Rook, At 07:54 01/07/2000 -0500, you wrote: >> So who made this instrument, how many keyboards, registers, etc.? >1 keyboard - maybe 3.5 octaves - the maker was 'something' Pennsylvania - I don't >remember, obviously. Is this thing shaped like a square with the keyboard on one side? If so it is likely a virginal and would be a strange choice of concert instrument. Most every other harpsichord (flügel shape) you are likely to run across has about a 5 octave compass. >>Wire is obtainable, but so is knowledge and these things are pretty simple: >perhaps .. but under the circumstances yesterday, it looked like Advanced... I know the feeling. Not only are there brass and iron strings, but red and yellow brass, soft iron and piano wire steel, etc. >> ... Some jacks are plastic and some are wood, some plectra are >> delrin, others quill. Still others are leather, but when you have to replace a plectrum(as you certainly will eventually), you'll find that the simplicity vanishes. The simplest way to describe the shape of a plectrum is that of an upside down sharp. i.e. tapered from tip to tail with chamfered sides and a "voicing cut" at the tip. The angle of that tip cut as well as the stiffness of the plectrum and the length under the string are the chief factors in voicing/loudness. There are several sources of harpsichord supplies and a number of us on this list could steer you toward them offlist. >..and this is the hard part - this Harpsichord will be used for Concerts only, >my time learning the instrument will be on-the-job - not the friendliest of >situations, I think you will agree. Agreed. Good luck and keep in touch! Conrad Hoffsommer, RPT, MPT - mailto:hoffsoco@luther.edu The only substitute for good manners is fast reflexes.
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