Hello Friends and Family,
Link to this year's index by clicking here.
Musical Instrument Museum, Part 19 |
The next few exhibits at MIM were not tied to any region or country. Pictured here is a magnificent harpsichord. You'll probably recall that this instrument looks somewhat like a piano but plucks the strings rather than striking them. The harpsichord was widely used in Renaissance and Baroque music. During the late 18th century it gradually disappeared from the musical scene with the rise of the piano. But in the 20th century it made a resurgence, used in historically informed performance of older music, in new (contemporary) compositions and in popular culture. This harpsichord was made around 1890 by Leopoldo Franciolini, who was a notorious Florentine antique dealer and instrument forger. He created this example by piecing together various parts from 17th- and 18th-century instruments. |
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This particular instrument was made in 1822 re-purposing the casework from an 18th-century English harpsichord. |
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Such organs use metal reeds to produce the notes instead of pipes as in a pipe organ. The former were considered a smaller and less expensive alternative to the latter. In fact, they work on the same principle as a harmonica or accordion. This keyboard reminds me of the organ that my grandmother used to play at Showell Methodist Church, in the small town where she lived and I was born (I was actually born in her house, not in a hospital). |
Click here to see the inventor playing his creation. You will recognize its sound used in many scary movies. |
The success of Switched-On Bach sparked a slew of other synthesizer records in the late 1960s to mid 1970s. In 1974 the German electronic group Kraftwerk further popularized the sound of the synthesizer with their landmark album Autobahn, which used several types of synthesizer including a Minimoog. German-based Italian producer-composer Giorgio Moroder helped to shape the development of disco music. |
Throughout its history, the company has been run by the Martin family. The current chairman and CEO, C.F. 'Chris' Martin IV, is the great-great-great-grandson of the founder. Many characteristic features of the modern flattop steel strung acoustic guitar were first introduced by the firm. Influential innovations include the Dreadnought body style and scalloped bracing. |
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This brings us to the end of this journey around the world in music. Fittingly, MIM features a wonderful world-map mosaic made of different types of stone embedded in the floor below the huge spiral staircase. I hope you have enjoyed seeing the huge variety of ways that humans have devised to make music. You may recall in the first LAHP issue introducing MIM to you, I wrote "The message is that every human culture has formed some type of music either via voice or via musical instruments. The conclusion, they suggest, is that music is embedded in the brain — although the reason for that connection is open to speculation." I have seen overwhelming evidence to support that contention. I hope you will be able to visit MIM and enjoy its exhibits in person. It is AWESOME!
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Life is good.
Aloha,
B. David
P. S., All photos and text © B. David Cathell Photography, Inc. — www.bdavidcathell.com