KOMPAS.com – history of piano Can be traced back to the 3rd century. During that period, the instrument was one of the most popular in the world, even as it entered the fourth century of its existence.
even though now musical instrument which is very popular in homes, the piano It has the most complex mechanical equipment and is able to meet the demands of every genre of music of its players.
With each development since its invention, the piano is increasingly capable of providing infinite nuances of expression, volume and duration.
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In the centuries before the invention of the piano, there were originally two keyboards widely used from the 1400s onwards, the clavichord and harpsichord.
But each instrument has its own strengths, which make it popular only for certain places and styles of music.
The harpsichord has no control over the dynamics of how loud or soft the instrument is played.
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Whereas the clavichord sounds very subtle and is often overpowered by the sounds of other instruments. This eventually led to the creation of the piano.
three centuries ago, piano history A technological breakthrough began when Italian harpsichord maker, Bartolomeo Cristofori, produced.
Bartolomeo Cristofor is the creator and maintainer of musical instruments. harpsichord In the Medici family, a wealthy Italian noble family circa 15th century.
Christopher created a new mechanism for the harpsichord, which gave him the ability to play instruments with dynamic variations.
He decided that instead of playing the strings on the harpsichord, the instrument would produce more variation in dynamics if the strings were struck with a hammer.
His innovations led to major changes to the interior of the early piano and later to the development of the instrument.
The name of Cristofori’s original instrument in 1700″the piano(or in Italian: clavicembalo col piano e forte, meaning a harpsichord that can be played normally and is strong).
There are only three pianoforts made by Cristofori that survive today, and they were built in the 1720s. However, pianoforte still sounds very different from the modern that is popular now.
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Viennese Piano Popularity
The term piano became more widely used in 1732 when the name Pianofort was shortened.
Despite interest in the piano, it took almost 50 years for the instrument to become very popular. At the end of the 18th century, piano production began to spread throughout Europe.
Each country that produces a piano has its own unique design. the piano Has a heavier mechanism and louder volume from England. Austrian piano, on the other hand, has a lighter mechanism and a softer sound.
Viennese pianos are famous for their wooden frames, as they have two strings per note, and a leather-covered hammer.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart reportedly prefers to play the Viennese piano, which has a softer tone than the modern one.
Sebastian Errard
For decades, from the late 1700s to the early 1800s, instrument makers in Europe continued to improve the mechanics and structure of their piano products.
But not a single innovation had the same effect as Cristofori, until a Parisian named Sebastian Erard invented the “double escape” or looping mechanism.
This revolutionary idea, patented in 1821, allowed the hammer to be struck again before returning the keys to their original position, thus enabling rapid recoil.
The expansion of venues and concert halls resulted in larger orchestras, and hence the need for louder instruments. In the 1700s and early 1800s, tool manufacturers continued Christofori’s search for structural answers to the problem of mass production.
The strings become heavier, which increases the tension in the frame. Iron rods were added to the wooden frame, making the whole structure stronger and heavier.
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Grand piano
In 1825, an early American piano maker named Alpheus Babcock was granted a patent for the invention of a complete cast iron plate for a square piano, removing the string tension from the wooden case.
Jonas Chickering, who had opened his piano company in Boston in 1823, further developed Babcock’s work with a complete iron frame for the grand piano.
Not all piano keyboards have the same number of keys. The most common number of keys is 88, i.e. 52 white keys (natural) and 36 black keys.
Most older pianos are somewhat smaller than modern ones, so they only have 85 keys.
However, some manufacturers are thinking big and have produced pianos with additional numbers of keys. For example, the Imperial Bösendorfer has nine additional keys that account for 8 octaves.
Their pianos often have lids that may cover additional keys, if the pianist is not used to playing on such pianos, or the keys may be made in a different color.
Another manufacturer, Stuart & Sons, makes 102-key pianos. Here, the additional keys are no different from the usual. Meanwhile, piano maker Schönhut specializes in making mini pianos with either 44 or 49 keys.
This version of the piano later became very popular among aspiring pianists, who wanted to enjoy all the benefits of having this instrument at home, but did not have enough room for a larger version of the piano.
Piano sales increased from a few thousand in 1850 to 365,000 in 1909. Then the piano was produced in a refined form and factories flourished.
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