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thursday, november 2, 1972
lincoln, nebraska vol. 96, no. 35
20th century harpsichords
by Bart Becker
HARP'-SI-CHORD (-cord) noun, A keyboard
instrument of the 16th -18th centuries, precursor of
the piano, but having the strings plucked by qui lis
instead of struck.
Well, yeah. But it's a 20th century keyboard
instrument, too. Burton's Harpsichord Co. of Lincoln
is proof of that.
The harpsichord works, in the spacious second
floor of a downtown Lincoln building, produce the
parts of a harpsichord. A kit is then sold to the
customer who assembles it.
The Burton Company sells about 150 kits a year at
prices from $200 to $700. Those 150 instruments
actually are a fairly large percentage of the total U.S.
Harpsichord production.
Ron Eddy, anemployeof Burton Harpsichord, said
one company exists which produces about 1,500
harpsichords a year. Additionally, Frank Hubbard of
Boston produces about 50 instruments a year.
The Burton Harpsichord Co. was started in 1966
or 1967, Eddy said. Initially the company completed
instruments which they sold to a wholesaler. He, in
turn, sold them to a retailer who dealt to the public.
All that handling pushed the price up about twice as
high as it currently is.
The company now employs three full-time and
three part-time workers. Birch and veneered
plywood is used for the case with 18-inch spruce
used for the sounding board in the more expensive
models.
"Schools and churches are the main institutions
that buy the instruments," said Eddy. "The rest go to
plain old people, even some people who neither know
how to play the harpsichord nor know much about
Baroque music."
In Eddy's opinion, antique harpsichords were
better constructed than those being built today. The
piano evolved from the harpsichord and the earliest
modern harpsichord builders in the first quarter of
this century were piano makers.
Therefore, many modern harpsichords were based
on piano construction.
"The piano depends on the soundboard but a
harpsichord depends more on a whole box
resonance," Eddy said. This construction concept
made for heavier harpsichords and less of a pure
harpsichord sound.
He also noted the piano has caused a lot of people
to think keyboard instruments shouldn't go out of
tune. But with the harpsichord this isn't true.
"In the earlier-days a tuning guide was part of the
information needed with a harpsichord," he said.
"Tuning was considered part of harpsichord
technique."
Eddy is trained as an architect, and he plays the
violin but not the harpsichord. So why does he
choose to work with them?
"I'm here because I'm convinced there's no
difference between this and architecture," he said.
"It's not design in the 'inspirational process' sense.
But it's working in the realm of string lengths, the
thickness of the case and things like that..
"There's more soul in designing harpsichords, I
suppose."
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Ron Eddy . . . "There's more souS In designing
harpsichords."
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Soapy
pranks
empty
Broyhill
photo by Dan Ladaly
If pranksters continue to dump soap and dye into Broyhill
fountain, it might be empty longer than normal this winter.
"I don't think wu can keep spending maintenance money to
clean the fountain when we have leaking roofs on campus,"
according to Ron Wright, assistant director of University business
and finance.
There have been five or six soapings already this year, he said,
compared to a total of four last year. Each one means the
fountain must be drained and clean water substituted.
A routine draining just to change a light bulb cc , ul-. i. $60.
When soap or dye is involved, the cost rises. One clean-up last
month cost $250, Wright said.
He estimated the fountains upkeep will cost from $3,600 to
$4,000 this year.
"When the fountain was first put in, soapings were pretty
frequent," he said. "But there was an appeal in the campus
newspaper which was pretty effective in cutting down pranks."
Pranksters also discovered that soap won't foam up in the
fountain because the water is treated with silicone, he said, and
this helped decrease soapings.
Other universities apparently have similar problems.
"Kansas University just closed down their fountain because
they had so many difficulties with soapings," Wright said. "We'd
hate to do that-we think the fountain is esthetically important
to the campus."
Wright said he does not expect the fountain to be closed.
What could happen is that the fountain might have to be
closed longer than usual during the winter, he said.
The water is heated, but during extremely cold weather the
fountain is drained to prevent spray from drifting onto sidewalks
and freezing.
If cleanings become too expensive, he said, the fountain would
just be left empty longer.
Super poll tells all
Amazing facts about UNL students' attitudes and
opinions will be revealed in the Daily Nebraskan
Super Poll which will run through next week.
A month ago the Daily Nebraskan sent
questionnaires to 340 randomly selected UNL
students. Two hundred-forty three completed the
survey and returned it to the Daily Nebraskan.
Fifty-two freshmen, 59 sophomores, 48 juniors,
66 seniors and 15 graduate students returned the poll.
One hundred-forty seven were male and 95 were
female.
The affiliation was: 83 independent, 57 Greek,
and three Co-op. Sixty-seven reside in residence halls
and 29 in Greek houses. Of those who live off
campus, 39 live with parents or relatives, 78 in a
rented room or apartment, and 30 own their home.
Thirty-nine respondents were 18-years-old or
younger, 54 were 19-years-old, 36 were 20-years-old,
32 age 21 , and 29 age 22. Forty-six were in the 23 to
30-year-old group and eight indicated they were 30
year-old or older.
The respondents registered their attitudes on a
number of issues: politics, quality of education at
UNL, sex, drugs, and religion.
The Daily Nebraskan conducted a similar survey in
the spring of 1971. Some of the findings from the
current poll will bo contrasted with the results from
that survey.
However, other results will show students'
ppinions in new areas-areas that have demanded
student concern over the past year and a half.
The Daily Nebraskan Super Poll reveals UNL
students' attitudes and opinions on politics in the
next issue.