My harpsichord, a Zuckermann single-manual Flemish IV, is finally here and has been given a very rough initial tuning.  A total of 6 strings need to be replaced, luckily, all are in the bass region so it’s still quite playable.  It looks very much like the following.

Zuckermann single-manual Flemish IV

“The sound of a harpsichord – two skeletons copulating on a tin roof in a thunderstorm”.

Sir Thomas Beecham

The piano before the piano, the harpsichord underwent a major revival in the early 20th century behind the driving force of Wanda Landowska.  It underwent a second and more radical revival during the 1960s psychedelic music era, and its use in modern music has continued to grow.

“You play Bach your way, and I’ll play him his way.”

Wanda Landowska

First revival

Landowska, Bach – Italian Concerto, BWV 971

Landowska, Bach – Prelude & Fugue No. 21, BWV 866

Dressed like she was about to steal some Russian children, but she could play.

Reverberations

Iturbi, Rameau – Rigaudon, Musette and Tambourin

Jose Iturbi had tiny, tiny hands, quite unlike my own meat mitts.

For those not familiar with Glenn Gould, yes, he’s humming and rocking throughout, and no, that’s not normal.  As George Szell put it, “That nut’s a genius”.

Second revival

Jimi Hendrix, Burning of the Midnight Lamp

The Zombies,  I Want Her, She Wants Me

The Zombies, Imagine The Swan

The Beatles, Because

Donovan, Bert’s Blues

Hendrix and the Beatles both used the same wonderful Baldwin electric; I don’t know what the Zombies or Donovan used.

Today

Tori Amos, Blood Roses

A 250-year-old harpsichord live … did they cheer like that in the 1700s?  Won a full scholarship to the Peabody Conservatory of Music when she was only 5; kicked out by age 11.

Emilie Autumn, Bach – Largo

A violin virtuoso and performance artist.  Left the Indiana University School of Music due to disagreements over her choices in clothing and music.

Isobel Campbell, Amorino

Gorgeous.

Joanna Newsom, Peach Plum Pear

A very acquired taste.  Appalachia meets the harpsichord.

Bjork, Scary

Bjork, Unravel

Bjork, Venus as a Boy

Bjork loves the harpsichord (and clavichord).

No one you or anyone else knows

Radio Spectacular!!!, Waltz Of The Fuzzy Peach King

Very much in the spirit of Danny Elfman.

რაღაც გარკვეული დროის წინ მოვხვდი ბაროკოს მუსიკის კონცერტზე და დავინახე კლავესინი. ისევ გამიელვა აზრმა ამ ინსტრუმენტის შესახებ. ადრეც გამჩენია და ახლა ამოტივტივდა. კლავესინი, მოგეხსენებათ, აბრეშუმის სიმებითაა აღჭურვილი და სუსტი ხმა აქვს. ამიტომაც სხვა ინსტრუმენტებთან ერთად რომ უკრავს, ისინი, როგორც წესი, ფარავენ მას. მაგრამ, მუსიკას მაინც ალამაზებს და რარაცნაირად ელფერს უცვლის, რადგანაც, შეიძლება ასე უშუალოდ არ გესმოდეს, მაგრამ ხომ არის ის.

შეიძლება ითქვას, რომ კლავესინი მუსიკის მარილია, ქინძი, უცხო სუნელი, თუ კიდევ რა ვიცი რა

I want to buy GenoPro, but it costs 50 dollars. Why do all other genealogy programmes fail, hard?

Anyway. I don’t know what’s going on with Clavichord. I lost interest in writing it, I suppose. I want to, but at the same time, I don’t. I think it needs a lot of refining.

On the No Ocean Too Far front, I changed Alexandria and Guinevere’s relationship a bit. They originally had only met for fifteen minutes for their entire (human) lives, but I thought it might be brilliant if they meet April 10th, and have tea daily, over cards, intellectual conversation with a hint of gossip, and the great question — White Star or Cunard? (For the record, White Star.) It works better, and adds more drama. I do like drama.

