There was little expressive control of each note and it was almost impossible to add emotion to the music. The clavier had a certain degree of dynamics but it was too quiet. The new invention, the piano was able to combine the loudness of the harpischord with the dynamics of the clavichord. If we were to give a short, clear answer as to who invented the piano, it would be Bartolomeo Cristofori, without a doubt. What was his major success as inventor of the piano?
What he did successfully was solve the main problem with piano design at the time. He really had no example to follow and was able to solve the problem of the hammer striking the string but not remaining in contact with it and dampening the sound. That was a major problem with the previous keyboard, the clavichord. On a clavichord the tangent remains in contact with the clavichord string. In addition, the hammer must return to its rest position without a violent bounce and must be able to repeat a note rapidly.
The inventor of the piano, Cristofori was able to pave the way for other piano builders with his new invention.
His piano action served as a model for the many different approaches to piano actions that came after. It was now possible to evoke emotion into the music. Musicians were now able to control the volume of their instrument and composers could write with that important feature in mind.
While Bartolomeo Cristofori is credited as the one who invented the piano, mention must be made of Gottfried Silbermann, better known as an organ builder. Silbermann invented the forerunner of the modern damper pedal. This damper pedal lifts all the dampers from the strings at once. It was now possible to play repeated notes rapidly. Liszt pioneered this musical device. This invention became the standard in grand pianos and the same exists today. Another innovator in piano history was Henri Pape.
He was the first one to introduce felt, and that was in the year The piano was invented in Florence around by the expert harpsichord maker, Bartolomeo Cristofori. At this time Cristofori was employed by the Medici family. The piano was revolutionary because it was the first keyboard instrument capable of playing loud and soft tones — the word pianoforte literally means soft-strong in Italian.
Piano-making flourished during the late 18 th century in Europe, where pianos were built with wooden frames, two or three strings per note, and leather covered hammers.
In the period from about to , the piano underwent tremendous changes that led to the modern structure of the instrument. This revolution was in response to a preference by composers and pianists for a more powerful, sustained sound. This was made possible by the ongoing Industrial Revolution, with resources such as high-quality piano wire for strings, and precision casting for the production of massive iron frames that could withstand the tremendous tension of the strings, suddenly available in great quantities.
The upright piano with diagonal strings was invented in London in the early s and they became very popular for domestic music-making and practice because of their compact size and affordability.
But if it were traced back even further, one would find that the piano is a descendant of the monochord. In other words, based on its ancestry the piano can be classified as a string instrument. Although the piano can be classified as a string instrument due to the fact that the sounds come from the vibration of strings, it can also be classified as a percussion instrument because a hammer strikes those strings.
In this way it is similar to a dulcimer. The dulcimer is an instrument that originated in the Middle East and spread to Europe in the 11th century. It features a simple resonating box with strings stretched on top of it. Much like a piano, a small hammer is used to hit the strings, which is why the dulcimer is considered to be a direct ancestor of the piano. The piano is also considered to be a part of the keyboard family. The most common number of keys is 88, that is 52 white keys the naturals and 36 black keys the sharps and flats.
The majority of the older pianos were somewhat smaller than the modern ones, so they had only 85 keys. However, some manufacturers think bigger and have produced pianos with a number of extra keys.
Another manufacturer, Stuart and Sons made a piano with keys. Here, the extra keys are not different from the regular ones visually. The number of keys can head in the other direction, as well. Piano manufacturer Schoenhut specializes in producing toy pianos with 44 or 49 keys. The main difference between this version and classical versions of a piano is the fact it has double keyboards.
It was made with two keyboards, one above the other. Usually, the lower one had the regular 88 keys, and the upper one was slightly smaller, containing just 76 keys. Playing it was also very unusual.
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