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I have been a professional builder and restorer of harpsichords, fortepianos and harps since 1978, and since then my instruments have found homes in the USA, Canada and Australia as well as more locally in this country. Much of my work is producing copies of some of the fine antique instruments that have survived the years of neglect since the end of the Baroque era. I also enjoy the challenge of designing an instrument to a certain specification and historical models will almost certainly influence this.
A finished instrument may use up to twelve types of wood and the same number of animal products. Holly, pear, ebony, boxwood, lime and spruce are all chosen for their particular qualities, while raven and crow-quills, buffalo hide, hog's bristles, play their part too.
I build every part of the instrument myself including the case with it's inlay and marquetry, the keyboards and action which are made up of several hundred parts and the final stringing, tuning and setting up.
From start to finish an instrument takes many months to complete. From the first careful selection of the timber every consideration is aimed to produce a reliable and beautifully toned instrument that could become the heirloom of the future.

A harpsichord is a plucked keyboard instrument that usually has more than one string per note and the strings are parallel to the key levers. Virginals, spinets, muselars, ottavinos and clavicytheria all belong to the harpsichord family, but only have one string per note. Virginals and muselars are rectangular and the strings run at right angles to the keys. Spinets are usually in the shape of a wing with the strings at an angle to the keys. A clavicytherium is an upright harpsichord.

The clavichord is the odd one out and is really the forerunner of the piano. It is rectangular and the strings are struck with a brass tangent. Unlike the harpsichord it is responsive to the touch but produces a very small sound.

The 'Geigenwerk' is laid out like a harpsichord but a series of rotating wheels set the strings vibrating.

THE HISTORY OF THE HARPSICHORD briefly

Detail of an Italian harpsichord after Baffo 1574 (V&A museum) Most Italian harpsichord hand a single keyboard. The instrument is very lightly built and would have been placed within an outer case. Some of these instruments were as long as nine feet. Usually strung in brass. click to here this instrument

The harpsichord is really a plucked psaltery fitted with a mechanical device for the player's convenience. This keyboard, as an invention in its own right, was developed in the form we know today by about 1500 and the earliest harpsichords date from then. Italy produced the first instruments and for the next three hundred years built harpsichords that differed little in design with the exception of an increase in size.
Most were built of thin cypress wood and designed to fit into an outer case that might be decorated with a floral pattern, or covered with tooled leather. They were light instruments that would be taken out of their case and placed on a table to be played. 'The Italians did not go in for complicated instruments so they usually had only one manual and one or two sets of strings (probably 1x4',1x8'or 2x8'in the later ones) which were in play all the time. In other words stops were not usually fitted originally.

Because of their tendency to double the length of each string for the octaves they have quite a characteristic shape. The bentside of the case curves in sharply from the cheek and in the later instruments particularly forms a long, almost parallel, tail. By the end of the eighteenth century their length could reach nine feet.

During the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the Flemish builders were making stronger instruments that could withstand a greater tension from the strings and this produced a change in tone. A single manual harpsichord would either have two sets of strings at 8' pitch ('normal' pitch) or one set at 8' pitch and one at 4' to sound an octave higher. There would be the facility to change 'stops'; usually this was on the outside of the instrument. A 'buff' stop could produce a pizzicato effect. Some harpsichords were built with two keyboards at this time, but they were for transposing. In other words they were two instruments in one case and were often tuned a fourth apart. It is later on that most of these were altered to the type of double manual harpsichord that we are familiar with today. The casework of Flemish harpsichords was highly decorated with paintings and printed papers and the soundboards would have flowers painted on them.

The clavichord was a very popular instrument here. Hass, who also built one of the most elaborate harpsichords of all, built many. His harpsichord has three manuals, 2x8', 1x2', 1x4', and 1x16'. Many German instruments have a double curve on the bentside forming an 'S' shape.

