The Fredösphere

My friend Dave the harpsichord hobbyist sent this photo of his near-completed masterpiece.  But is a harpsichord ever really "complete?" Each little quill needs infinite amounts of hand-sanding so the voicing of the instrument is perfectly, perfectly uniform at each key.  (Click on the photo for a bigger view of that beautiful mahogany veneer.)

My friend writes:  "there is still a bit of work to do in terms of voicing, but the main 8' choir sounds pretty decent." I like that:  "pretty decent."  No doubt the main 8' choir will be upgraded to "quite decent" after another two years of delicate adjustment.

I can't wait to try out the Shostakovich A-minor fugue on it. But will that be allowed? Dave is a confirmed baroque fanatic; he may have added one of those dissonance low-pass filters that shut the instrument down after too many minor ninths are played.

Labels: Design