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The Archi harpsichord is a keyboard instrument with 36 keys per octave, two manuals, which was invented in 1555 by the Italian music theorist and composer Nicola Vicentino described theoretically and later built in two copies. The concept of producing sound corresponding to the harpsichord.

History of Archi harpsichord

To his Archi harpsichord Vicentino was inspired by the ancient enharmonic with shared semitone. He wanted the chromatic and enharmonic Tongeschlechter antiquity revive and realize on this instrument and combined this idea with the solution of a problem of that musical practice: He expanded the usual in the Renaissance meantone to Transponierfähigkeit. Meantone tuned keyboard instruments (harpsichord, organ, piano ) realized with the usual keyboard that is only part of the mean- circle of fifths, so that no arbitrary transposition was possible. This problem was solved by Vicentino by he included among the usual buttons still modifier keys, that was built between chromatic semitones button each one and between diatonic semitones per two keys, so that a complicated two-manual keyboard with multi-divided upper keys with a total of 36 keys per octave. But Archi harpsichord realized only a sound system with 31 tones per octave, as Vicentino it was true in the then usual mood of fifths, namely with 30 mean- fifths of geses to aisis, and was the rest of Quinte aisis - geses an almost pure ( by 1 cent to large ) Quinte and thus a closed circle of fifths in a non-uniform 31- step temperature.

Clavemusicum omnitonum

Vitus de Trasuntinis ( Vido di Trasuntino ) built in 1606 in Venice as a commission by the Clavemusicum omnitonum, a harpsichord from C to c'' ' with 31 keys per octave, which was tuned in equal temperament fifths tones. It enables the diatonic, chromatic and enharmonic game. The instrument is now in the Museo Internazionale e Biblioteca della Musica in Bologna.

A uniform 31- stage temperature described Lemme Rossi 1666 Christiaan Huygens in 1691 with logarithms to build without instruments. Even from a later period there are reports of such instruments, as mentioned Michael Praetorius in 1618 a similar Clavicymbalum perfectum. But more original instruments are not included.

A very different purpose pursue enharmonic instruments recently, about Shohei Tanaka of (田中 正 平) end of the 19th century or of Martin Vogel 1975: You want to just intonation as closely as possible to implement keyboard instruments. The foundation Stichting Huygens Fokker, Centrum voor muziek in Amsterdam describes microtonal microtonal instruments, including 31 -stage instruments.

Neunzehnstufiges Harpsichord

→ Main article: Neunzehnstufige mood

There have been other attempts to construct enharmonic instruments. For example, Vice Tinos contemporary Gioseffo Zarlino described in 1558 a transponierfähiges 19 -stage instrument.

Michael Praetorius described in his major work Syntagma Musicum a Cimbalo cromatico, which has 19 tones per octave: In addition to the five split upper keys, there are additional narrow black keys for the ice and His.