Harpsichord Recital

[Markyboard]

Don't hear much harpsichord these days. This is cool - especially the 2nd modern piece.

 

Tiny Desk

[ElmerJFudd]

The technique is bizarre too - very different feel from piano or organ. The fast runs, trills and ornaments sound so cool on it.

Thanks for sharing, I always find something I like in this series.

[Paolo Di Nicolantonio]

Beautiful! (and monster player)

 

For curiosity, does any electronic musical instrument manufacturer make digital harpsichords these days? I remember Roland making them in the '80s/'90s but it doesn't look like they make any anymore?... The real ones are beaucoup d'argent

[ElmerJFudd]

Roland still does digital organs and accordians.

They've had digital harpsichord on the floor at NAMM in the past.

The C-80 and 80AK are discontinued.

But the C-30 I think might still be around.

[Mark_OA]

The Roland C-30 is still available but is pretty pricy for what it is (a digital harpsichord). I saw them go for $10k locally.

[Sam CA]

Oh Mahan is an amazing musician. Born in Iran and raised in the US. Years ago, I attended his concert and even though I'm from that region myself, it was a little strange for me to see a non-European looking person play the Harpsichord so well!

[Mark Schmieder]

I had the rev 2 for many years (the rev 1 wasn't released in the USA) and almost bought the rev 3 (which was out for many years). Rev 2 had a fatal flaw, which is that the line out jack, did not defeat the speakers, so I couldn't do late night recordings with it (and the headphone jack had "issues" if one tried to use it as a line out, even with a y-splitter). It was overpriced and horribly imbalanced and heavy, but the rev 3 model was in a console shape and thus better balanced, yet it went to more standard keys vs. reverse-keys, and the action changed (maybe not for the best). Like all Roland stuff, reverb is baked into the raw samples and can't be removed (unlike Korg, Yamaha, etc.). It began to annoy me, just as with the HPD15 HandSonic. Wood texture keys would help. But overall it was fun to play, and the reed organ was good too.

 

As for acoustic harpsichord, I know someone who makes them and gave me a full-day tour of the entire process at his factory. I also have a friend who is a pro player (two friends actually; one is co-director of two well-known Boston-area groups and the main accompanist for the Handel & Haydn Society), studied harpsichord for a year in my 20's, and still wish I had one (with a dedicated tuner who I give free rent :-)).

 

They vary quite a bit. I have my preferences, as do most people, and they can also be works of art. When I'm more caught up for the day, I may provide links to my friend's first two Bach albums (at Bandcamp) and two astounding live performances by some of the better players in great acoustic spaces with excellent instruments.

 

I will soon be ramping up some of my own harpsichord music, after I meet some other obligations I am almost done with, as a local choreographer wants to write a ballet that primarily uses baroque instruments.

[3rdAct]

Whoa - two keyboards (manuals?)? And the top one occasionally plays by itself!

Any harpsichord players out there that can explain?

[The Real MC]

Whoa - two keyboards (manuals?)? And the top one occasionally plays by itself!

Any harpsichord players out there that can explain?

 

Mechanically coupled, upper keys are linked to bottom keys. When you play the bottom manual, the same keys on the upper manual also engage.

 

Due to the very limited dynamic range and soft volume of harpsichords, it was a way to get more volume out of them.

 

Coupling of manuals was used on pipe organs from those days too.

 

When I was in Germany on a business trip I visited some music stores. Played a real harpsichord, not a usable timbre and easily masked by orchestral instruments. But the european pianos - brands you won't find in the US - were more interesting. Different tone from your typical Steinway or Baldwin, but interesting pianos.

[marino]

Whoa - two keyboards (manuals?)? And the top one occasionally plays by itself!

Any harpsichord players out there that can explain?

Assuming it's a genuine question:

The top keyboard is mechanically coupled to the bottom one; they play the same notes. This is done to activate different sets of strings, usually at the octave.

[ksoper]

I took a semester of harpsichord at Indiana University when Anthony Newman was teaching there, though I studied with a TA. Lots of Scarlatti. There were two Eric Herz double manual harpsichords in the practice rooms plus whatever Anthony had in his studio. Harder to play than a tracker action organ, particularly when coupled. To have the grace that Mahan displayed requires a ridiculous amount of strength. Thanks for posting this.

 

Something something cute flute major late Friday night Bach sonatas...

[Mark Schmieder]

It's an amazing feature that is almost a non-negotiable with many lovers of harpsichord, and the stops come usually as 4' or 8' with combinations thereof, and some other interesting features as well. There are even some three-manual harpsichords, but they are rare.

 

The latency is weird; due to the strings being plucked, you get entirely different tactile feedback than when playing piano or even organ. Roland tried to emulate that and did so reasonably well.

 

It is slightly possible to get different dynamics even without changing the stops settings, through specific technique (which my teacher taught me), and even slight side-to-side wiggling of the keys.

 

I started out as a music major at Indiana University, and at the time (late 70's) they were a bit snobbish about classical guitar and ancient instruments, but that suddenly turned around in the early 80's to where they became the actual center of early music for the entire country (NPR program based there, a specific center dedicated to early music, ability to major in those instruments at the music school, etc.).

 

Bloomington is in fact where the harpsichord factory is, that I was given a tour of. The guy was a keyboardist in an ABBA-inspired originals band that my best friend from undergrad and grad days headed (he took 14 years to finish his PhD so was still in town when I went back to visit that many years later!). There is also an early instrument store downtown, well respected; one of the better ones for recorders etc.

 

 

The English Suites performance above, is one of the best I've ever heard, and what a beautiful instrument that particular harpsichord is! Not the usual woods either, from what I can tell.

[Mark Schmieder]

One of the many drawbacks of owning and/or playing a harpsichord, is that they tend to go out of tune after about 20-30 minutes of playing; sometimes less. I have been at recitals and concerts where they have to tune them between movements rather than play continuously from start to finish of a longer suite.

[3rdAct]

Assuming it's a genuine question:

The top keyboard is mechanically coupled to the bottom one; they play the same notes. This is done to activate different sets of strings, usually at the octave.

Definitely a genuine question! And thanks to those above for the replies.

 

It's an amazing feature that is almost a non-negotiable with many lovers of harpsichord, and the stops come usually as 4' or 8' with combinations thereof, and some other interesting features as well.

So if they can have different stops, there must be a somewhat complicated mechanism for changing the combinations of strings?

[Markyboard]

Thanks for sharing your knowledge on this fascinating instrument guys. I Googled after listening to this concert but you guys added a lot to my understanding.

[ksoper]

 

I started out as a music major at Indiana University, and at the time (late 70's)...

 

I was there from fall of '76 to the end of spring semester of '78. Did we cross paths?

[Mark Schmieder]

Possibly. I was there from fall of '76 through spring of '81 n(graduate school). Of course, so were over 344,000 other people. :-)

 

The only campus population bigger than IUB is University of Minnesota (76,000).