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Claviharp
The claviharp, also known as the harp piano, or xenorphica, is a 19th-century musical instrument that combined a harp with a keyboard. Johann Christian Dietz invented the instrument in 1813 CE. His grandfather was one of the first upright piano manufacturers. Struck by what he saw as difficulties and defects of the harp, in 1810, he built an ''instrument à cordes pincées à clavier'', which connected a keyboard to the harp strings. He made the instrument to address limitations of the harp—susceptibility of catgut strings to atmospheric change, inconsistency of sound as finger motion varies, limited diatonic scale (without pedals), and lack of dampers. The claviharp's keyboard plucked the strings (as a harpsichord) rather than strike them (as a piano). Features The claviharp used metal strings covered with an insulating material to better stay in tune. Its keyboard was the same as that of other keyboard instruments, so permitting the playing of chromatic scale The chr ...
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Claviharp
The claviharp, also known as the harp piano, or xenorphica, is a 19th-century musical instrument that combined a harp with a keyboard. Johann Christian Dietz invented the instrument in 1813 CE. His grandfather was one of the first upright piano manufacturers. Struck by what he saw as difficulties and defects of the harp, in 1810, he built an ''instrument à cordes pincées à clavier'', which connected a keyboard to the harp strings. He made the instrument to address limitations of the harp—susceptibility of catgut strings to atmospheric change, inconsistency of sound as finger motion varies, limited diatonic scale (without pedals), and lack of dampers. The claviharp's keyboard plucked the strings (as a harpsichord) rather than strike them (as a piano). Features The claviharp used metal strings covered with an insulating material to better stay in tune. Its keyboard was the same as that of other keyboard instruments, so permitting the playing of chromatic scale The chr ...
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Harp
The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orchestras or concerts. Its most common form is triangular in shape and made of wood. Some have multiple rows of strings and pedal attachments. Ancient depictions of harps were recorded in Current-day Iraq (Mesopotamia), Iran (Persia), and Egypt, and later in India and China. By medieval times harps had spread across Europe. Harps were found across the Americas where it was a popular folk tradition in some areas. Distinct designs also emerged from the African continent. Harps have symbolic political traditions and are often used in logos, including in Ireland. History Harps have been known since antiquity in Asia, Africa, and Europe, dating back at least as early as 3000 BCE. The instrument had great popularity in Europe during the ...
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Pedal Harp
The pedal harp (also known as the concert harp) is a large and technologically modern harp, designed primarily for use in art music. It may be played solo, as part of a chamber ensemble, or in an orchestra. It typically has 47 strings with seven strings per octave, giving a range of six and a half octaves. In this type of harp the pedals alter the pitch of the strings, so that the pedal harp can easily play works written in any key. This is particularly important in the harmonically complex music of the Romantic period and later 20th-century classical music. Parts Body and strings A pedal harp typically stands about high, is deep, and wide at the bass end of the soundboard. It weighs about . The body of the harp consists of a straight upright pillar, sometimes adorned with a crown at the top; a soundboard, which in most harps is pear-shaped with additional width at the bottom, although some older instruments have soundboards that are straight-sided but widening toward t ...
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Johann Christian Dietz
Johann, typically a male given name, is the German form of ''Iohannes'', which is the Latin form of the Greek name ''Iōánnēs'' (), itself derived from Hebrew name ''Yochanan'' () in turn from its extended form (), meaning "Yahweh is Gracious" or "Yahweh is Merciful". Its English language equivalent is John. It is uncommon as a surname. People People with the name Johann include: A–K * Johann Adam Hiller (1728–1804), German composer * Johann Adam Reincken (1643–1722), Dutch/German organist * Johann Adam Remele (died 1740), German court painter * Johann Adolf I, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels (1649–1697) * Johann Adolph Hasse (1699-1783), German Composer * Johann Altfuldisch (1911—1947), German Nazi SS concentration camp officer executed for war crimes * Johann Andreas Eisenmenger (1654–1704), German Orientalist * Johann Baptist Wanhal (1739–1813), Czech composer * Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach (1656–1723), Austrian architect * Johann Bernoulli (1667–1748), Sw ...
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Catgut
Catgut (also known as gut) is a type of cord that is prepared from the natural fiber found in the walls of animal Gut (anatomy), intestines. Catgut makers usually use sheep or goat intestines, but occasionally use the intestines of cattle, Domestic pig, hogs, horses, mules, or donkeys. Despite the name, catgut is not made from cat intestines. Etymology The word ''catgut'' may have been an abbreviation of the word "cattlegut". Alternatively, it may derive by folk etymology from ''kitgut'' or ''kitstring'' — the dialectal word ''kit'', meaning fiddle, having at some point been confused with the word ''kit'' for a young cat, the word "kit" being possibly derived from Welsh language, Welsh. Common uses Stringed instruments For a long time, catgut was the most common material for the strings (music), strings of harps, lutes, violins, violas, cellos, and double basses, acoustic guitars and other String instrument, stringed musical instruments, as well as older marching snare drums. ...