England

Replica of a Kirckman double manual harpsichord (Ashmoleon Museum Oxford) Marquetry and carved claw and ball legs. Stops: 2x8', 1x4', buff stop, lute stop, dogleg coupler. Built by Christopher Barlow 1989

click to hear this harpsichord

close up of marquetry version with burr Walnut

Most of the surviving English instruments date from the eighteenth century when Kirckman and Shudi dominate the scene. These are mostly elaborate double manuals with 2x8', 1x4', lute and buff stops. The manuals could not be separated as in the continental instruments but the extra lute stop compensated for this. The casework was veneered and inlayed; with the exception of the English virginals painting was not a common method of finishing instruments.

During the last part of the eighteenth century the newly invented piano was finding much favour due to its ability to play loud and soft. In an attempt to compete, harpsichords were fitted with pedals to operate a 'machine stop' and a swell (the nag's head swell could open and close part of the lid.). By 1800 the harpsichord was obsolete.

This is a copy of a tangent piano. The original was built in the 16th century as a spinet and converted to tangents soon after. It is a very crude piano as it hits the strings rather than plucking them. It predates the true invention of the piano by Cristofori (c.1700) click to hear this tangent piano

NOTES ON THE MAINTENANCE OF HARPSICHORDS

STRING REPLACEMENT

Always replace a broken string with one of an identical gauge. Remove the old string and the tuning pin by unscrewing it with the tuning hammer. A safe way of making a loop on the new wire is to use a headless nail of a similar thickness to the hitch-pin and hold the nail in a vice with 1/4" showing. Hold the wire in your left hand with 6" showing beyond your thumb, take this part in your right hand and bend it round the nail. Now make 4 or 5 close turns round the wire with the right hand {keep hold of the rest of the wire with your left hand). Now snip off the surplus but leave at least one eighth of an inch showing. This will make a stable loop that cannot slacken. Allow enough to be coiled tightly onto the wrest pin to match the other pins and do not let too much protrude through the hole of the pin as this might cause the string to break later. The loop and the coil on the wrest pin should match the others on the instrument. Bring brass strings up to pitch over a period of time.

PLECTRA

Bird quills will usually start to weaken and result in a loss of tone before they fail and delrin gives no warning of failure but will last many times longer than quill. The method for replacement is virtually the same. Remove the old plectra and press in the new blank from the back of the jack (it must be tight, but do not split the wooden tongue. Support it as you insert the plectra). The plectra must first be cut to length and then shaped (voicing) so that it will produce a sound comparable to its neighbours. Support the plectra upside down on a peg of wood and use a scalpel or sharp modelling knife to do this. Only work on the underneath and do not leave any rough bits that can catch on the string and prevent the jack from returning properly.
Historically ravens quills were most commonly used with crow used for the bass. Black turkey is often used today if quills are used but these are harder.

GENERAL

If a note fails to play check the following:
1) The stop lever is turned on fully and regulated properly.
2) If the jack is not returning this may be due to dirt in the slot (remove jack and blow the dust away and carefully wipe the jack). If the tongue is stuck, check for dust and see that it is free on its axle. Check the spring is functioning correctly too.
3) If the jack or tongue still sticks it is probably an indication that the instrument is being subjected to unsuitable conditions. If there is no form of humidification in a centrally heated house the instrument will dry out and this will cause many problems. Do not shave the body of the jack at all, and do not swap them around as they are individually fitted and numbered. Seek professional help.
4) Poor sound on one note suggests the plectrum needs attention; but check the string as a piece of fluff or dirt will affect the sound too.
5) If the key itself sticks atmospheric conditions are usually the cause. With care this is easy to rectify.
For best results:
1) Keep the harpsichord in a constant temperature and humidity.
2) Frequent tuning is important.
3) Lift it to move it and don't drag it, to prevent damage to the legs and avoid disturbing the tuning.
4) Close lid when not in use.
5) Keep out of direct sun.
6) Just dust the case and keys every so often.