Harpsichordium!

[thebrettguy]

So a good friend of mine who is a brilliant musician and a professional harpsichord repairer/tuner gave the little red virginal a tuneup. It sounds great and one of the sticky keys has relaxed, though it will need new strings on the upper end soon. I'm finally sounding good on it because I've practiced pretty much every day. Once I figure out how, I'll record something and put it up here. It has a few oddities in its construction that made him curse a bit, so I'm starting to get the feeling that this instrument is likely to remain with me for the remainder of its life. The oddities make it hard to sell, and the maker and my friend are glad to see it in such heavy use at my home.

I've been told my friend will be traveling at some point, for perhaps a year or more, and he needs a place to store his FANTASTIC full sized, historically crafted harpsichord. This thing has hand forged tuning pegs my friends, and something rarely put into modern harpsichords - an arpichordum - which is a bar that can be set across the strings to produce a sort of sitar-like bend in the lower notes. I'm told it's rarely made anymore because the modern ear doesn't appreciate the sound, but I say bunk, because I think it's the neatest thing I've ever heard. This harpsichord is so fantastic, several local operas have wanted to rent it for their performances.

And I get to keep it in my house! I will be awash in harpsichorditude.

I definitely need to practice a lot to be worthy of its stewardship.