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Among keyboard instruments, the piano is unique. It
is the only instrument which has hammers that strike the strings and
then immediately rebound away from the strings and allow them vibrate
and produce musical tones.
At the very heart of this lies the
escapement mechanism which lies between the key and the hammer. This
releases the hammer from the key just before the string is struck,
allowing it to bounce away from the string. The hammer is then
caught and has to be ready for a repeated note if required immediately.
The first practical piano with an escapement mechanism
was built in 1726 by an Italian called Bartolomeo Crisofori. The
name piano is an abbreviation of Christofori's original name for the
instument: piano et forte or soft and loud. The name
stems from the fact that the instrument had a much wider range of
expressive capabilities than did its predecessor keyboard instuments the
clavichord or the harpsichord.
The history of the piano can be divided roughly into
three periods, each overlapping somewhat with the next. 1720-1850
was the antique period in which the piano was invented and
developed. Many designs were tried and various materials used only
to be replaced or discontinued to make way for something better.
During the Victorian period from 1850 -1900 piano design was
approaching standardisation. Most of them had certain things in
common and made use of mass produced parts. They could be
categorized into three types: The upright, the square
grand and the grand.
Most vertical pianos were called uprights with the strings
and soundboard positioned vertically. Square grand pianos
were built in a rectangular shape with the strings horizontal and
parallel to the keyboard. Grand pianos were made with the
strings positioned horizontally and at right angles to the keyboard.
Most modern pianos produced since 1900 are produced in two
distinctive types: grands and verticals. There are three types of
verticals - uprights, console or studio upright and
the spinet. The type is determined by the relative
location of certain parts, which in turn is governed by the height of
the cabinet.
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