HISTORY AND ORIGINATORS OF KEYBOARD Essays -- essays research papers

HISTORY AND ORIGINATORS OF KEYBOARDBAROQUE PERIOD cembalo (Italian cembalo French clavecin), pull outed keyboard instrument in which the strings are pull to produce sound. It was developed in Europe in the 14th or 15th century and was widely used from the 16th to the early nineteenth century, when it was superseded by the mild. In the 20th century the cembalo was revived for carrying into action of practice of medicine of the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, as well as for new compositions. The discriminating sound quality of the plucked metal strings adds clarity to melodious lines. The harpsichord is particularly effective in performing contrapuntal musicthat is, music that consists of both or more melodies played at the aforementioned(prenominal) time, such as that of the German composer Johann Sebastian Bach. Construction and Mechanism The harpsichord unremarkably has a wing-shaped body, or case, corresponding a grand piano however, its proportions are narrower and lo nger, and the case and its inner bracing are normally lighter. Harpsichords energize also been built in other shapes. These accommodate the virginal, or virginals, a small oblong instrument the spinet, a small polygonal harpsichord and the less common clavicytherium, an upright harpsichord. From the 16th to 19th century the equipment casualty spinet and virginal were a great deal used interchangeably, and in England during that era any harpsichord was called a virginal. Harpsichords of any shape have the same plucking mechanism. For each string a small piece of material, or plectrum, is specialize in a thin slip of wood, or jack, which rests internally on the far discontinue of the key. When the front of the key is depressed, the far end rises, and the plectrum plucks the string. The jack is pivoted so that, when the key returns to rest position, the plectrum slides by without striking the string. Since the volume and bank bill of the sound produced by the plucking mechanism remain constant regardless of the forte of the keystroke, various methods have been developed to alter the harpsichords sound. Many harpsichords have two strings for each key, with a row of jacks for each set of strings. Stops, or registers, allow the player to move unwanted sets of jacks somewhat out of reach of the strings, thus making possible different volumes and combinations of feeling colors. One set of strings may sound an octave to a higher place normal pitch. Some 18th-century German harpsichords had a set of strings so... ...18th-century instruments, often incorporating the best of the 19th-century innovations. Electronic organs Electronic and electric organs, developed in the 20th century, are not organs in the strict sense, for they do not produce sound by air vibrating in a pipe rather, they are instruments in their own right. One kind, invented in 1935 by an American, Laurens Hammond, utilizes electrical circuits and amplifiers to produce and enlarge the sound. A nother kind uses electronic devices such as vacuum tubes. Although such instruments are often designed to go after the tone qualities of pipe organs, they are frequently criticized for a pinched or artificial-seeming sound. Electronic organs were widely used in the rock bands of the mid-sixties and after. In such bands, which use extensive electrical sound gain and manipulation, the distinctive qualities of electronic-organ sound are exploited for their own sake. Reed Organs Keyboard instruments in which the wind supply is directed toward free metal reeds like those of a harmonica or accordion are called reed organs. They include the melodeon, developed in the United States roughly 1825, and the harmonium, developed in Germany about 1810.