| Term |
Definition |
|
| arcade |
(n.) piece covering the front face of a key, below and perpendicular
to the keytop, intended to cover the end-grain of the body of the key. Usually
wood, but paper, bone, and other materials are also used. Non-structural
but visible, therefore often highly decorated with moulding, carving, gilt,
inlay, etc. |
|
| balance pin |
(n.) metal pin on which the keys pivot |
|
| bentside |
(n.) the longer right/treble side of a wing-shaped harpsichord,
which is curved or slanted to follow the shape of the bridge. |
|
| boar's bristle |
(n.) the stiff hair of a pig. Used as a spring to make the
tongues return in historic wooden jacks. Wire, nylon or plastic is generally
used in modern times although some makers still use boar bristle. |
|
| bottom |
(n.) the lowest surface of the harpsichord case. In Italian
historical harpsichords and all clavichords it is the primary structural
member. In these instruments the bottom is made first and all the other
parts are attached to it. In Flemish and French historical instruments the
bottom is not structural. The case sides and framework were built first
and the bottom was attached last, apparently after the instrument was strung
and playing. In some cases it seems that the bottom is held on only by wooden
nails or pegs, not glued, perhaps for subsequent repair access? On many
revival instruments (Hertz, Ammer, etc.) the bottom is omitted entirely. |
|
| bridge |
(n.) strip of wood on the soundboard which limits
the sounding length of the strings at the far (tail) end of the instrument.
It curves to follow the line of the strings as they increase in sounding
length from the treble to the bass.
|
 |
| bridge pin |
(n.) brass pin inserted in the bridge to position the string
as it passes across it toward the hitchpin. |
|
| buff batten |
(n.) a strip of wood under the strings, usually positioned
close to the nut, whose purpose is to hold small pieces of felt, leather
or sometimes rubber (sometimes called buffs, buff felts, etc.) so that they
can be made to contact the strings if desired. |
|
| buff stop |
(n.) a muted or lute-like effect produced by slightly
damping a string when it is plucked. Usually achieved by means of a sliding
stick (buff batten, see above) which can be moved so that when it is engaged
the buffs touch all the strings of one choir. Also called lute stop. |
|
| Celcon® |
(n. or adj) an acetal copolymer (type of plastic)
made by Celanese AG. Used for plectra. as in, "Quilled in Celcon." |
|
| cheek |
(n.) the shortest side of a harpsichord, connected to the
bentside and opposite the spine, usu. to the right (treble) side of the
wrestplank. |
|
| choir [of strings] |
(n.) a full set of strings from treble to bass. One harpsichords
with more than one set of strings they are named according to the length
and position of the rank of jacks that plucks them, eg.. four-foot choir,
front (or back) eight-foot choir. |
|
| clavichord |
|
|
| coupler |
|
|
| coupler dog |
|
|
| cut-off bar |
|
|
| damper |
|
|
| Delrin® |
(n.) a high-molecular weight plastic made by Dupont Industries. Often
used in harpsichords for moulded jacks and for plectra. |
|
| double or double-manual
|
(adj.) a harpsichord having two manuals (keyboards), often
truncated to 'double', eg "French double" |
|
| double-strung |
(n.) having two sets of strings per note. On a harpsichords
each of the pair is plucked by its own jack and the player can chose to
engage either or both strings when playing. On a clavichord or piano the
tangent or hammer always strikes both strings of the pair simultaneously.
see also single-strung,
triple strung. |
|
| eight-foot |
|
|
| eight-foot hitchpin rail |
|
|
| eight-foot nut |
|
|
| fall-board |
(noun) a board which covers the keyboard of a harpsichord when not in use. Most usually found on Flemish and Franco-fFlemish instruments. Historically fall-boards were attached to the bottom of the instrument and hung down when the keyboard was opened for playing. On modern harpsichords they are generally removable to permit the player to play while seated. |
|
| foot |
|
|
| four-foot hitchpin rail |
|
|
| four-foot nut |
|
|
| frame |
|
|
| fretted |
(adj.) of a musical instrument. For clavichords it denotes
that some of the strings are shared by two or more notes, that is, the tangents
from two or more adjoining keys strike one string, which means that those
adjoining notes cannot be played simultaneously and that tuning changes
of temperament are difficult or impossible. For
other stringed instruments it denotes a method of fixing the sounding length
of the string usually by means of a raised piece on the neck of the instrument,
eg. lutes and members of the gamba family use pieces of gut tied onto the
neck as frets, guitars have inset strips of wood or metal. See also unfretted. |
|
| gap |
|
|
| harpsichord |
|
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| hitchpin |
|
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| jack |
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| jack rail |
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| key |
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| keyboard |
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| liner |
|
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| lock-board |
|
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| loop |
|
|
| lower belly rail |
|
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| lower frame |
|
|
| lute stop |
|
|
| manual |
(n.) keyboard of an instrument, eg harpsichord, organ, clavichord,
etc. |
|
| mean-tone |
|
|
| mortise |
|
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| music desk |
|
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| name batten |
|
|
| name board |
|
|
| nasal or nasale |
(n.) (naZAHL) a rank found on some historic harpsichords made by builders such as Dulcken (Flemish), Shudi (German/English) and Kirckman (German/English). This rank was intended to pluck one of the 8' choirs of strings close to the nut to produce a nasal tone. In order to accomplish this a cut was made in the wrestplank and a register for the jacks was inserted, moving the pluck-point to within a centimeter or so of the nut.
