In this episode, we sit down with Arian Sheets, the curator for stringed instruments at the National Music Museum, to talk about how instruments and music have changed through the years; invasive restoration vs. conservation; handling historic instruments in client homes; and how the museum's research is helping to preserve fascinating instrument designs for the years to come.
Here are the resources discussed throughout the episode:
-The history and sound of the choralcelo (sound clip #1 and #2), which is an example of a very early electronic keyboard instrument.
-Additional examples of various reinventions using modern drivers but with the same principles as the choralcelo or historical "sostenuto pianos", which involved using the strings own vibrations in a recursive fashion (example #1, #2, #3, and #4).
-The digital library of all the keyboards in the National Music Museum's keyboard collection.
-The Pennsylvania-based EMEAPP Electronic Music Education and Preservation Project, which maintains and houses one of the best historical electronic instrument collections while also providing educational opportunities for piano technicians and other interested inquirers.
-The "Frederick Piano Collection" Youtube channel
CORRECTION: Arian misspoke when mentioning the early New York manufacturer who developed and sold upright actions to other manufacturers starting in the 1860s: she said the name Straube, but meant Strauch, whose labels can sometimes be found on the actions of 19th century upright pianos. Strauch Bros. published The Manufacture of Pianoforte Action, Its Rise and Development in 1904, which can be read at this link. On page 58, they discuss the founding of the company in 1867 as a specialty action manufacturer with particular mention of a soon-impending shift to upright and grand pianos, as opposed to squares, in the American market, which Strauch aimed to supply.