For the past year or so, Ben and I have been roleplaying out an epic (which I have titled “Behind the Sea,” but we call it the “pirate RP,” cleverly) and I’m rather excited about the fact that we’ve stuck so close to our ideas (“We’ve plotted a good course,” says Ben — note the pun on writing and sailing) so well! I know I do the alternate reality thing way too often, but it’s better than nothing, especially given how dead my muse is as of late (as of late is the past year and a half, by the by). I don’t want to clutter the Twilight Hymn wiki with notes for Behind the Sea, especially not having done any real notes in forever, but I for some reason can’t keep track of my own computer files. I don’t even know what I’m rambling about. I guess I’m hoping something out of this is going to jolt my muse awake. Heh. Right.

Some of my earliest posts when I started this blog at the beginning of the year were about making a clavichord. I recently went to see David Condy, who had commissioned the instrument, and had the great pleasure of hearing him play it. Although an accomplished pianist and organist, he told me that it had taken him a little while to get used to the different action of a clavichord keyboard. As you can hear if you click on the pieces below, he has succeeded magnificently. Clavichords make a beautiful but rather small sound, so don’t turn the volume up too high.

He’s playing a piece from Sweelinck’s Liedvariationem für Klavier, called Unter der Linden grüne. The first is just a snippet for anyone who wants to hear what a clavichord sounds like. The second, which lasts a little longer, comprises the theme and the first two variations. Click on the blue titles below to hear them (or use the audio player in the bar).

Clavichord piece

Unter der Linden grüne

A rough draft version of the prelude to Clavichord. Some formatting died.

Prelude
The Amaya-Kirayosora household, early morning

[The scene opens in the hallway of a quaint house – early morning sunlight falls through the windows of the house upon a small girl – Victoria – laying against a door; she is asleep, but appears to be crying almost silently. The door opens slowly and a tall, brown-haired boy – James – steps out. He looks down for a moment before kneeling next to Victoria]

James:
…
Huh. Asleep here again.

[He’s still a moment, then slowly – almost scared – reaches a hand to her hair, brushing against her cheek]

Tori-ch—

[Victoria suddenly stirs, sitting up in alarm. She, as if having been hurt, slides away from James, who quickly stands. James’ fascination has melted to an agitated stance, while Victoria looks beyond frightened]

Victoria:
J—James—

James:
You have a bed, you know.

[Victoria is silent a moment, staring down at her hands]

Victoria:
…
I—I know.

James:
Why don’t you sleep there?

Victoria:
I… I don’t know.

[James scoffs a bit, stepping back into his room. He comes back out a moment later, a book bag over his shoulder and a pile of papers – scores, notes and scripts – in his hands. He doesn’t glance at his sister once. The scene shifts down the hall and into the kitchen, where Kamiya (Seishin) and Nora Jayne are eating a quick breakfast, while their mother Kasumi prepares lunch for the four children]

Jayne:
Ne, Sei-onee-chan! James told me he’s going to have tryouts for the autumn musical today – are you excited?

Seishin:
Of course I am! Klaud and I always get the best parts.

Kasumi:
James-kun played the opening song on piano for me – it’s a lovely piece.

Seishin:
[with a scoff]
Jamie never lets me hear his music before the rehearsals, even when I’m the lead!

Kasumi:
It’s a sad part, if I’m to judge by the piece – will you be able to manage that, Miya-chan?

Seishin:
I’m an actress. Of course I can!

Jayne:
[giggles]
You remind me of Shay-chan sometimes. She’s going to be staying for this semester of school, isn’t that sugoi?~

Kasumi:
Shayla Bleth, the girl always travelling?

Seishin:
The peripatetic thing she is, that’s her.

[Caeden enters, and walks briskly over to Kasumi. He gives her a gentle kiss, pulling some of her hair out of her face]

Kasumi:
Off to work already?

Caeden:
The costumes for the musical—there’s a lot of them to be done. Thankfully the school is funding it…

[He leans over to give kisses to Jayne and Seishin, stands back up and glances around, then back to the two girls]

Where are James and Tori?

