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Be a harpsichord expert! Tips, terms, *buyable* bibliography, repairs, maintenance and technical stuff (a lot of this is still under construction, we are writing as fast as we can...)

Harpsichord Owners Guide: A Manual For Buyers And Owners, Edward L. Kottick, 180 pages,
University of North Carolina Press; paperback ISBN: 0807843881 (rev. Oct. 1992) around $27.50 USD; hardcover ISBN: 0807817457 (rev. October 1987) around $50 USD. This is an excellent survey of the harpsichord, its action, history, selection and maintenance. Buy and read this *before* you buy that harpsichord!
  Three Centuries of Harpsichord Making, Frank T. Hubbard, 364 pages, Harvard Univ Press; hardcover ISBN: 0674888456 (June 1972) around $45 USD. An overview of historical harpsichords -- national styles, famous historic builders, historic methods and materials, that sort of thing. Frank's sources include contemporary accounts and inventories as well as modern research on surviving historical instruments. This is the first comprehensive modern work on this topic and still remains the best. Although more research has changed some of Frank's conclusions, this is still the starting place for all of us present-day harpsichord builders
 

The Modern Harpsichord, 20th Century Instruments and Their Makers, Wolfgang Zuckermann, October House, New York, 255 pages. This 20th century harpsichord builder and inventor of the harpsichord kit candidly describes and assesses the harpsichords built by his contemporaries. Some hot stuff in here, worth a read. Out of print but occasionally available from used book dealers and may be found in libraries.

  Harpsichord Technique : A Guide to Expressivity, Nancy Metzger, Musica Dulce; ISBN: 0962493414; 2nd spi edition (January 1998) around $35 USD (with companion cassette tape). How to play the things. Not easy to find these days, but there are usually a few used copies out there.
  Makers of the Harpsichord and Clavichord 1440-1840, Donald H. Boalch, 824 pages, Oxford Univ Pr; ASIN: 019318429X; 3rd edition (December 1995). Most recent edition of *the* standard reference work. Pretty heavy reading, but in the harpsichord world the way you end an argument is, "Boalch says..."


Tuning and Maintenance

TUNING METERS!!!! Life is much simpler if you have a good meter. Well, if your life includes tuning instruments, anyway. These are the meters we use and heartily recommend. You can order them below. Note: These links go to suppliers. These guys buy in quantity and can sell them to you for cheaper than we can buy them wholesale. But don't worry, you won't be trapped into buying anything. Go ahead and check them out, and if you don't want to buy, or don't want to buy now, just hit the 'back' button or the "x" on your browser.

Korg CA-30 and very similar CA40 -- Your basic vanilla harpsichord (or anything) tuning meter. Does equal temperament only, but will do every note on your h'chord. You can tweak to any temperament from there, and *way* more convenient than a tuning fork. Click on the link to the right for more info and/or to order. Korg CA-30 from Gear1 Music (ALA)
Chromatic tuner
Korg OT-120 (OT as in Orchestral Tuner). Does equal temperament, of course, and 11 other temperaments including Valotti, Kirnberger, Kellner and Werkmeister. Click on the link to the right for more info and/or to order.. Korg OT-120 from SpringdaleMusic-dot-com
Korg MT-40 -- Tuner and metronome in one. Equal temperament only, but really handy at rehearsals. Tap-in feature lets you tap the tempo, it tells you what the metronome marking is. Click on the link to the right for more info and/or to order. Korg MT-40 from Shoreline Music (AmFulf)

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last updated March 14, 2009