#8, Spinets and Virginals

As we have learned, the harpsichord is a keyboard instrument that produces sounds by plucking.  Two popular keyboard instruments under the harpsichord family were the spinet and the virginal.
Spinets were basically the more affordable option for musicians during the Baroque era in comparison to the harpsichord.  They were cheaper and took up less space but came with the sacrifice of tone quality.  Like every other instrument of the Baroque era, the number of pitches and tuning varied from instrument to instrument.  This made possible different price ranges.  The biggest difference in terms of build is that the strings come from the keyboard towards the right at a thirty degree angle.  The harpsichord's strings go straight from the keyboard and away from the player.  This unique design was what saved space since the instrument was "lopsided."  This was also the aspect that sacrificed tone quality.
Virginals were a low key, smaller, and more portable version of the harpsichord.  Like the harpsichord the wire strings are plucked by "plectra."  Essentially, this instrument has the same mechanics of the harpsichord.  The key difference is that it often does not have legs and is a rectangular box and the strings run parallel to the keyboard.  It was often placed on a table in order to be played.  Like the spinet it came in different sizes ranging from two and half feet to six feet long.  This of course led to different pitch variance from instrument to instrument.
If you are interested in hearing the difference between these tow, below is first a video of an Allemande (a slow dance) played on the spinet, and then a Scarlatti Sonata demonstrated on a virginal.