h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I apologise whole-heartedly to harpsichord players everywhere. I can assure you that this entry is extremely complimentary compared with the one it replaced (which was not written by me).

I hope there will be done a little more work on this article. The focus seems to be a little too much on the limitations of the instrument instead of the possibilities. And it is true that the instrument is in frequent use today.
Apart from this I think that it is very good that the guide has an article on the harpsicord.

Cissdur

Recumbentman, who is quite well known in early music circles has suggested that he would update this, but he's been away over the summer and is only just back, so I'm sure it is not high on his list of things to do.

Yes. Now is the time. The iron is hot, I'm going on strike. No, I mean I'll go to it.

Pity CrabbyBalrog elvised after making that one comment. Also a pity Colin the Goldfish (a name from Grimly Moer, isn't it?) hasn't been around for a long time. Cissdur interested?

Let's not do a wiki, that's been done; I'll download the current hootoo text and make suggestions.

A harpsichord: two skeletons copulating on a galvanised tin roof.
- Sir Thomas Beecham, British conductor

Several otherwise cultured musicians have harboured hostile feelings towards the harpsichord since its re-introduction, after a fallow period in the 19th Century, but its place at the centre of nearly all Baroque ensembles, and its enormously rich solo literature, have ensured its healthy survival for the foreseeable future. Beecham made his scathing comment before the present generation of excellent players (not to mention makers and tuners) had emerged to sound the instrument's depths and demonstrate its possibilities.

Construction

The harpsichord can be described as an organised harp or zitherBy comparison, one might describe the piano as an organised hammer-dulcimer, with a metal frame and iron strings.. Wire strings, normally of brass, are stretched across a wooden frame in the shape of the 'harmonic curve'The harmonic curve is derived from the need to double the string-length at every twelfth string, in a harp or zither that uses uniform strings. This would soon require unfeasibly long bass strings, so in practice the lowest strings cease being uniform and are instead made increasingly heavy.. Each string is sounded by a plectrum, mounted on a smooth stick called a 'jack' which rises vertically as its lever, one member of a keyboard, is pressed. The plectra were originally quills, such as were also used on early lutes; nowadays they are most often synthetic.

The notes produced are clear and can have a very carrying tone. In the 18th Century the harpsichord was often voiced with very tough quills, so that its sound could penetrate the largest orchestra; the keys were sometimes so hard to depress that an unpractised hand could scarcely play it at all. Normally the harpsichordist would be the director of the ensemble, and would play from the same line of music as the bass instrument of the group, filling the harmony either with the help of figures written below the notes, or by reading from a full score, or both. Fully written-out harpsichord parts for Baroque ensemble music are the exception.

Larger harpsichords have two keyboards, or manuals, stacked up like an organ's. These operate completely different sets of plectrums, plucking different sets of stringsOn some harpsichords two sets of plectra are set to play the same strings, positioned at a different distance along them so as to produce a different quality of sound at a slightly different volume. These obviously cannot be used simultaneously.. Varieties of sound and volume can be chosen by combining different sets or 'registers', but one registration would normally be chosen for a whole movement of a piece.

Limitations and Capabilities

Because of the way in which the sound is produced, the player cannot shape musical phrases by varying the volume of successive notes. Each time a key is pressed, it will produce a note of exactly the same volume, as an organ does. Instead the phrasing is done by varying the details of timing: notes can be distinguished by making them longer or shorter than their neighbours, chords can either be spread or attacked crisply. and notes can be sounded slightly early or late (creating the 'agogic accent'). With sensitive playing an astonishing range of articulation can be achieved; in particular the music of François Couperin and J S Bach invites performers to a seemingly unending exploration of the harpsichord's expressive possibilities.

Smaller Harpsichords

The first harpsichords, from the 15th Century, were single-manual jobs and often quite small. One distinct variety was the Elizabethan 'virginals', so called on account of being considered suitable for young ladies to play at home; a set (or 'pair') of virginals was a small rectangular harpsichord whose jacks came up through holes in the soundboard, giving it a pleasant clicking sound. The word 'spinet' means simply a small single-manual harpsichord.

