Re: Off at a tangent?

[Anne Smith <smithqa@nexicom.net>]

I am not an expert in early keyboard instruments.  Here is a little bit.

The tangent piano was an early rival of the fortepiano.
A tangent comes from the clavichord.  When the key of a clavichord is
depressed the tangent touches the string to produce sound.  The piano uses
hammers.  The damping action is different.

There is a picture of a tangent piano here:
www.khm.at/staticE/page210.html

A short history of keyboard instruments here:

http://www.baldwinpiano.com/learn/phistory.html

Historical instruments are becoming very popular.

Anne

----- Original Message -----
From: Kate Clunies-Ross <goldbergs@TALK21.COM>
To: <F_MINOR@EMAIL.RUTGERS.EDU>
Sent: Saturday, May 04, 2002 6:33 AM
Subject: Off at a tangent?


> I am sorry if this post is a little  off-topic, but can any of the
F-Minor
> musical experts please tell me what a  tangent piano is, and how it works?
> Yesterday a friend played me a CD of music by CPE Bach, played on the
> tangent piano. I have never heard this instrument before; to me, it
sounded
> like a hybrid between a piano and a harpsichord, a very precise sound,
with
> something of the dynamics of a piano.
> Thinking of GG's experiments with his "harpsipiano", it seems he might
have
> been interested in such an instrument!
>