Wolfenden said:"These samples were, of course, specially drawn for competition and commercial wire of this gauge cannot even now be trusted to reach above 260 pounds."

1400

By approximately 1400 the clavichord had about ten strings and in earlier examples two notes or more were produced from that string or pair of strings by making two or more tangents contact the same string or pair of strings at different points. This type is termed fretted, or in German Gebunden. A later type, in which each note has its own string, or strings, is called a "Bundfrei" clavichord. The clavichord is the simplest and usually the smallest of string keyboard instruments. It is rather like an oblong box with the keyboard running nearly the length of one long side and with the horizontally placed strings almost parallel to that side. The small wrest pins and bridge are at the right-hand side and the strings are permanently damped at their left-hand ends by a strip of felt or cloth. The strings are struck from below by small pieces of metal shaped like a screwdriver blade, which are fixed to the backs of the key frame as tangents.

Since about 1450 keyboards have virtually remained the same, except for a little variation in the colour of the keys, as the older ones had the reverse of the present-day key colouring. The organ was the first keyboard instrument and the weight of the keys has varied greatly since the earliest examples, whose keys were so heavy that the players were called "Organ Beaters." Around the thirteenth or fourteenth century, keyboards were laid out according to the natural modes which were the basis of the musical system. The interval of the augmented fourth, B to F, was considered discordant, so B was lowered by adding an extra short key, which procedure then led to five accidentals, B flat being followed by F sharp, E flat, C sharp, and G sharp.

Today's arrangement was found as long ago as 1361, as demonstrated by paintings of the time. The first member of the harpsichord family was the virginal or virginals. The strings on this instrument are plucked by plectra and the shape is similar to that of the clavichord. The spinet followed the clavichord and then came the more elaborate harpsichord.

Tuning often followed the meantone system where major thirds were tuned precisely and other intervals tempered. This created some very wild intervals and the howling sound resulted in them being called "wolves" or the "wolf interval." If a series of fifths is tuned from the bottom A upwards, when the top A is reached it will be a quarter of a semitone sharp if all are tuned in pure intervals, and this is called the Pythagorean comma.

The spinet could have received its name from a possible Italian inventor, Giovanni Spinette, or from the connection with spine thorns, which were used for plucking the strings.

For more information on the history of the keyboard compass.

1420

The earliest mention of a harp made in England appears in the state account books of 1420. "By the hand of William Menken was paid £8.13s.4d for two harps for Henry V and Queen Catherine." Henry V reigned from 1413 to 1422. Harpsichords with one manual and a two-foot register were slightly more triangular in shape than a modern grand piano. The strings were normally arranged like those on a straight-strung grand piano. Plucking was done by crow quills soaked in olive oil to harden them, though sometimes leather was used, also to provide contrast in tone. In modern harpsichords nylon is now the preferred material. When a key is depressed, the back end lifts a small piece of wood or nylon called the jack, five to eight inches long, with a gong fitted at its top carrying the plectra which plucks the string as it passes. On release of the key, the plectra bypasses the string by means of a spring originally of hog's gristle. The damper is fitted to the plectra, sometimes looking like a flag. By removing the jack stop rail, the jack can be removed also. The rail prevents too much movement of the jacks. A screw at the bottom end of the jack regulates its height. If plucking does not occur when hand stops are preventing it, an adjustment can then be made with a small screw at the top or in the side near the top of the jack. In the case of a two-foot register one or both registers can be engaged. Whalebone, shell, and wood have been used as materials for plectra. The harpsichord seems to have originated in Italy. Four octaves was the normal range and various notes below this were introduced on other keys whose notes were used less. For example, the lower E played C below, F played F, F sharp B flat, and the rest were naturals, suitable as keynotes. Divided keys on the first two keys were also found on English harpsichords with the back of the note for the correct note and the front for another note.