# Does anyone still build harpsichords? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 15, 2020, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-still-build-harpsichords/853850 "2020-05-15T13:07:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2020, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-still-build-harpsichords/853850/21 "2020-05-16T01:07:23Z")
Ah fuck, dupe. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2020, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-still-build-harpsichords/853850/22 "2020-05-16T01:34:45Z")
My colleague wrote this addendum, in the interest of fairness. \*I do know that some people have made piano plates out of steel by welding it up. It is plenty strong enough, but costs much more to make. That monster 12’ long Rubinstein piano has a steel plate. I wonder if that guy ever sold that monstrosity! [David Rubenstein R-371](http://pianosrubenstein.com/r371.html) Sounds horrible, by the way. But very loud! \* ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2020, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-still-build-harpsichords/853850/23 "2020-05-16T01:59:11Z")
Barry White 'chording it up. BTW...what's the difference between a harpsichord and a spinet? ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2020, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-still-build-harpsichords/853850/24 "2020-05-16T02:42:58Z")
I don’t know about NOW but about thirty years ago my mother’s cousin built one. It is owned by our lcity/county library. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2020, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-still-build-harpsichords/853850/25 "2020-05-16T14:36:23Z")
Wait, so if you have pure Fe, that’s iron, and if if you add a little bit of C, that’s steel, but then if you add too much C, it’s iron again? That doesn’t make any sense. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2020, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-still-build-harpsichords/853850/26 "2020-05-16T14:49:46Z")
> [@Moris](#): > > If you heard a song (up to 1978) with convincing harpsichord sound, it probably \*is \*harpsichord. Synths were just not up to the task. When I hear stuff like this, I think to myself, if people with a good ear would explain why the synthetic harpsichord sounds nothing like a harpsichord, then a method of synthesis might be devised that does convincingly sound like a harpsichord. As well as create nonetheless interesting sounds while getting there. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2020, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-still-build-harpsichords/853850/27 "2020-05-16T14:53:48Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Wait, so if you have pure Fe, that’s iron, and if if you add a little bit of C, that’s steel, but then if you add too much C, it’s iron again? That doesn’t make any sense. It’s just naming of alloys. At low enough enough percentages of carbon you have nearly pure iron. Above 2% you have what is called ‘cast iron’, a carbon-iron alloy with many different properties depending on the amount of carbon, other components, and the processing method. The carbon lowers the melting point of the iron making it easier to cast. Modern iron alloys include malleable and ductile varieties that can be easily cast and have close to the same properties of steel alloys. ‘Cast iron’ is as imprecise a name as ‘steel’ is for a host of different alloys. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2020, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-still-build-harpsichords/853850/28 "2020-05-16T15:28:14Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > When I hear stuff like this, I think to myself, if people with a good ear would explain why the synthetic harpsichord sounds nothing like a harpsichord, then a method of synthesis might be devised that does convincingly sound like a harpsichord. Are you saying we might someday move beyond 1978 technology? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2020, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-still-build-harpsichords/853850/29 "2020-05-16T15:38:04Z")
(nm - duplicate) ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2020, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-still-build-harpsichords/853850/30 "2020-05-16T16:30:29Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Are you saying we might someday move beyond 1978 technology? That hardly requires my pontification, but according to the comment > [@Gyrate](#): > > 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). even 2020 technology is not up to snuff, and that obviously includes hi-res recordings of actual harpsichord strings, along with dozens of other techniques. So I am curious to know in what ways the state of the art still falls short, which I do not doubt it does. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2020, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-still-build-harpsichords/853850/31 "2020-05-16T16:41:31Z")
