# People do not know how to appreciate the old instruments anymore



## Ariasexta (Jul 3, 2010)

People used to complain about the noise, clanginess, crispiness of the old instruments, in fact, these are the beauty of the ancient instruments, they are using modern notion of scientific rigor to evaluate the ancient instrument. They only enjoy the metallic, soulless exactness of the grand-piano, violence of the electric guitar and rock drums. I think people should stop listening to baroque music if you want to complain about the clanginess, please do not leave stupid comments on the products you have no idea about. Go back to the metallic boister, do not pretend you are something so great to standing astride at both periods, but you are not, you are a stupid clown, and pretender. I am sick of these people.


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## regressivetransphobe (May 16, 2011)

Totally agreed! Why can't people appreciate the good old instruments, like the kpoko kpoko, udu, and kora? How about the soulful sound of the djembes?

Ohh... You mean later European instruments.


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## jalex (Aug 21, 2011)

Okay...

Speaking of period pianos, I was reading this article not too long ago: http://www.slate.com/id/2245891/. The clip of the Appassionata ending on the second page is astonishing, a very appropriate lower-register sound I think. The Brahms Rhapsody also sounds very good on the older instrument.


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

Period Piano Playing by Malcolm Bilson





And David Munrow and his crew are awesome with the OLD instruments
Medieval




Renaissance





And comparison of keyboard instruments from different eras





I'll keep beating this videos into the naysayers!


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## Ariasexta (Jul 3, 2010)

jalex said:


> Okay...
> 
> Speaking of period pianos, I was reading this article not too long ago: http://www.slate.com/id/2245891/. The clip of the Appassionata ending on the second page is astonishing, a very appropriate lower-register sound I think. The Brahms Rhapsody also sounds very good on the older instrument.


High register of fortepiano or harpsichord are also unique and beautiful.


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## jalex (Aug 21, 2011)

Ariasexta said:


> High register of fortepiano or harpsichord are also unique and beautiful.


Indeed, I do love the harpsichord. I think most Baroque keyboard music sounds a lot better on the harpsichord than the piano.I haven't really listened to much on the fortepiano or early piano yet.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

I prefer Gabrieli on cornetts over modern trumpets; their timbre matches the vocalists better.

Of course, in contrast, there was a brief fad with the Lincoln Center jazz big band to perform them on period instruments. I don't know if they still are doing that. I own a saxophone from the '40s, and it is slightly out of tune, but I don't think the intonation problem brings enough color to the sound to make it preferable to a modern saxophone.


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## Ariasexta (Jul 3, 2010)

jalex said:


> Indeed, I do love the harpsichord. I think most Baroque keyboard music sounds a lot better on the harpsichord than the piano.I haven't really listened to much on the fortepiano or early piano yet.


In case of harpsichord music, most performers tune the instrument to lower pitch, rarely the appropriate pitch above 390hz. Althought some ancient composers used low pitch but that was very rare. For example, the pitch of Bach found by Bradley Lehman is at 409hz! In earlier period of Bach, high pitch was likely more common than the low pitch, the harpsichord pieces by Henry Purcell are favorably to be perform at high pitch instead of lower, again, the new generation harpsichordists usually loev to use the low pitch, like Richard Egarrs recent recording of Purcell suites, the pitch is at 392hz, and souns a bit lackluster compared to the version of Gustav Leonhardt on Philips and Sophie Yates on Chandos, both pitched at above 400hz. Some performers seem to choose to please their imagery mass which would buy their cds, this trend will poison the taste baroque music in particular, baroque music is never meant for the mass, so if some body do not like it, just leave.


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## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

Ariasexta said:


> In case of harpsichord music, most performers tune the instrument to lower pitch, rarely the appropriate pitch above 390hz. Althought some ancient composers used low pitch but that was very rare. For example, the pitch of Bach found by Bradley Lehman is at 409hz! In earlier period of Bach, high pitch was likely more common than the low pitch, the harpsichord pieces by Henry Purcell are favorably to be perform at high pitch instead of lower, again, the new generation harpsichordists usually loev to use the low pitch, like Richard Egarrs recent recording of Purcell suites, the pitch is at 392hz, and souns a bit lackluster compared to the version of Gustav Leonhardt on Philips and Sophie Yates on Chandos, both pitched at above 400hz. Some performers seem to choose to please their imagery mass which would buy their cds, this trend will poison the taste baroque music in particular, baroque music is never meant for the mass, so if some body do not like it, just leave.


My favourite period harpsichord models are of the late Baroque French double manual large harpsichords, which you could argue represented the peak of harpsichord development before the fortepiano (which was already around) took it over. These were works of art themselves; beautiful instruments to look at, used for playing exquisite music. I also like the earlier model Italian harpsichords and they sound "right" when playing early Baroque music, like those of the Ruckers model.

Your notes about pitch are most interesting, which rarely ever gets a mention here at Talk Classical. Many perfomers take the standard A = 415 Hz but I have noticed increasing usage of lower and even higher pitch than that.

As far as I'm concerned, playing the Baroque and Calssical repertoire on appropriate instruments work best for me anyway, than making many pieces sound like a Romantic piece on a modern day grand. I've always love it this way from day one when I started listening to early keyboard music, side by side with modern piano versions as I compared.

Period (clip is just a picture)





Modern copy


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## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

My problem is with the sound period string instruments using gut rather than steel strings.
They sound horrible ! Most of them produce a nasal,pinched, wheezing sound which I find very hard to listen to. 
One critic said something like this, and I;'m not sure if I'm quoting exactly.
"We need a return to period string instruments about as much as we need a return to period dentistry" If I were going to the dentist, I certainly wouldn't want to go to one who used the dental techniques and equipment of the 18th century !


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## Curiosity (Jul 10, 2011)

superhorn said:


> My problem is with the sound period string instruments using gut rather than steel strings.
> They sound horrible ! Most of them produce a nasal,pinched, wheezing sound which I find very hard to listen to.
> One critic said something like this, and I;'m not sure if I'm quoting exactly.
> "We need a return to period string instruments about as much as we need a return to period dentistry" If I were going to the dentist, I certainly wouldn't want to go to one who used the dental techniques and equipment of the 18th century !


One could just as easily say that the modern violins produce a screechy, harsh, metallic sound. Actually, both period and modern strings sound beautiful to me. I have a wealth of HIP and modern recordings. I care more about the interpretation than the instruments tbh, though I do have my preferences (for example I prefer the 9th as performed by a modern orchestra)

By the way, the dentistry analogy is weak. Music is not medicine. In art, the old does not become obsolete simply because of the development of more advanced techniques. Otherwise computers would have replaced performers en masse and nobody would paint by hand anymore.


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