individual players still want them for rehearsal purposes if nothing else. It’s a niche business but it’s doing okay (not counting the effects of current circumstances).
And synthesized harpsichord sounds may work as background to a pop song but for your Scarlatti keyboard piece it would sound horrible (and be considered an abomination by the sort of audience who enjoy Scarlatti).
Huh. How much do the kits cost? I looked on that website and they didn’t list prices.
ETA: Found a different maker. Looks like a simple one requiring complete assembly is about $6,500 and goes up from there.
And probably the best-known popular song with a “confirmed” harpsichord passage (not synthesized via a keyboard) is the intro to this: Society's Child - Janis Ian - YouTube
Gerald Self makes them in San Antonio, Texas.
Come to think of it, this thread is a better fit for CS. Moving.
Im almost certain it’s made out of cast iron, or at least used to be. I play a 50 year old Baldwin baby grand, and that sucker is heavy enough to be cast iron.
More likely to be cast steel than cast iron. There’s little reason for anything in the modern era to be unalloyed iron, and what’s referred to as “cast iron” (or “wrought iron” or whatever) is usually a form of steel. Steel isn’t just sheets.
In any event, you certainly can’t make a piano out of ABS plastic, but you can make a harpsichord.
The first on the list is my good friend Peter Barnes: still very much in business; even more in demand during the CV crisis.
Take a look at his website: lovely stuff, beautifully made and intelligently priced.
And I built the workshop/showroom he’s working in!
Best known?
There are dozens of pop-rock songs from 60s and 70s that used harpsichord, from obscure acts to The Rolling Stones.
If you heard a song (up to 1978) with convincing harpsichord sound, it probably *is *harpsichord. Synths were just not up to the task.
Here’s a top ten Best Rock and Pop Songs with a Harpsichord, and here, with very little overlap, is 10 Times Harpsichord Was Actually Really Cool.
The Kinks featured harpsichord prominently in several songs, including Session Man and She’s Bought a Hat Like Princess Marina.
Having restored professionally pianos for 32 years, I can tell you you’re dead wrong.
Quoting a former colleague of mine, a man who has forgotten more than most Piano Techs will ever know:
“The most notable difference between steel and cast iron is the carbon content. Cast iron has a carbon content greater than 2%, while steel has a carbon content of less than 2%, with many steel alloys having less than 1%.
Piano plates are mainly made from grey iron, which has higher carbon content – I’m not sure how much off hand.
Steel cannot be cast as easily as iron, and it does not have as high compression strength as iron.
Iron does not have high bending strength, and it fails more suddenly without bending whereas steel will bend and flex. So iron is more brittle.
Of course, there are huge varieties of different irons and steels, but the definition of carbon content makes it pretty simple.
So yes, he is dead wrong."
I love this place.
All great examples, but I missed one of the best uses of a harpsichord in rock:
The Screaming Trees - Sworn And Broken