Late proofread:

Larger harpsichords have two keyboards, or manuals, stacked up like an organ's. These operate completely different sets of *plectra*, plucking different sets of strings

I started with 'plectra' so I should stick with that, though there is nothing wrong with 'plectrums'.

Actually I'm having second thoughts about "Each time a key is pressed, it will produce a note of exactly the same volume" particularly in the light of C P E Bach's recommendation that harpsichord players practise on the clavichord, an instrument painfully sensitive to changes in pressure. He said that you can tell immediately whether a harpsichordist has practised on a clavichord or not, or something of that sort. So variety of attack, and not only timing, comes into it. Must consult Malcolm Proud.

In the meantime make that "Each time a key is pressed, it will produce a note of more or less the same volume" and delete "as an organ does".

R, the normal way to do major updates is for you to make a copy of the existing entry make any changes you like to it. You submit it to the Update Forum. Then we can comment on it. When everybody's happy, Jimsters slips it into the guide, replacing the existing one.

Yeah . . . so we're not collaborating on it? I'm on my own?

I followed the existing format, cutting and replacing rather than starting from scratch, out of sheer laziness. Any comments before I re-read, agonise and submit it?

Once it is in the Update Forum, we can collaborate. The only question is who is going to actually do the edits to the file. If you do them, it gives you more control.

OK, now I need to find the Update Forum. Not successful on my first few tries.

Why does nothing called Update Forum appear when I enter a search for "Update Forum"? Am I doing something wrong?

A mite closer; I found something called Update Forum by clicking on a blue colon in Gnomon's space. Won't be too very long now before I find out how to put something into it, I'll be bound

Gosh, this is quick! I found it; under "Peer Review" of course, silly me, fancy looking for it under "Update Forum"! Now that I've found it I see that maybe I should have searched for "UpdateForum" instead . . . oh no, that wouldn't have worked either.

Well I've found it; but there's no "click here to start a new conversation" to be seen. Oh well . . . back to my research.

I did what it said and submitted it in the usual way.

Is there a special way for submitting updates? That is my burning question.

It's gone in as A6097494 for the time being.

You should put a line at the start of the entry which says "This is an update of Edited Entry A2106." That makes it easy for everybody.

It's normal procedure when updating something to warn the original author. Consider me warned.

When you think your entry is ready to be considered, you just click on the Submit for Review button on the entry, then select Update Forum.

Thank you Gnomon for the needed information.

I suppose I should be less proud, and should just go and ask a Guru or somebody, rather than expecting all that information to come up on a nice clear page when I put in a search for "Update".

Now you will be suggesting that I write a help page doing just that. Touché.

You can put UpdateForum (with no space) in the address at the top of your browser, just after /Brunel/ or whatever skin you're using. You can also link to it in conversations by putting <. /> and </ .> aroung it (without the spaces): UpdateForum

Your encyclopaedic knowledge of this site continues to inspire my fiercely suppressed humility. No doubt this information is all publicly available somewhere.

Well it's gone into UpdateForum (wow, it worked!)

One thing still missing is the listing of the plectrum entry under 'Referenced Sites'. Might catch that at next edit.

Do you find polishing up an entry takes unconscionable ages, or is it just me?

Random observations:

Informative and well-written article and I liked it.

The Irish baroque composer Turlough O'Carolan (17th Century)wrote primarily for Irish harp, but most of his works transfer quite nicely to harpsichord for the reasons stated in the text.

The folk-rock group The Horslips revised some of his music in the 1970's and 80's: you can hear O'Carolan works played on harpsichord on several of their LP's.

Another random thought: if the harpsichord can be considered the "next level up" from the piano, just as the sequence in the string family runs double bass-cello-viola-violin, is there a next level up from the harpsichord?

I'm thinking of that really high-pitched somewhat glacial keyboard instrument which I think is called a "celeste"; it's the one used to play the Gallery theme in "Vision On", for those whose TV memory goes back to the sixties.

I don't think the harpsichord is in any way "up from" the piano. The piano plays both lower and higher than the harpsichord. The difference between then is one of tone, not pitch.

And the Vision On theme was played on vibes, not a celeste.