[And as if on cue, shouting is heard from the hall]

Victoria:
Just leave me be, James!

James:
What do you think I’ve tried doing nearly half my life?!

[Seishin sighs as Jayne bites her lip – Caeden and Kasumi exchange hopeless glances. James storms into the kitchen, followed by a shut-away Victoria, and the two remain in opposite ends of the room]

Kasumi:
James, Victoria, what’s wrong now?

Victoria:
It doesn’t matter…

James:
[scoffs]
No, it doesn’t.

[The doorbell rings, and Seishin runs to answer it]

Kasumi:
James Liam Kaftka and Victoria Rose Lyra…

Victoria:
I—it was my fault, Mama. I—I shouldn’t have—have…

Kasumi:
I just want you two to stop—
…
Oh, loves….
Your father has to leave – give him kisses and come take your bentou, please.

[The two do as instructed as Seishin returns, leaning in slightly]

Seishin:
Matt and the others are here, guys.

Klaud:
And me!

Seishin:
[giggles]
Ready to go?

James:
Forget what I said, Victoria. I don’t care.

[Without a word, James leaves the room. Victoria remains still a moment, before hurrying away, through the back door. Seishin sighs again.]

Klaud:
…
What happened…?

Seishin:
Who knows?
Those two haven’t gotten along since they were six.

Jayne:
[in a quiet tone]
Four years is a long time for two people to be fighting…

[The three leave the room, and Caeden walks back over to Kasumi, giving her a longer kiss. He touches her lips with his fingertips afterward, sighing gently]

Caeden:
I don’t know what we’ll do with those two, Kasumi-san…

Kasumi:
Neither do I, Caeden-san…

[Outside, Victoria comes round from the back and is caught by Charlotte and Vanessa. They both fire warning glares at James, before ushering the young girl off. James mumbles something, kicks at the ground and then sighs before walking down to the sidewalk where Seth and Matthew are waiting]

Matthew:
Hiya, James.

Seth:
[smiles softly]
Good morning.

James:
Yeh, if you can call it that. Hi.

Seth:
[stops smiling]
Did something happen?

James:
Nothing new.

[There’s a short silence, before Matthew decides to bravely break it]

Matthew:
Well…
Hey, is Jayne walking with us this morning?

James:
Of course.

Seth:
Victoria…?

James:
…
No.
…
Actually, Seth, you ought to go find her. She went with Vanessa and Charlotte – down that way.

Seth:
Thank you… excuse me.

[Seth gives them both a smile, and a small wave at Jayne as he passes her. Jayne bounces up with Seishin and Klaud, quite cheerfully]

Jayne:
Hi, Matt-kun! How are you?

Matthew:
Hi, Jayne! I’m fine. How about you?

Jayne:
Good! Look, I found a lot of seashells yesterday! There’s at least thirty here!

Matthew:
That’s great! Hey, um… speaking of the beach, do you—

[James lifts his hand to speak, and Daiki walks up to the group. James drops his hand.]

Jayne:
Morning, Daiki-kun~ How are you?

Daiki:
[smiles]

Jayne:
Hehe, that’s good!

Daiki:
[smiles]

James:
…
Right. Seishin, are you ready yet?

[Behind the four younger children, Seishin is snapping pictures of her best friend/boyfriend, Klaud – Klaud attempts to duck them]

Seishin:
Yeah, I would be, if Klaud would stay still for a moment!

Klaud:
Well… I’d look better if I weren’t half-asleep!

Seishin:
Oh, isn’t that the biggest lie ever! That excuse doesn’t work for the 4.0 GPA kids, Klaud. Neither you or I! Now—stay—still!

[Klaud seems to pause a moment, during which Seishin begins to snap a perfect picture – until Klaud jumps into a tree at the last moment]

…
Klaud! Now the picture’s ruined!

