To better understand the
harpsichord I thought it might be helpful to actually explain to you how it
works... at least the basics. So hopefully you won't get bored, and let's
get started! (I'll split this into two posts since this topic is a bit
tricky,)
Here's a nifty little chart for you
visual learners. (Credit to Wikipedia)
To gain
your sense of direction, the left side shows the actual key a musician would
play. When you press on the key, the key pivots down pushing the jacks
upward. Inside of the jacks is something called a plectrum.
Plectrums were originally made out of bird quill but are now usually made
of plastic. The plectrum juts out horizontally so that it can pluck the
string, creating sound. The key is stopped from moving farther upwards
than necessary by a cushioned (to muffle the impact) jack rail. That is
the basic understanding of how the key is plucked. The way the plectrum
is lowered without plucking the string again will be explained in the next
post.
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