Topic: How about some more harpsichord models?
I’d love Modartt to expand on the harpsichord models. In particular, please can we have all the elements of a full concert harpsichord, e.g. with lower 8’, upper 8’, 4’, and buff stop?
Which harpsichords to model? Here are some suggestions:
(1) A Mietke model. J.S. Bach acquired a Mietke harpsichord for the Cöthen court in 1719. Three of Mietke’s harpsichords survive, and many modern builders have made good copies.
(2) A muselar/virginal. The muselar has a really distinctive sound, partly because the pluck point is closer to the middle of the string. For reference, Davitt Moroney has recorded the complete keyboard music of William Byrd, much of it on muselar.
(3) If you’re feeling really adventurous, check out David Catalunya’s website (http://www.davidcatalunya.com/clavisimbalum/). He’s exploring the earliest, 15th century versions of the proto-harpsichord, which have no damping mechanism. He’s recently been playing a “hammered clavisimbalum” - a kind of keyed psaltery - which sounds amazing.
A couple of points about harpsichords:
(1) When you couple the registers of a harpsichord together, key velocity affects how “flammed” the two (or three) sets of strings sound. At high velocities they speak almost simultaneously, but at lower velocities they increasingly flam apart. This flamming, by stammering the attack of the plectra, creates the illusion of softer dynamics.
(2) A very forceful harpsichord attack tends to cause “key bedding” - basically a percussive wooden “clunk”. No good harpsichordist does this constantly, but there are moments where it’s a legitimate element of the sound. For instance, in the third movement of Bach’s Fifth Brandenburg Concerto, at b233 the music re-sets with a big seven-note chord. That’s the kind of moment where I’d expect to hear a “clunk”.