The wrestplank is a structural member as well as holding the tuning pins. It appears that cutting it in this way weakens the case structure so that it cannot withstand the pull of the additional rank of strings. Most historic harpsichords of this design have failed, as have most modern instruments incorporating this feature.
|
|
| nut |
(n.) strip of wood on the soundboard which limits
the sounding length of the strings at the near (keyboard) end of the instrument, usually near the tuning pins.
It is usually straight or may curve slightly. |
 |
| pitch |
|
|
| peau de bouffle |
(n.) lit. skin of a buffalo. a rank of jacks in a harpsichord
which are quilled in leather. It is now generally believed that the historical
peau de bouffle stroked the strings in the manner of a bow rather
than plucking, but most present-day peaus de bouffle are one rank of jacks
quilled in leather which pluck the string in the normal way. The leather is quieter than regular
bird or plastic quills, sounds something between a regular pluck and a buff
stop. |
|
| plectrum |
(n.) (pl. plectra) the thing which plucks the string. On
a harpsichord it is installed in the jack. |
|
| plein jeu |
(adj,) lit: "full play", ie playing with all the
registers engaged. Also called "full up" |
|
| propstick |
(n.) stick which holds a harpsichord's lid up |
|
| quill |
(n.) harpsichord plectrum, originally bird quill, now commonly
plastic (see Delrin and Celcon) . On some instruments, esp. 'revival ' harpsichords,
leather or even metal have been used. 2.) (v.t.) to install plectra, eg
'quill in Celcon' |
|
| rack |
|
|
| rank |
set of jacks |
|
| ravalement |
|
|
| red brass |
|
|
| register |
|
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| reverse keyboard |
(n.) keyboard on which the naturals are black and the sharps white, the
reverse of the usual piano keyboard. On harpsichords, the black naturals
may be ebony, grenadilla, dyed pear or any other black wood. The sharps
are usually African blackwood or other black wood topped with thin slips
of white cowbone or plastic, rarely ivory. |
|
| rib |
|
|
| rose |
|
|
| sharp |
|
|
| short octave |
|
|
| shove coupler |
|
|
| single-strung |
(adj.) having one string for each note or, in the case of fretted clavichords,
one string per set of notes. See also double-strung. |
|
| soundboard |
|
|
| spine |
|
|
| spinet |
(n.) a harpsichord, generally wing-shaped or triangular, which
has the keyboard set into the bentside to save space. The strings then run
side-to-side with respect to the player. The lid is usually hinged on the
spine side which reflects the sound back to the player. |
|
| stand |
(n.) a structure for supporting an instrument. Harpsichord
and clavichord stands typically are separate from the instrument and consist
of a set of legs joined by an apron, like a table without a top, and corresponding
in shape to the instrument it holds. Stands can be ornamental as well as
functional and historically were carved, gilded and decorated, sometimes
quite lavishly. |
|
| stop |
|
|
| stop lever |
|
|
| string |
|
|
| stringing list |
|
|
| tail |
|
|
| temperament |
(n.) any method of distributing the tones of a
musical octave. In most Western music the octave is divided into twelve
tones, and the most common Western temperament is equal temperament (ET),
in which the twelve tones are evenly spaced. Unequal temperaments, which
include most baroque and world music scales, result in differences in the
harmonics of different keys, so music written for a given key will sound
somewhat different if transposed to another key. |
|
| tongue |
|
|
| transposing |
|
|
| tuning hammer |
|
|
| tuning fork |
|
|
| unfretted |
(adj.) of a musical instrument. For clavichords it denotes that each note
has its own string. For other stringed instruments it means that the neck
is smooth so that the player is free to play an infinite range of notes;
being unfretted is a defining characteristic of the violin family as distinct
from the gamba family. See also fretted. |
|
| upper belly rail |
|
|
| upper frame |
|
|
| virginal |
|
|
| voicing |
|
|
| wolf |
|
|
| wrest pin |
|
|
| wrest plank |
a large, thick piece of wood (plank), usually of oak but occasionally of maple or other strong, slightly flexible hardwood, to which the strings of a harpsichord and many other keyboard instruments are attached by means of tuning pins. It is a major structural member of the case; together with the hitchpin rail it bears all the pressure of the strings. It is usually situated above the keyboard and may or may not be covered with a veneer of soundboard wood. |
ti image Ivan1336.jpg |
| yellow brass |
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