[]ANO-FORTE, a musical instrument of the keyed [] The name is composed of two Italian words, []fying soft, and strong or loud, intimating its dis[]ishing property from the harpsichord and spinet, []h from this superiority it has now entirely super[]. It is an instrument strung with wires, which []ruck with hammers through the medium of []-keys.
[]inged instruments, played with finger-keys, were []ted, it would seem, for the purpose of adapting []e harp or cymbal the key-board of the organ, [] of the earliest of these inventions was the Virgi-[] In this the strings were struck with hammers, p[were winply a piece of strong wire, with a []r head screwed into the farther end of the finger-[] But as this simple hammer, even with the most []ous and staccatta toiuch, did not instantly quit the [], it had the effect of deadening, in a great mea-[] the tone of the instrument. On that invention []rpsichord was an improvement, the strings be-[]ruck by a quill fixed on a jack, which rested on []rther end of the finger-key. The quill by the []was forced past the string, its own elasticity []g way, and remained above it so long as the [] was pressed on the key, giving the string liber-[] sound. In returning, by a very ingenious but [] piece of mechanism, the quill opposed extreme-[] resistance ; and a little bit of cloth fixed on []p of the jack, rested on the string, and served as []per. Still it was impossible to get quit entirely []cratching noise, occasionned by the quill passing []ring in returning, which was a material defect in []ality of the instrument.
[]e piano-forte, in which the strings are struck by []ers, of such a construction as to produce a quali-[] tone superior to that of the harpsichord, and in-[]y to quit the string entirely, leaving it free to []e, was the invention of Christopher Gottlieb []eter, a native of Hohenstein, on the frontiers of []ia. This ingenious man was born in 1699, and []g received a good musical education under []t, chapel-master at Dresden, obtained without []tion the place of organist in the principal [] of Minden in 1726, and in Nordhausen in 1732, [] he remained till his death in 1782. So early as [] he had made a model of his inveniton, which []hibited at court in 1721. He published a de-[] description of his new invented instrument, "on [] the performer may play piano, or forte, at plea-[] with plates, in 1763.
[] merit of this instrument was not immediately []ledged, at least by the musical public in gene-[]. The ingenious inventor reaped no personal ad-[]e from it, nor was it in his own country that it []ame into vogue. The elder Broadwood, at that []manufacturer of harpsichords in London, by []ing the mechanism in a superior style, and by []ing instruments of a better tone than had for-[] been made, first put the superiority of the piano- [] over the harpsichord beyond question ; and [] some maintained the orthodoxy of the latter, []ovation gradually forced its way in this coun-[] d it had in great measure taken possession of []blic taste here, while the generality of musi-[]n on the Continent still clung to the harpsichord. []course of years, however, the piano-forte made []y every where, and is now universally established. []r since the piano-forte came into general use, []genuity of rival makers has been exerted to improve the instrument in power and quality of tone, and in the delicacy and effectiveness of the touch. New inventions are bringing forward up to the present hour, insomuch that when one compares what was reckoned a capital instrument a dozen or twenty years ago, with one of the same class now-a-days, the difference is very striking, after making every allowance for the wearing out of the instrument. These improvements have been effected chiefly by enlarging the instrument in general, by extending the scale, and increasing the weight of the strings, by correspondently strengthening the frame-work, and by improving the mechanism of the movement.
Piano-fortes are at present of three kinds, 1st, small or square ; 2d, grand ; these two may be conceived as representing the spinet and harpsichord of former times ; and, 3d, the cabinet piano-forte, a medium between the two first. The square and cabine piano-fortes have two strings in unison, and the grand piano-forte has three unisons to each finger-key. One end of the string is hung on a fixt pin, and the other is wound round a tuning pin, which turns in a wooden block. The length of the sounding part of the string is determined by two bridges, over which it passes one on the block in which the tuning pins are inserted, and the other is placed on the sound-board. This last bridge is now divided into two, one for the steel-strings, that is, from the top of the scale down to A on the first space of the bass, and the other for the brass strings. The reason of this division is, that the steel strings require a greater degree of tension than the brass, and the division of the bridge favours both the tone and the keeping in tune.
