Unfretted Clavichord

The clavichord is undoubtedly the most expressive of early keyboard instruments. The mechanism is very simple: when you press a key the brass tangent fixed at the other end functions as a fret and excites the string. As the finger has a direct mechanical connection with the string, simple pressure on the key can produce vibrato (commonly referred to by the German term Bebung). When the finger is lifted from the key, the vibrations travel along the strings and are damped promptly by the listing cloth.

Our unfretted clavichord is designed after eighteenth-century Central German models, the sort of instrument favored by C.P.E. Bach. The dynamic range is large, but at a very low level, so the clavichord is too soft to accompany other instruments. This imposing, 61-note (FF-f''') instrument, with its individual pairs of strings for each note, is suitable for much 18th-century music, including the early piano repertoire up to Beethoven.

Note: The case in the photo was made from white oak.