[CAUT] clavichord

[Fred Sturm]

On Feb 11, 2011, at 12:35 PM, Laurence Libin wrote:

>  The pantalon tangents, affixed to a hinged rail below the keyboard,  
> rise between the key levers and touch the strings slightly to the  
> left (usually) of the striking tangents. Therefore pitch drops very  
> slightly when the striking tangent descends, allowing the strings  
> again to contact the pantalon tangent. Importantly, when in  
> operation all the pantalon tangents (or bass and treble if the rail  
> is so divided) touch the strings all the time except when strings  
> are lifted by the striking tangents, hence all the strings vibrate  
> sympathetically with the played notes.


	Fascinating! So that stop puts its tangents into just barely positive  
contact with the strings, meaning that while it is engaged the strings  
are all undamped, giving the true, though muted, pantalon sound.
	I understand there were also crude small square pianos with a  
pantalon stop, just lifting all the dampers; and some without dampers  
to begin with, essentially a keyboard activated pantalon. Both upward  
and downward striking. (For those who don't know, the pantalon was a  
hammered dulcimer, played with hand-held hammers, without damping.  
Named after Pantaleon Hebenstreit, a famous virtuoso). Are examples of  
such instruments still extant? Of the clavichord with the pantalon stop?
Regards,
Fred Sturm
fssturm at unm.edu
http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/FredSturm