1761

J. C. Zumpe was a German builder who served his apprenticeship with Silberman. He also worked for Shudi making harpsichords for a time. In 1761 he set up his workshop at 7 Princes Street, Hanover Square, London, where he worked until 1780. From 1780 to 1784 he was at Princes Street, Cavendish Square. He was in partnership with Buntebart from 1769 to 1779. There is a combined piano/organ in the Musée des Arts et Metiers in Paris, with Zumpe and Buntebart's name on it. The action of Zumpe's square piano is very simple and has been called the "old man's head" or "single action mop stick." Hammer heads were put to the strings by pads of leather fixed to the ends of thick brass wires inserted into the backs of the keys. There was no escapement or checking the fall of the hammers other than by the pads which lifted them. The dampers were above the strings where the lever was tipped with cloth, and hinged by whalebone at the back of the instrument on the keys passing through holes in the hitch pin block. At the left side of the instrument there was either a stop to raise all the dampers or two hand-stops to raise treble and bass sections independently. The wrest pins were on the right and the hitch pin block was at the back parallel to the keyboard. A piano was made by Zumpe in 1766 with the black notes divided into two sections, controlling different strings, to allow for the tuning of sharps as sharps and flats as flats. The practical difficulties of playing such a thing ensured that it did not catch on. Zumpe hired a Scottish cabinet maker, John Broadwood who came to London to make his fortune. In 1769 he married Barbara, the daughter of Shudi the harpsichord maker who Zumpe used to work for. In 1763 probably the first advertisement for a piano in the UK was taken out by Zumpe, selling them for £50.00. By 1767 one of the first known public performances using a Zumpe took place, at the Beggar's Opera at Covent Garden. The concert featured a Miss Brickler singing, accompanied by a Mr. Dibdin on a "Zumpe pianoforte." Johann Christian Bach performed on a Zumpe for a piano concert at The Thatched House, St James. Schoene & Co. of Princes Street, Cavendish Square, took over Zumpe's business when he retired, running it from 1784 to 1793.

1767

Longman & Broderip, the music publishing and instrument retailing company, was founded by James Longman in this year, with the first known address at 26 Cheapside, London. Geib and Gulliford made pianos for them. (See also 1798.) The earliest known surviving square piano with the name Longman is from 1770 and is in the Boston Museum. It has five octaves spanning D to A. In 1798 the firm became Longman & Clementi, and in 1832 when Clementi died the company became Collard & Collard. Other known partners of Longman included Longman & Lukey in 1771 and Longman, Lukey & Comp in 1774.

1768

J. C. Bach gave the first-ever piano recital on one of Zumpe's instruments at the Thatched House in London. The instrument cost him £50, a bargain at the time, and Bach himself thought so. Probably a wise investment by Zumpe.

1768

Gabriel Buntebart moved in to 7 Princes Street, Hanover Square, until 1795. One of his pianos can be seen at a museum in Brussels.

1770

Beethoven was born.

1771

Americus Backers, a Dutchman, exhibited a piano with an action similar to Cristofori's, yet with some differences, and Broadwood's and Stodart's helped him develop this action, according to Broadwood's records. Broadwood's were to use this action in their pianos and it was soon known as the English or Broadwood action. It was about this time that J. Broadwood took control of the company, and the action was used up to the beginning of this century. Backers started in 1761 at Jermyn Street, London, and remained there until 1781.

1771

Robert Stodart took out a patent using the name "Grand" to describe his instrument, this being the first known use of the word grand in a patent.

1772

Johann Andreas Stein (1728-1792), who was also a former apprentice of Silberman from 1749 to 1750, went on to develop the Viennese action in 1772. The hammers are centred to a metal spring clip fixture on the keys called a Kapsel with the heads of the hammers towards the player and the shanks being set horizontally and parallel to the keys. The shanks protrude beyond their centre points and contact a spring or moveable stopper so that the back of the shank is held when the key is depressed, forcing the hammers forward until the escapement takes place. This action is also known as the South German or Back Striker. The strings were normally fifty percent thinner than their English counterparts and the hammers were much smaller and covered with buckskin, giving a lighter touch and tone. This type of piano was preferred by Mozart. The English action had a jack centred to the key and the top of the jack pushes the notch lifting the hammer; when the hammer is about an eighth of an inch from the string the jack escapes by means of a set-off button. The notch is in contact with the button which forces the jack away. A wire spring inserted into the key in front of the jack constantly pulls the jack forward to keep it in place in front of the notch. The action is also known as the direct action because the jack works directly under the notch. The action also became known as the Broadwood action because of its extensive use by this maker. At the back of the key there is a check which catches the hammer while the key is held, and after the hammer has escaped there is usually one long centre wire for the hammers running along one complete section. This is also known as a single escapement action. There is always some lost motion which results from a gap between the jack and notch to allow escapement. The gap's measurement being about that of card could have resulted in the use of the term carding for the task of trying to eliminate this gap when regulating.