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Diatonic Scale
In music theory, a diatonic scale is any heptatonic scale that includes five whole steps (whole tones) and two half steps (semitones) in each octave, in which the two half steps are separated from each other by either two or three whole steps, depending on their position in the scale. This pattern ensures that, in a diatonic scale spanning more than one octave, all the half steps are Maximal evenness, maximally separated from each other (i.e. separated by at least two whole steps). The seven pitch (music), pitches of any diatonic scale can also be obtained by using a Interval cycle, chain of six perfect fifths. For instance, the seven natural (music), natural pitch classes that form the C-major scale can be obtained from a stack of perfect fifths starting from F: :F–C–G–D–A–E–B Any sequence of seven successive natural notes, such as C–D–E–F–G–A–B, and any Transposition (music), transposition thereof, is a diatonic scale. Modern musical keyboards are des ...
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Damper Pedal
A sustain pedal or sustaining pedal (also called damper pedal, loud pedal, or open pedal) is the most commonly used pedal in a modern piano. It is typically the rightmost of two or three pedals. When pressed, the sustain pedal "sustains" all the damped strings on the piano by moving all the dampers away from the strings and allowing them to vibrate freely. All notes played will continue to sound until the vibration naturally ceases, or until the pedal is released. This lets the pianist sustain notes that would otherwise be out of reach, for instance in accompanying chords, and accomplish ''legato'' passages (smoothly connected notes) that would have no possible fingering otherwise. Pressing the sustain pedal also causes all the strings to vibrate sympathetically with whichever notes are being played, which greatly enriches the piano's tone. History A device similar to the sustain pedal in effect was invented by the piano pioneer Gottfried Silbermann; it was operated by the ...
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Harpsichord
A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism that plucks one or more strings with a small plectrum made from quill or plastic. The strings are under tension on a soundboard, which is mounted in a wooden case; the soundboard amplifies the vibrations from the strings so that the listeners can hear it. Like a pipe organ, a harpsichord may have more than one keyboard manual, and even a pedal board. Harpsichords may also have stop buttons which add or remove additional octaves. Some harpsichords may have a buff stop, which brings a strip of buff leather or other material in contact with the strings, muting their sound to simulate the sound of a plucked lute. The term denotes the whole family of similar plucked-keyboard instruments, including the smaller virginals, muselar, and spinet. ...
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Chromatic Scale
The chromatic scale (or twelve-tone scale) is a set of twelve pitches (more completely, pitch classes) used in tonal music, with notes separated by the interval of a semitone. Chromatic instruments, such as the piano, are made to produce the chromatic scale, while other instruments capable of continuously variable pitch, such as the trombone and violin, can also produce microtones, or notes between those available on a piano. Most music uses subsets of the chromatic scale such as diatonic scales. While the chromatic scale is fundamental in western music theory, it is seldom directly used in its entirety in musical compositions or improvisation. Definition The chromatic scale is a musical scale with twelve pitches, each a semitone, also known as a half-step, above or below its adjacent pitches. As a result, in 12-tone equal temperament (the most common tuning in Western music), the chromatic scale covers all 12 of the available pitches. Thus, there is only one chromatic scale ...
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Harmonic Octave
A harmonic is a wave with a frequency that is a positive integer multiple of the ''fundamental frequency'', the frequency of the original periodic signal, such as a sinusoidal wave. The original signal is also called the ''1st harmonic'', the other harmonics are known as ''higher harmonics''. As all harmonics are periodic at the fundamental frequency, the sum of harmonics is also periodic at that frequency. The set of harmonics forms a '' harmonic series''. The term is employed in various disciplines, including music, physics, acoustics, electronic power transmission, radio technology, and other fields. For example, if the fundamental frequency is 50  Hz, a common AC power supply frequency, the frequencies of the first three higher harmonics are 100 Hz (2nd harmonic), 150 Hz (3rd harmonic), 200 Hz (4th harmonic) and any addition of waves with these frequencies is periodic at 50 Hz. In music, harmonics are used on string instruments and wind instru ...
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Keyboard Instruments
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument played using a keyboard, a row of levers which are pressed by the fingers. The most common of these are the piano, organ, and various electronic keyboards, including synthesizers and digital pianos. Other keyboard instruments include celestas, which are struck idiophones operated by a keyboard, and carillons, which are usually housed in bell towers or belfries of churches or municipal buildings. Today, the term ''keyboard'' often refers to keyboard-style synthesizers. Under the fingers of a sensitive performer, the keyboard may also be used to control dynamics, phrasing, shading, articulation, and other elements of expression—depending on the design and inherent capabilities of the instrument. Another important use of the word ''keyboard'' is in historical musicology, where it means an instrument whose identity cannot be firmly established. Particularly in the 18th century, the harpsichord, the clavichord, and the early piano c ...
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