The Harpsichord Part 1 - Research and Ideation

GENESIS

Studio 4 began with a choice. To choose between 3 options:

1. An Articulating Lamp with a range of motion
2. An Elastic Potential Energy powered car with RC steering
3. A Chordophone with an electric pickup

The final product was to be made from two materials of our choice, each with a manufacturing process whether it be CNC milling, Laser cutting, Lathing, etc.

I was faced with a tough decision. The lamp would make a great addition to my folio as it is a frequently purchased item and showing prowess in this field would encourage any employer to consider me. The EP car sounded right down my alley, something I knew I could commit to and something with enough competition to ensure I gave it my all. But finally, the Chordophone was a brand new concept to me, I had never considered creating my own instrument. The lecturer told us to veer away from the temptation of making a custom guitar and this opened my mind to a myriad of ideas. I could go anywhere with this brief, make an instrument no one has ever seen or heard before. This was the most attractive option and as soon as my mind started firing off ideas, I knew it was to be a chordophone which I would hand up at the end of the project.

RESEARCHING EXISTING PRODUCTS

First course of action: Look up existing instruments.

While I was doing this I made a point of researching instruments I didn't think anyone else in the class would bother with. I am fascinated with the weird corners of design and I also would like a challenge. A handheld instrument such as a guitar or banjo appealed very little to me. Not because they've been done time and time again, but because I thought it would be easy. I really didn't see any challenge in making a guitar when there is so much information on the process already. There's even a shop on Hindley street called Sound Garage which helps people do this.

My interest originally settled around the following:

The Harp

The harp is an ancient stringed instrument that dates back to 3500BC. The structure is essentially a triangle with strings running from tuning pegs down towards an angled soundboard where the strings enter a hollow body which resonates the sound the string makes.

Modern harps often have levers which act to change the pitch of each string by half a note. This means the harp can play many more songs as they have access to a wider range of notes.

The lever, when activated, shortens the string just enough to change a flat to a natural or a natural to a sharp. Example: the F lever would change the F string to F#. This lever concept interested me greatly, it allows for many more notes with the same amount of strings.

The Lyre

The Lyre possibly originated in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) and dates back to 2500BC. The instrument is plucked with a pick like a guitar might be however, more modern adaptations use a bow similar to a violin. The hole behind the strings is used by the musician to either change the pitch of certain strings or to silence some while strumming a chord. This instrument was a bit boring to me, but in the back of my head I knew I could always change to this in the likely hood of me biting off more than I could chew.

The Piano

Ha. Who am I kidding? I know how to play the piano... Somewhat. Which is why it appealed to me. They made these things 300 years ago, I have access to a CNC mill, Laser cutter, Waterjet Cutter - how hard could it be? Well, let me tell you how hard it can be. Each key stroke corresponds to a hammer hitting a string. The hammer striking the string makes creates the sound then returns to its resting position. Pretty straightforward right? Wrong. This is what a typical piano key mechanism looks like:

So with some further research I learned there is somewhere around 100 moving parts. For each KEY. And a typical piano has 88 keys and around 220-240 individual strings.

I thought long and hard about how I could simplify the mechanism, but ultimately I abandoned this idea. However, I wasn't quite ready to abandon the idea of making a keyboard style instrument.

MATERIALS SELECTION

We had to quickly decide on which materials and processes we would use for the duration of the project. Lost as to which materials I should choose to make an instrument I hadn't even imagined yet, I went with 3D printing and Waterjet Cutting. ABS plastic and Aluminium.

I chose 3D printing because I am familiar with the process and have used it in the past to make some moving mechanism. It's brilliantly versatile and I have a printer at home which I thought could cut some of the manufacturing costs. I chose water jet cutting at a loss of what else to do. If i was going with 3D printing, having a sheet material as my second option would certainly help with creating the rest of the body. I also had just recently laid my eyes on our brand new water jet cutter in the workshop and was probably hypnotised by it. When I first got my 3D printer I would spend hours just watching it create my computer models in real life. One time I has resting my chin against the table watching it go and the heated bed moved towards me out of nowhere and burnt my nose. Embarrassing but hilarious.

FIRST PROTOTYPE

The first concept I came up with was based around the combination of a Hurdy Gurdy which uses the continuous rotation of a wheel against the strings to create a sound and a keyboard. My concept was for the key stroke to correspond to the slight rotation of a wheel which the string ran across. It ended up looking like this: 

The block of wood at the back was to join a broken 3D Printed part. Infact, I had a lot of issues with my 3D printer when creating this prototype...

It became apparent to me that I would NOT be using my 3D printer for this project

Additionally, This prototype did not work. The rotation of the wheel was not enough to vibrate the string to any audible degree. I realised then that the rotation of the wheel was perpendicular to the rotation of a Hurdy Gurdy's wheel which might be an attribute the lack of sound. I thought of a few ways i could increase friction between the wheel and a string, but ended up giving up on this quirky notion as I believed I'd spend too much time trying to get a prototype to work. 

DISCOVERY OF THE HARPSICHORD

Me: I really want to make a piano but the mechanism is insane.
Zac: Why don't you make a harpsichord?
Me: Yeaaa... maybe. Im also thinking about doing a Harp.
Zac: Cool.

Approximately 9 days later...

Me (to myself): What even is a harpsichord?
*Googles Harpsichord*

Well this looks a lot like a grand piano.

The harpsichord was invented sometime in the middle ages before the 16th century. It was one of the most popularly used instruments by musicians up until the piano takeover. The mechanism is a hundred times more simple than the piano and it's still a keyboard style instrument. I was instantly transfixed. The Harpsichord works by plucking a string instead of striking it with a hammer. Once the string is plucked, the assembly within a component known as The Jack, would pivot and return beneath the string.

I decided I would explore this mechanism, and consider making it. It also struck me as an enormous task but in the back of my mind I knew I could always fall back on a harp or lyre if things got too tough. In an even further corner of my mind, I knew I would never do that and thought I was shooting myself in the foot simply by googling what a harpsichord is.

For the folio we submitted in stage one of the project, I didn't really explore the harpsichord too much even though my heart was set on it. The mechanism was explored in depth, but the general form of the final product was hardly touched on. In all my drawings the mechanism was enclosed in a box which had aluminium facets. 3D printing as a process was also abandoned around this time, as something so enormous would require a great deal of material. The 3 concepts I presented along with my folio were these:

I knew I wouldn't be doing 1 & 2. Dan knew it. Everyone knew they were placeholders. But with a lack of concept for the form, I didn't know what else I could present.

The next stage was when my obsession took hold of my life. I would be a slave to it. Every waking moment would be devoted to thinking about how I could get this mechanism to work.