Klaud:
Apologies, Sei. Really – but I suppose you’ll have to be quicker than that – or do some jumping, huh?

[The two continue to playfully fight with one another, while Jayne, Matt and, silently, Daiki, are speaking amongst themselves. James rolls his eyes a bit, but then slows his pace, and pauses a moment as he glances back in the direction that Vanessa and Charlotte had dragged Victoria off in]

Matthew:
James…?

James:
…

[he quickly snaps out of his trance, and turns back to Matthew, giving him a cold warning glare – Matt giggles, albeit a bit nervously]

Matthew:
Just checking.

New song list:

Twelve o’Clock (Noon) – Moraine Academy Students
Life Is Like a Musical – Moraine Academy Students
Kiss and Kill – Morrigan, Mira, Naoki, Misaki
Twelve o’Clock (Midnight) – James and Victoria
Come Josephine, In My Faraway Dream… – Guinevere and Jason
Ashwood Isle – Caeden, Kasumi
Annabel Lee – Seth
Saltwater Taffy (On the Boardwalk) – Matthew, Jayne
Saltwater Taffy (On the Shoreline) – Minami
If Ever I Loved You – James and Victoria
I Sing For You – Sonya
You Are Not (The Centre of the Universe) – Kayden, Naoki, Misaki
Silken Smokescreens – Riza, Sayurii, Gwendolyn, James, Matthew and Jason
Like the Moon in the Ocean – Matthew and Moraine Academy Students
All I Need – Charlotte and Vanessa
Lined Pages of a Notebook Full of Love Music – Klaud and Seishin
Peripatetic, Gypsy, Boheme – Shayla and Moraine Academy Students
On a Sunday in 1912 (April the 14th) – Guinevere, Dylan, Jason, Sonya, Daniel, Nolle
Dead Little Marionette Doll – Victoria and Seth
Each Mistake I’ve Made – Matthew
Ophelia’s Song – Victoria
Because I Was Daydreaming – Guinevere
Forgive Me (If I Fall Apart) – Jayne, Matthew, Jason, Dylan, Seth, James
Birdsong – James
Fallen Star Waltzes in the Sea – Daniel and Dylan
oborozukiyo – Victoria, others?
Christmas Eve – All
Rosewood Harlequin – All

. . . that MIGHT be the complete list. I don’t know; quite depends on if I decide to add more/remove any. Klaud and Sei win for longest title. I want to make all 28 songs work, I really do. XD To split them into the acts:

ACT I (early September) -
Twelve o’Clock (Noon)
Life is Like a Musical
Kiss and Kill
Twelve o’Clock (Midnight)
Come Josephine, In My Faraway Dream…
Ashwood Isle
Annabel Lee
Saltwater Taffy (On the Boardwalk)
Saltwater Taffy (On the Shoreline)
If Ever I Loved You

ACT II (mid-late September) -
I Sing For You
You Are Not (The Centre of the Universe)
Silken Smokescreens
Like the Moon in the Ocean
All I Need
Lined Pages of a Notebook Full of Love Music
Peripatetic, Gypsy, Boheme
On a Sunday in 1912 (April the 14th)
Dead Little Marionette Doll
Each Mistake I’ve Made

ACT III (mid-late October & mid-late December) -
Ophelia’s Song
Because I Was Daydreaming
Forgive Me (If I Fall Apart)
Birdsong
Fallen Star Waltzes in the Sea
oborozukiyo
Christmas Eve
Rosewood Harlequin

oborozukiyo is all lower case on purpose. =3;

Clavichord focuses on the broken lives and loves of three groups of students at Moraine Private Academy in Rosewood Glen; the “two-thirds clueless, completely hopeless” ones, Matthew, Jayne and Minami – the “time-cursed” ones, Guinevere, Dylan, Sonya, Daniel and Jason – and most prominently, the “tragic triangle,” James, Victoria and Seth. Through the production of a school play, they come to terms with unchangeable facts and struggle to cope with tragedy.

….

Okay, I HATE writing descriptions. ;_; Ahh.

