This first image is the prototypical small clavicytherium, designed to sit on a tabletop. This type probably pre-dates the more-common horizontal harpsichord. Notice the archaic "partial" soundboard, and the bridge carved to suggest a bent tree branch. Is that how bridges were originally made? These small clavicytheria are graceful and attractive; since ceiling-height is not an issue, the tail doesn't need to be truncated, and so they often continue up to a dramatic sharp point, as in this example. It's only when they try to get bigger and more complex, that the problems start...
Here is a fascinating one-off instrument, significant mainly because it is the only two-manual clavicytherium I have yet found (thanks to harpsichord-maker Peter Bavington for bringing this strange beast to my awareness). It seems to be an assemblage of two smaller zithers, with keyboards added. It's not clear to me what exactly the two keyboards do, or what the string disposition is. Possibly, it is just single-strung, and the keyboards activate different types of plectra, such as quill and leather -- that's just my own guess. Notice that the strings run horizontally, and the keys apparently lift organ-style trackers (the vertical rods in front of the strings) which operate some kind of jacks, mostly hidden under the "lightning bolt" jack rail. Not exactly how I'm planning to do things... however, this instrument layout does have the advantage that it *could* have extremely long bass strings, going off to the side: it is not limited by ceiling height.
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This is a Delin clavicytherium. Albertus Delin was the best-known maker of clavicytheria, and his were noted both for good tone, and for light action. The latter, in particular, is hard to obtain with an upright instrument, due to the more-complex action mechanism and less direct help from gravity (although Delin's action does use gravity, not springs). These are typically 2x8 in disposition. Delin used the old-fashioned method of simply having the registers protrude through the cheekpiece, to control the stops; modern copies often provide more-convenient stop levers above the keyboard. Notice how tall it is; it fits well enough into the lavish surroundings of the Brussels museum where it's located, but for the average modern house, you'd either need a cathedral living room, or perhaps a Sawzall. And in any case, if your area is at all prone to earthquakes, you'd probably better connect a guy-wire to the top: these large clavicytheria inevitably look alarmingly top-heavy on their spindly little legs. I plan to do things differently...
The Delin above has no lid (actually, looks like there may be hinges and the lid has been removed and stored separately). When the lid is attached, as in the modern Delin copy below, the ungainly and top-heavy appearance is exacerbated even further, as you can see. Notice that the center panel of the lid can be removed on this instrument, so that the silly-looking lid can be closed, but still let the sound out. Just removing it altogether seems even better to me. The sound is crucial, looks are secondary, but I find that when a design is really well conceived, it tends to look elegant as well as sound good. A nine-foot-tall spindly giraffe of an instrument, which still has foreshortened bass strings of only around six feet long, is not quite hitting the mark in my book, even if it does have good tone and action.
A number of clavicytheria have been constructed in this symmetrical "pyramid" form. It does perhaps look a little better than the off-center look of the Delins, and splitting the lid up thus alleviates some of that "barn door" appearance (while also trading off the effectiveness of the lid in directing the sound, for use on stage -- arguably not the usual purpose of these instruments). However, it is necessary to either use organ-type rollers to re-distribute the notes left and right, with the lowest ones in the center, or, as in this one it appears, the strings must be placed with a slight angle to the right, so that the lowest bass string goes from the left end of the keyboard, up to the apex of the top, and then the rest fill in down and to the right. Either way, the basic form-follows-function nature of the harpsichord is disturbed by these complications, for no obvious benefit other than appearance. And yet, the appearance is still flawed in my opinion, because the instrument remains spindly and too tall.
Here is the only example I am aware of, of a clavicytherium which "reaches to the ground" (this was built by John Paul in the 1960s). However, this was achieved only by having the jacks pluck the strings in the center. That is, perhaps, fine for a lautenwerk (gut-string) instrument, but it will never do for the kind of bright, harmonically-rich tone I am seeking from my metal strings. It is necessary for the jacks to be located closer to the floor, connected by "some kind of mechanism" to the keyboards above. Of course, all the art lies in finding the right "some kind of mechanism"... (It seems that John Paul was intentionally going for plucking right in the center; if he had been satisfied with a pluck more to one side, which could still substantially have that "plucked in the middle" sound, he could have extended the bass by a good 50% higher, still staying within the height of the average ceiling. Clearly, long strings and Pythagorean length progression were not the priority here.)
Here's another lautenwerk clavicytherium, by Steven Sorli (that "o" should have the Nordic slash through it, whatever that character is called). Again, we're back to the spindly strings-start-above-keyboard layout, though the shorter gut strings and the open-frame "harp" design mitigate this appearance somewhat. If a single-strung lautenwerk instrument was what was sought, I wouldn't have any big changes to make, this design appears entirely adequate -- if not truly graceful. (Not sure about the Sorli action design, however: I've been told that it involves short lengths of bicycle brake cable, to transfer the vertical motion of the keylevers to the horizontal motion of the jacks. While certainly innovative and in a sense, clever, I find it hard to believe that such a mechanism can really operate with low-enough friction to compete with other more-conventional action designs. It seems more like a quick way to "get the job done" using off-the-shelf parts and materials. However, it works well enough to be quite playable, judging by videos, and it seems that Mr. Sorli has sold a number of these.)
To recap, the instrument I am designing will "reach to the floor", thus fitting good long bass strings within the approximate 8-foot limit of modern ceilings; it will (probably) have two manuals, controlling a string disposition of (possibly) 2x8,2x4; it will be festooned with multiple mutation stops, controlled by my flexible new machine-pedal design; and it will have a sustain pedal, along with the necessary unconventional action to accommodate this. I am pretty sure there has been nothing quite like this, yet built!
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