North Bennet Street School

Dates: Monday, June 9 - Friday, June 13 (5 meetings)

Hours: 8:30 am - 4:30 pm

Instructors: Allan Winkler & Louis Del Bene PT '06, PA '07

This course is structured for piano technicians looking to learn more about harpsichords as well as harpsichordists wishing to upgrade their skills in dealing with repairs. The class covers voicing and regulation of a double manual harpsichord with three registers, 2x8', and 1x4'. Topics will include: requilling wood and plastic jacks with Delrin (white acetal plastic) plectra; assembly of wood jacks and repair of plastic jacks; how to set plectra length and shape plectra to set voicing levels; coupler adjustment, timing and regulating three registers; setting key dip and touch; an introduction to selecting and treating feather and voicing with quill; the basic metallurgy of harpsichord wire and how to loop and replace strings.

Two optional late-afternoon field trips are:

• Thursday afternoon to the Musical Instrument Collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
• Friday afternoon to Allan Winkler’s workshop in Medford for a closeup look at harpsichord making tools and techniques and sampling a few new and antique instruments.

Tools & Supplies: All tools and supplies are provided for this class. To prepare for class, please familiarize yourself with chapters 7, 8, 9, and 11 from Edward Kottick’s “Harpsichord Owner’s Guide”.

Prerequisite: Proficiency in keyboard instrument tuning and a general familiarity with handling keyboard instruments. If you have questions about your experience, please contact ce@nbss.edu.