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Harpsichords and Related Topics

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From:
David Bedlow <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Harpsichords and Related Topics <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Sun, 20 Mar 2016 19:35:13 -0000
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Benjamin Ketcham, on 17 March 2016 14:28, wrote

"... as a beginning student and enthusiast of the harpsichord....  Re-tuning a full instrument from one scheme to another, multiple times, might be good practice, but is not a practical way to try out tuning schemes in different situations, at least at the start when I have no notion of which of the many possibilities is likely to sound "good" to me...."


Dear Benjamin,

As nobody else has responded to this I will try:

It is not entirely clear whether you have a harpsichord to play but I am assuming you have, otherwise your concern is academic rather than practical.

I came to playing the harpsichord from the organ, via the clavichord. I never had a harpsichord lesson and learnt to tune and maintain my instrument by trial and error. As a harpsichord needs to be tuned quite frequently it is, in fact, very practical to try out a variety of tuning schemes and then to judge how they sound for the music you are playing.  

I would recommend that you begin with Quarter-Comma Meantone. This is relatively easy. You have to narrow the fifths and widen the fourths (which are inverted fifths) to make the resulting thirds pure (no beats). Then check a series of fifths to ensure the intervals sound similar. Do the same with the fourths. I recommend you try to do it by ear and check with a machine afterwards. You will get the hang of it much better that way. Also, trying to count beats is pointless — you can't count quickly enough (well, I can't anyway). Instead get to know the tone colour of a quarter comma narrowed fifth. Absolute mathematical accuracy is not essential — use your ears to judge your success.

When you are able to do Quarter-Comma Meantone reasonably well you can, if you like, graduate to more exotic temperaments. After twenty years of  experiment and mind changing I nearly always now tune my instrument to a modified Quarter-Comma Meantone.    

There are Youtube demonstrations of tuning harpsichords. There are also many e-mails in the HPSCHD-L archives. I have made a collection of  instructions for various tunings taken from e-mails posted on HPSCHD-L and, as I presume these are in the public domain, I will send this to you separately and you may find it helpful.

Best wishes, 

 — David Bedlow

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