The original scale of the piano-forte was from FF (octave below that immediately under the staff of the bass) up to f in alt. comprising five octaves ; and this has been gradually extended. The first addition was of half an octave upwards to c in altissimo. Then the scale was carried down to CCC ; that is, half an octave lower than FF. And latterly, extra additional keys in the treble have carried up to f in altissimo, comprehending six octaves and a half. These gradual extensions have improved the tone of the instrument both in quantity and quality, though the extra notes below are generally in themselves so indistinct, as to deserve the name of noise rather than that of musical notes.
While these extensions of the scale have been taking place, the weight of the strings has been continually increasing. The sizes at the present made are as follows : From pitch C to th top, steel wire No. 10 ; from pitch C to middle C (the octave below) No. 11 ; and from middle C down to D 3d line of the bass No. 12, and thence to A# No. 13. A is a brass string, No. 12. ; and the sizes increase very fast in going downwards. The largest size in the grand piano-forte is No. 17. Formerly the smallest steel strings were small No. 9, and the largest No. 11. ; the largest brass was No. 14, about half the present sizes. In the square and cabinet piano-forets a sufficient length of string cannot be obtained. Strings covered with small brass or copper wire are used, in order to obtain the depth of tone from about half an octave above FF down to the bottom of the scale ; and, in the grand piano-forte, from FF downward. The quality of these covered strings has been greatly improved by making the covering wires smaller, but laid close together like the bass strings of the violin.
Few people are aware of the immense strain which the framing of the piano-forte has to sustain. In order to be able to speak with some precision on this subject, the writer of this article made, or rather witnessed, the following experiment : A wire of the size of that used for pitch C, was hung at one end on a pin fixed in a board, and laid over two moveable bridges, which were placed so as to make the sounding part of the string the same length with that in the instrument. Weights were then appended, till the string became unison with the tuning fork : the weight required was found to be 50lb. The same experiment being made with middle C, the weight was found to be 57 lb. and with A# the weight was 81 lb. The brass strings were found to require a weight of 40lb. Now, taking the average of these four 57, as the average of the whole, which cannot be very wide of the truth, the strain on a grand piano-forte with 3 unisons and 78 finger keys, is 13,338 lb. that is, nearly six tons.
To sustain so great a strain, the small piano-forte is built of a strong square frame, with a very thick bottom upwards of three inches of which Swedish pine. The grand and cabinet piano-fortes, instead of a solid bottom, are built with a frame-work of strong beams, four inches in depth by two in breadth, running the length way of the instrument, and tied with cross beams at several distances in the length to prevent them bending. This framing lies immediately below the sound-board.
Notwithstanding every precaution, so great is the strain, and so much are the wood framing and the strings affected by the changes of the weather in opposite directions, that the grand piano-forte especially stands very ill in tune. In order to remedy the effect, chiefly in instruments sent abroad, Mr. Stodart, of London, conceived the idea of substituting metal tubes instead of the wood framing, which, he imagined , being similarly affected by changes of temperature with the strings, would tend to keep the instrument better in tune ; and he found that he had not only obtained his end, but a very great unlooked for improvement in the power and quality of the instrument. In order to adapt his tuned more nicely to the end, he makes them of iron over the steel strings, and of brass over the brass strings. They are placed over the strings instead of below the sound-board, in order to allow the vibrations of the latter to act on a greater body of air below it. But in whatever way the effect is produced, it is unquestionable that he has obtained a very superior tone, both in point of quality and quantity. The lowest notes in the extra finger-keys below, instead of a chaos of sound, are as clear and distinct as any part of the scale ; and in a concert room, the instrument tells in a style to which the piano-forte formerly had no pretensions. At the same time the advantage in point of keeping in tune is very remarkable. The sound-board is a part of the instrument on which the quality of tone in a great degree depends. It is generally made of Swiss fir, which at one time believed to be the only wood fit for the purpose. While the British ports were shut, however, during the revolutionary war, necessity obliged the makers to try the substitution of other kinds, and the American white pine was found frequently to give as good a tone. The sound-board is about one-fifth of an inch in thickness, and in the square piano-forte occupies about two-fifths of the length of the instrument. In the grand and cabinet, it occupies the whole area ; but part of it is deafened by bars of wood glued on the underside.
