Resources.

A decision to put together a baroque instrument should not be made lightly. I actually spent about half a year thinking about it, reading about harpsichords, spinets and the like before I finally made my choice. It is not only an endeavour that will consume a lot of time, but it is also costly. When Wolfgang Zuckermann started making harpsichord kits almost 50 years ago, they sold for 150$, wood not included. These days, expect to pay quite a lot more.

Living in Helsinki, one of the first things I did was to talk to the guys at one of the best music stores in town, F-musiikki. The gentleman I spoke to remembered that in his 42 years of working there, they had sold one harpsichord. This was a full-built one from J.C. Neupert in Germany, and it went for tens of thousands of Euros. Obviously that was not an option for my more limited funds. This was one of the things that lead me to think about getting a kit and putting such an instrument together myself.

There are now several workshops around that offer kits. The history of The Paris Workshop begins with Wolfgang Zuckermann in the US, who in the 60's started selling simple kits, most of which were not really based on historical real instruments, but nevertheless were harpsichords. After Zuckermann wrote the book The Modern Harpsichord, he eventually sold his workshop (Zuckermann Harpsichords Inc.) to his publisher. This publisher and harpsichord maker (David J. Way) made the design of the kits more historical and nicer in their looks. The range of different kits was also extended. The Zuckermann company's main man in France (they had sellers in many countries) was Marc Ducornet, and after some years, Marc Ducornet ended up having less and less ties with the company eventually forming his own in Paris. Ironically, Zuckermann himself, running a bookstore in France, ended up as an 'advisor' of sort to the new independent Paris Workshop.

I contacted both of these producers of kits, and thought some about which one to order from. A friend of a friend himself has played several of both Zuckermann and Paris Workshop instruments and said he preferred the Paris Workshop ones. This was only a small part in making my decision, the major one was that shipping from the US to Finland is quite expensive, as well as shipping from outside the European Union would give some issues on paying customs for the package. I have dealt with the customs office here before when ordering instruments from the US, and it is not a pleasurable experience. Their price lists are not available on their websites, but both companies quickly respond on email requests for the prices.

I also found myself in need of more general information on harpsichords, and acquired two books I've learnt a lot from. The Harpsichord Owner's Guide by Edward L. Kottick is an excellent book on the technical workings of a harpsichord and a great guide in how to maintain them. It is really written for the know-nothing. The book is in four parts, first a fairly short introduction about the harpsichord and its history. Then he sets out on maintenance techniques, before there is a section on Troubleshooting and a final one on how to take care of a harpsichord. The book is very thorough and starts with an assumption of extremely little previous knowledge. As he states himself;

"I am told that there was once an automobile owner's manual whose instructions on starting the car began with, "First take position behind the wheel." That is starting with first things first, and it is the way I intend to proceed here." (p. 71)

This is excactly what he does, and though it is sometimes a bit of a bore to get all the details most interested people probably already would know, I learnt a lot from this book and I recommend it highly for starters. The only thing I wished it had a bit more on was how to tune, i.e. a more detailed information on more of the different temperaments. But I'll find that info elsewhere when I need it.

The other book I bought was A Guide to the Harpsichord by Ann Bond. This focuses less on how to maintain and treat the harpsichord, and more on how to actually play it. Where the book by Kottick uses a page on a personal rant over how insanely un-sharp some American brand of cutting knives are, she spends twenty pages on ornamentation in playing the instrument. So this is a very different book, but nevertheless informative. What Kottick's book will teach me on how to care for my spinet, Bond's book will teach me how to make great music on it. I recommend them both.

Websites.

The Paris Workshop
This is where my kit will come from. Also check their short history of the workshop.

Zuckermann (R) Harpsichords International

Early Music shop. Has kits both from the Paris Workshop and their own.(Ships from UK).


Hubbard Harpsichords also offer kits, and better yet, they have an excellent glossary over technical terms that is very informative for less experience people like myself.

I'll add more as I think of them.