I suspect that the state of the art is, in fact, up to snuff, but that most makers of synthesizer keyboards just don’t particularly care about getting their harpsichord emulation perfect. Which might not even be due to laziness: It might be that they have something that, according to their test focus groups (which do not include **Gyrate** ), sounds even better than a real harpsichord. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2020, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-still-build-harpsichords/853850/32 "2020-05-16T17:04:53Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > (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) They still make them. But Steinways still sound better. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@Mark\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2020, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-still-build-harpsichords/853850/33 "2020-05-16T17:27:19Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Here’s a top ten [Best Rock and Pop Songs with a Harpsichord](https://www.thetoptens.com/rock-pop-songs-with-harpsichord/), and here, with very little overlap, is [10 Times Harpsichord Was Actually Really Cool](https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/vampire-weekend/vampire-weekend-deerhunter-and-the-doors-10-times/#1-vampire-weekend-step-). > > The Kinks featured harpsichord prominently in several songs, including [Session Man](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZzEMEa6iOk) and [She’s Bought a Hat Like Princess Marina](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DdlUJTycKo). I guess “Society’s Child” doesn’t qualify as “Rock and Pop” or being “really cool”? 🙂 It was banned in many places - maybe on these lists too? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2020, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-still-build-harpsichords/853850/34 "2020-05-16T17:33:05Z")
> [@Enola\_Straight](#): > > Barry White 'chording it up. > > BTW...what's the difference between a harpsichord and a spinet? Piano strings are struck with a hammer and Harpsichord strings are plucked with a plectrum. Pianos, even spinets, have greater dynamic range than harpsichords and of course the timbre is much different. Also the strings of a spinet are vertical and the strings of a harpsichord are horizontal (maybe someone makes spinet harpsichords, not sure) ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2020, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-still-build-harpsichords/853850/35 "2020-05-16T17:43:38Z")
> [@mack](#): > > Also the strings of a spinet are vertical and the strings of a harpsichord are horizontal (maybe someone makes spinet harpsichords, not sure) Behold the [Clavicytherium](http://www.wolkenstayn.de/Portative/engl/Instruments/Clavicytherium_engl.html)! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2020, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-still-build-harpsichords/853850/36 "2020-05-16T20:40:11Z")
Aside: “Plectrum” is a really fun word. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2020, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-still-build-harpsichords/853850/37 "2020-05-16T21:23:36Z")
I thought “plectrum” was the thing you moved around a Ouija board. Turns out that’s a “planchette.” Don’t get your planchette mixed up with your plectrum. That way madness lies. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2020, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-still-build-harpsichords/853850/38 "2020-05-16T21:28:08Z")
Also, you usually hear “spinet” these days as synonymous with a smallish upright PIANO; less expensive than a full-size, and easier to fit into a small house or apartment. I was surprised to learn that a) they date back only to the 1930s Depression, and that b) they completely stopped making them by the 1990s. > **[Spinet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinet#Piano_spinet_history)** > > A spinet is a smaller type of harpsichord or other keyboard instrument, such as a piano or organ. > When the term spinet is used to designate a harpsichord, typically what is meant is the bentside spinet, described in this section. For other uses, see below. > The bentside spinet shares most of its characteristics with the full-size instrument, including action, soundboard, and case construction. What primarily distinguishes the spinet is the angle of its strings: whereas in a full-size harpsichord... ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2020, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-still-build-harpsichords/853850/39 "2020-05-16T21:35:20Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > They still make them. But Steinways still sound better. 🙂 If you’re comparing a Steinway and a Yamaha of equivalent size, condition, and workmanship, which one “sounds better” will always be a matter of opinion and preference. But yeah- I’ll take the tone of an exceptionally good Steinway over that of an equally good Yamaha. > [@Chronos](#): > > Aside: “Plectrum” is a really fun word. Yes! Although I’ve always found “plectra” to be even funnier. Especially when imagining it in a clipped sort of W.C. Fields voice. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2020, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-still-build-harpsichords/853850/40 "2020-05-16T21:40:01Z")
Fun Fact I forgot to mention- take any Yamaha product, including motorcycles, and look at the logo. It’s three tuning forks. Their very first products were organs and pianos. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-still-build-harpsichords/853850.md?page=1)