The harpsichord has a rich historical heritage dating back to the mid 1400s, including a period of over 200 years in which it was the premier instrument. Roland’s understanding of, and unrelenting dedication to, the intricacies and tradition of the acoustic harpsichord has resulted in a powerful instrument that is perfect for home use, concert performances, and musical studies: the Roland C-30 Digital Harpsichord.

History

The harpsichord’s origins can be traced to the mid-1400s, where primitive forms of the instruments varied greatly and were typically played on a table top or in the player’s lap. Eventually the Musical Instrument Makers of Antwerp, a prominent source of harpsichord manufacturing, sought to increase their activity through joining St. Luke’s Guild. The Guild was made up exclusively of artists and painters at the time, however in 1558 the Instrument Makers were accepted, resulting in rapid advances in harpsichord technology and popularity in the ensuing years.

 

The first important legacy in harpsichord manufacturing was the Ruckers dynasty, which appeared in conjunction with the thriving Flemish harpsichord industry. Ruckers harpsichords are credited as the first to add a second manual (keyboard) to the harpsichord.

The Blanchet family was the next prominent manufacturing family in the history of the harpsichord. The Blanchet designs took the principles of the Ruckers design and enhanced the overall quality of the instrument. Throughout its history the harpsichord has been an expensive and time consuming instrument to own, and this was never truer than with Blanchet harpsichords, whose advances solidified the harpsichord’s place as a status symbol. Sadly, nearly all of the Blanchet harpsichords were destroyed during the French Revolution.

Appearance

The Roland C-30’s cabinet is based on the Ruckers designs from the 1500s, and is crafted in the virginal style where there was one string per note on the keyboard (however the C-30s harpsichord sample is a three strings per note Blanchet harpsichord). The interchangeable decorations and add-ons are optional because through history, owning one suggested a life of privilege. Therefore the artwork was of equal importance to the sound and playability of the instrument itself.

Authenticity

Roland developed a unique 61-note F scale keyboard with ‘click action’ for the C-30. The harpsichord’s sound is non-velocity sensitive and includes the sound of the picking mechanism and the key-off sound along with other subtleties of a harpsichords action and design. There are even five tuning options, which include baroque pitch (415Hz) and Versailles pitch (392Hz). Also included is the ability to switch between temperaments, including Werckmeister, Kirnberger, Vallotti and Meantone.

The C-30 is really six instruments in one: it features two systematically sampled harpsichords (one of the very few French harpsichords remaining from the Blanchet era, and a Flemish harpsichord from the Ruckers era) as well as Cristofori’s revolutionary FortePiano. The new Dynamic Harpsichord is built-in, along with a classical pipe organ and a celesta to lend the C-30 even more versatility for a performer playing period music. With all of these sounds in the C-30, it is an ideal choice to authentically recreate historical period music, whether in your home, in concert or in an academic setting.

Dynamic Harpsichord

Having captured all of the details and complexities of the two historically prominent harpsichord sounds as well as the additional instruments on the C-30, Roland sought to develop the harpsichord even further. The result of Roland’s progress is the Dynamic Harpsichord, which overcomes many of the traditional harpsichord’s restrictions as an expressive instrument. The first major difference is the velocity sensitivity of the Dynamic Harpsichord. It produces a louder and brighter tone with harder key strikes, and a darker and muted tone with softer key strikes. The Dynamic Harpsichord allows for multiple historical tunings and temperaments to compliment the period of the piece you are performing or studying. Furthermore, you can create choirs of strings to recreate harpsichords that had multiple strings per note tuned to create a denser sound.

Benefits

Roland’s dedication to accurately representing this period – and improving upon it in – has resulted in a wonderful sounding harpsichord without any of the limitations of acoustic harpsichords. The C-30 requires none of the traditional harpsichord’s time-consuming maintenance, never goes out of tune, is easy to move from home to performance venue, and allows a player to completely switch historical instruments with the push of a button and know the sound is going to be totally realistic and authentic.

Whether you’re a dedicated purist or a student of music, be sure to take a look at a Roland C-30 Digital Harpsichord for yourself and experience the incredible realism of the sounds, and enjoy the promise of never needing to tune or maintain your harpsichord ever again.