So yes. I guess that’s the basic premise of the play. It’s a musical, but a drama – though of course, there’s comedy! I’m thinking three acts, rather than just two. The song list looks like this so far –

Twelve o’Clock (Noon) – Moraine Academy Students
Life is Like a Musical – Moraine Academy Students
Kiss and Kill – Morrigan, Mira, Naoki, Misaki
Twelve o’Clock (Midnight) – James and Victoria
Come Josephine, In My Faraway Dream… – Guinevere and Jason
Saltwater Taffy (On the Boardwalk) – Matthew and Jayne
Saltwater Taffy (On the Shoreline) – Minami
Annabelle Lee – Seth
Ashwood Isle – Caeden and Kasumi
If Ever I Loved You – James and Victoria
Silken Smokescreens – Riza, Sayurii, Gwendolyn, James, Matthew and Jason
Peripatetic, Gypsy, Boheme – Shayla and Moraine Academy Students
On a Sunday in 1912 (April the 14th) – Guinevere, Dylan, Jason, Sonya, Daniel and Nolle
Dead Little Marionette Doll – Seth and Victoria
Ophelia’s Song – Victoria
Forgive Me (If I Fall Apart) – Jayne, Matthew, Jason, Dylan, Seth and James
Birdsong – James
Rosewood Harlequin – All

- and is not finished. ;_;

Here are a few pictures taken in my workshop during the early stages of building the instrument.

Preparing a board of cherry for the case.

Case nearly complete with diagonal brace, hitchpin rail, balance rail and wrest plank fitted.

Fitting the key levers.

I just managed to get this double-fretted clavichord finished by the end of 2007. The casework and stand are made in English cherry with an oiled finish. It has just over 4 octaves (from C to e”’) and is a copy of an instrument by an anonymous maker built around 1740 and preserved in the Gemeentemuseum in the Hague.

Click on the thumbnails for more pictures.

Long ago, at the conservatory of the Hague, I used to have a yoga class directly before my harpsichord lessons. I now believe that this mad schedule was the working of some bad spirit who wanted me to spoil both: yoga, and harpsichord playing (he didn’t succeed). During yoga, I was as tense and rigid as the dried fish they sell here in Sweden at Christmas time. Well arriving at the harpsichord lesson, my body had gotten weak as pudding while my mind was all tense and jumpy in anticipation of the new and wonderful requirements of a Real Musical Education. “Technique, technique, technique!” my teacher chanted, the first time he jogged into the harpsichord studio, eagerly rubbing his hands.

No wonder that on one of those days, when I was touching up a few unisons, I tuned every note jerkily up and down again. My teacher’s eyebrows shot up in intelligent acknowledgement: “Aah, you always tune a little higher first – is that to make the string hold better afterwards? Very interesting method!” 28 years after this event I can disclose that I simply was very nervous. But there are methods that help harpsichords, clavichords or fortepianos keep their tuning and there are some things better to avoid when tuning. I am, naturally, talking about such instruments where the tuning pins hold well in themselves.

Four factors can work together to fool the tuner into prematurely abandoning a string that has not yet settled on its proper pitch. Tuning pin (lengthwise) torsion, tuning pin (sidewise) bending, and any overly enthusiastic turning up and down are all incompatible with the retarding effect of the friction at the bridge- and nut-pins. This friction delays, to varying degrees within one instrument (and in wildly contrasting patterns between instruments) the process of tension-equalization of the three sections of a string (the sounding section and the front and end sections). The string needs a little time to settle, time during which the pin should not be turned, twisted or bent.

There are two things to find out: 1) how much do the tuning pins twist before they actually move in the pin block? 2) how slowly do the strings react in a given instrument? On the intuitive understanding of these matters and on the getting-to-feel the moment when things move and settle, the tuner’s decision to turn, retry and leave alone will be based.