The quality of the tone depends also on the rapidity with which the hammer strikes the string. The mechanism of Schroeter's hammers was simple. The hammer consisted of a lever, of about 3 1/2 inches in length, moving on a pivot with a leather head. The lever rested near the pivot, on a pin with a leather head screwed into the farther end of the finger key ; and the pin was of such a length, that, when the key was slowly pressed down, the face of the hammer came within about a quarter of an inch of the string ; but when the key was struck smartly, the hammer, by the rapid motion communication, was thrown up to give the string a blow, and, instantly recoiling, fell on the leather head of the pin, and left the string free to vibrate. And the form of the mechanism continued for a long while after the piano-forte was in general use. It has subsequently become more complex, for the purpose of attaining more rapidity and smartness in the blow ; and this for the sake of enabling the perforrmer to produce greater contrast of loudness and softness, and greater delicacy in the shades, on which the expression of the instrument chiefly depends. The mechanism consists of an additional lever, placed under that of the proper hammer ; the object of which is to apply the moving power as near as possible to the pivot of the hammer, which, it is evident, increases the rapidity of the blow. The end of the ender lever rests on a little piece of mechanism, fixed in the finger-key, called a grasshopper, not unlike, in its object and contrivance, to that of the jack of the harpsichord. When the key is struck, the upper end of the grasshopper, which is about 1/4th of an inch in thickness only, is carried past the end of the under lever, which rested on it, but communicates its impulse in passing, and receives the end of the lever on a little block of wood, glued on about a quarter of an inch below. In returning , the grasshopper, which is kept in its upright position by a slight spring of brass wire, yields, and passes the end of the kever again to its original position.
There is a nicety in the structure of the head of the hammer of great importance to the quality of the tone ; and many experiments have been made, and are, we believe, dauly making, to attain improvement. The head is made of many folds of leather glued over each other. The best outside cover is found to be doe-skin ; and there is even a nicety in the degree with which this is stretched.
In the grand piano-forte the whole key-board is moveable towards the left hand ; and, by means of a pedal, the performer has it in his power to make the hammer, which, without the use of the pedal , strikes all the three unisons, at pleasure strike two or only one of them. The cabinet piano-forte has a similar pedal, affecting its two unisons. This is an additional source of variety and expression.
To each string there is a damper, whci is a bit of cloth glued on a little block of wood, and rests on the unisons ; a bit of wire attached to the block passes down, and nearly touches the farther end of the finger-key. When the key is presse, it raises the dampers, and so long as the key is held down, the string has freedom to speak ; when the finger is released, the damper falls down and silences the string. A pedal raises all the dampers at once, and allows, at the performer's pleasure, the sound of the strings to continue after the fingers are removed.
Among the may improvements offered to the public, Clementi and Co. have lately brought forward one which they call the harmonic swell, and which promises to furnish still additional variety of effect and expres-[] In the usual construction of the instrument []un between the bridges on the sound board, and [] on which the strings are hung, a considerable []g, and it is usual to pass a narrow piece of cloth []ately over and under this portion of the strings, []d the bridges, to prevent any sound boing propa-[] among them. Clementi and Co. have placed an []onal bridge on the sound-board between the [] and the pins on which the strings are hung, []they call the bridge of reverberation. A gene-[]mper lies on all these back strings, which, at the []re o fthe performer, is raised by means of an ad-[]al pedal. This new bridge is in a curve some-[] similar to that of the proper bridge ; but there []ot seem to be any principle observed in propor-[]g the new reverberating string to the length of []oper srring to which it belongs.
[]ssrs. Mott of Pall-Mall have added to the grand []forte what they call a sostenente, which holds the []hile the finger is kept on the key. It resembles []lestina stop long ago applied to the harpsichord ; [] effect is produced, not by drawing a skein of []er the strings, as in that invention, but on a dif-[] and very curious principle. A strong silk thread []ched across the strings of the grand piano-forte, []each finger-key there is a strong silk thread, to [] is attached a skein of silk ; which skein passes [] cylinder of about two inches in diameter, and is []tely attched by three threads to the cross thread []mentioned. When the finger-key is pressed, it []es the skein over the cylinder, and brings the []thread to press on the string. At the same time []linder is turning on its axis, and being touched [] the dust of figgle rosin, communicates vibration [] string. The patentees say that the sostenente []es no separate tuning. But when the piano-forte []ed to twelve equal semi-tones, the thirds are so [] that they would find it a real improvment to []he insrtument more on the organ principle, that, [] flatten the fifths so as to make the thirds better.
[]the temperament or tuning of the piano-forte, see [], Art 267.