Re[2]: GG: influence of harpsicord

["Mark Williamson" <mwilliamson@alston.com>]

     How nice that this has prompted so many thoughtful comments. 
     Here is a follow-up question:  have any of you ever heard of 
     an instrument called a "fretted harpsichord?"  The reason I 
     ask is that harpsichords tend to go out of tune very quickly 
     (because the pins and frame will not hold tension as well as 
     a modern piano).  But I seem to recall reading about a 
     "fretted harpsichord" with fewer strings and an internal 
     fretboard.  And the interesting thing about that is that 
     with a fretted instrument, you just tune the fewer strings 
     to a single pitch and all the other notes are tuned by the 
     mathematics and geometrics of the fretboard.  Have you ever 
     heard of such an instrument?
     
     Jeff Dod (musician/chemist on this mailing list) recently 
     sent me some very interesting tapes that mention this 
     concept:  the lecturer talks about the various temperaments 
     in use in the 18th century not being what we call "equal" 
     temperament, but he notes that many lutes and other fretted 
     instruments were tuned to what we would call equal 
     temperament, this being so easy to do and being strictly a 
     function of mathematics and not hearing (except to tune the 
     six lute strings to a single pitch which is quite easy).  
     With respect to the harpsichord, I am less interested in the 
     temperament on which the fretboard would be based than I am 
     in the possibility of quickly retuning an instrument that 
     may need to be tuned as often as once a day.
     
     If you have any useful tidbits, pass them on.  Perhaps my 
     memory is failing me, but it would be mechanically possible 
     to build such an instrument using 18th century technology:  
     there would only be one quill which would be activated by 
     the depression of any key, and each key would be connected 
     to depress a particular string at a particular place on the 
     fretboard (and that string would be depressed momentarily 
     before activation of the quill).  You would not be able to 
     play an unlimited number of notes at one time, however . . .
     
     Mark