There are two things to avoid: 1) tuning too enthusiastically up and down. 2) bending the pin instead of turning. The first issue is most likely the result of a combination of an insecurity about hearing the pitch well, and of mechanical difficulties when turning the tuning hammer. Frequently, one’s inability to hear whether a note is slightly too high or too low is simply a matter of a slack concentration. Often it will be sufficient to let the only interesting question emerge clearly in one’s mind: is this note too high or too low? Make up your mind and correct according to your guess. If an ever so slight correction makes things worse, the guess was wrong, but then you have the right answer – the insecurity is cured and you can correct the pitch safely, fully focusing on the mechanical aspect of turning the tuning hammer. If you still should tune past the right pitch, it will not be much. The second issue, bending, is either (if you use a T-shaped tuning hammer) a sloppiness that needs to be corrected: turn both sides of the hammer evenly and avoid pushing and bending sideways during that action. If you are using an inverted L shaped hammer (of the shape of a modern piano tuning hammer) sideways bending cannot be avoided. Why do these hammers bend the pin? Because the applied force is not, as in the T-model, applied at two points that lie at even opposite distances in line with the turning axle, but it is instead applied only on one side, far away from the turning axle. The force is hence transferred to the pin from one side only and the rigidity of the pin alone makes this principle work. A thin pin is less rigid than a thick one, and hence it will bend, albeit ever so slightly. These tuning hammers are, simply, worthless for being used on the thin tuning pins of most historical keyboard instruments.

Two actions of the tuner will help the string to settle into its final state: 1) play the note a few times while not tuning at all. 2) loosen your grip on the tuning hammer while checking for the last time, in order to make really sure you didn’t bend the pin by accident. For clavichords it will be necessary to touch at the dynamic level that will be most common when playing music. On fortepianos, some tuners have developed a habit of loud banging to get the string tension evened out. This is not good at all. One should indeed play the note fortissimo once or twice, that is: a musical fortissimo, not a grinding Beethoven-parody-sforzato. Otherwise several undesirable things will happen: 1) there will be too much wear on the nut pins, the hammer leather and the escapement hopper hinges (often strips of parchment that are difficult to replace). 2) the tension between the three string sections will in fact not even out, but instead be whacked out of balance by a too hard blow, and the tune-keeping afterwards will be less stable.

Only after this beginning, we will be able to talk cents, beats and deviations between temperaments. That is, if we also manage to keep the temperature and humidity in the room constant and if we avoid direct sunlight on the instrument.

Patrick Wolf (Photo by Andrew Kendall)

There is quite a spectacle coming through Chicago this week. Patrick Wolf is set to play at the Smart Bar tomorrow, October 9th, and is considered to be a genius by widespread accounts. Though first trained in singing and playing the violin, by now he has mastered over 12 instruments, including the clavinet, mountain dulcimer, clavichord, harmonium, and theremin, just to name a few. Not to mention that his songwriting reaches depths where most only skim the surface. His third and latest album “The Magic Position” is wonderful, electro-orchestral masterpiece. Yet it’s both his recorded works and his reputation for astounding live performances that have garnered him so much attention within the past year (Wolf has been known to wear incredibly flamboyant costumes and makeup, even changing them within his sets, even at one show freeing a bird into the audience). Too much attention, maybe, as Wolf announced that he intended on retiring after this tour. A few days later he recanted this statement, but such dilemma makes it obvious the toll that his fame has been taking on the artist.

Here are a few examples of his latest album “The Magic Position”. It’s wonderful. You can buy the album Here!

Patrick Wolf – The Stars.mp3

Patrick Wolf – The Magic Position.mp3

Patrick Wolf – Accident & Emergency.mp3

Be sure not to miss this show, even if you’re not in Chicago, here are the rest of the North American tour dates below.

10/08 – Detroit, MI – Magic Bag
10/09 – Chicago, IL – Smart Bar
10/11 – Portland, OR – Hawthorne Theatre
10/12 – Vancouver, BC – The Plaza
10/13 – Seattle, WA – Neumo’s
10/15 – San Fransisco – Mezzanine
10/16 – Los Angeles, CA – El Rey