Vincent Ho wrote:
> Hi
> 
> I wonder is there a way to keep the harpsichord in tune?
> I moved the instrument to the church,and let it sit over night.  I tuned
> it around an hour before the concert.  By the time I play the harpsichord,
> it is already out of tune...badly.
> 
> Would someone give me advice as to how to deal with this?  I am not sure
> if I should give any more concerts until I have this problem solved.
> During the winter the instruments were more stable, but right now it is
> totally out of control.

Keep the harpsichord in a plastic bag. :)

Seriously, I think if it sat in the church overnight and was that 
unstable, one of two things happened: either it was REALLY out of whack, 
and that tuning an hour before the concert involved moving it up/down by 
a quarter tone, or else the climate in the church wasn't stable. For the 
first, sometimes you just need to tune more than once, and make the 
first tuning as long before the performance as possible so the wood can 
adjust to the new tension. Not a lot you can do about the second one, 
unfortunately, and it's all too common, especially in churches, where 
the heat is often turned off overnight, and then turned on full-blast 
right before people come in for the concert. (maybe heating isn't such 
an issue by now where you are, but it's still a factor up North!) Is 
there a chance that some sun came in a window and toasted the 
harpsichord directly for a few minutes in there? It can make a big 
difference!

I've had an interesting time over the past year babysitting a 2nd 
harpsichord. Besides finding interesting ways to rearrange my furniture 
to make room for it, it's been fascinating to compare it with my old 
perpetual-work-in-progress. It's a much better harpsichord in almost 
every way - nicer sound, nicer action, nicer looking, etc. But its 
tuning is extremely unstable. I'm sure I have to tune it at least twice 
as often as the other one! I wonder if there are any specific factors 
with the construction that could lead to a more or less stable 
instrument? I assume there's some sort of structural movement going on 
in this case, since it doesn't go out of tune equally across the whole 
compass - I've seen that happen on lots of instruments, but maybe a bit 
more than usual in this case.


-- 
Jon-o Addleman - http://www.redowl.ca

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