3 Clavichords : 3 different Sounds ! 

That little one is surprising. I didn't expect it to have so much gusto. All of them sound so lovely. I could listen to these all day.

I like that on the small one, you modulate the note by pressing down on the key. The effect is much less audible on the "big ones", but very nice.

Of the two unfretted instruments the second seems to me clearly superior in tone quality.

I love the intimate and warm sound of the smallest instrument and wish vehemently I had the neans to arrange to purchase something like it. I find the expressive capabilities it offers quite compelling.

Despite its undoubted repertorial limitations, I especially like the sound of the little fretted instrument. I also enjoy the irony of your placing it on top of a grand piano! Thanks for this video. You make a serious contribution.

What a relief that you are happy with just one clavichord. I think is a very nice video.

Your clavichord sound apparently has more flesh in the midrange (and I love to see the Glenn Gould record in the background) . It is my first visit to your channne and I have subscribed immediately; what an artistic endeavour, what a contribution you make. Congratulations Wim, you do not use the word “authentic” for nothing obviously and your approach is informed and thorough. Good work!

I have a clavichord that is similar to the smallest one you have. I absolutely love it!

I very much enjoyed this comparison! Bravo. Also enjoyed looking around your space with the pipe organ and an old Glenn Gould album back there - one of my favorites. This is a real contribution to all keyboard lovers. Thank you as always.

Fascinating

I prefer the sound of the first clavichord you play. Anyway, the three intruments are so beautiful!

I love the three clavichords. They have a very magical sound.

Interesting looking stereo in the other room.

Thanks!

What a delight, thank you for all your great work! I very much admire your three good friends, a pleasure to make their acquaintance.

I prefer the middle clavichord (by itself that is, in combination with other sounds it would depend), it has a sharper tonal resonance but a softer transient. To my ear the Clavichords are similar not so much to guitar as is commonly pointed out but rather to banjo which is an instrument that highlights timing. The rhythms are hyper clear on the clavichord as opposed to a harpsichord or less. a piano. I wish clavichord recitals were more common because music written for the clavichord will probably sound rhythmically indistinct from what was intended if a harpsichord or piano is used instead (which I'm not opposed to if the result is pleasing but its nice to also have the option to hear it exactly as the composer intended) The clavichords sound is ideal for highlighting complex timing. Emotionally it sounds similar to a muted harpsichord, delicate, refined, restrained, even hesitant. The piano has a very different much more gong like aggressive sound because of the fat wound strings and wide arc throw hammers, its sustain makes it more like an organ and less like a plucked instrument, its "mood" is very different. In popular music the clavichord sound is often used to highlight intricate timing of a different kind, for example in funky music. I hope your videos help interest others in learning to play the clavichord and other period instruments because they make unique sounding music.

The two Saxon instruments are both equal favourites for me! I wish I could afford to buy one :(

Many thanks for the comparisons.

Thanks Wim, it’s great to hear the comparative demonstration

Thank you so much for this excellent demonstration : )

Great video !!!! The clavichord is such an expressive instrument in the hands of someone, like yourself, who has the sensitivity to delicately shape the phrasing (I expressed this badly but maybe you know what I mean). I also love the fact that all 3 instruments sound lovely but are tonally so different from each other. I know your current focus is more early 19th century music, primarily piano and tempo centered, but it would be pleasant to hear some more clavichord playing from you. Also perhaps some organ music on that organ which appears in the background of many of your videos. I understand though that a day is only so long and that splitting focus can be a problem, not to mention work-life balance when you have a family.

great video! a doubling of the sound pressure level actually is +6dB and a halfing -6dB

The little one sounds very good as well , But my fav is the first one you played.

The best way to measure (and subsequently normalize) loudness is to use LUFS (loudness units full scale). It basically accounts for the human perception of timbre in addition to amplitude.

Wonderful video. I want one.

*very* cool

How lucky you are! So many beautiful keyboard instrument around you. Wish someday I could got one oldest keyboard.

I love this

I like the smallest one of all

It also depends on which pitch they are tuned to.

Maybe I'm revealing my ignorance by admitting this, but I don't think I've heard that amazing song before. I prefer the second clavichord. I actually like that distant, lonesome, echoing sound, especially for a song with such a dark mood.

What a great video, Wim!!! One of your very best instructional videos to date. I love hearing the variations in timbre from one instrument to the next. I only wish we could feel the instrument's keyboards ourselves as well but I guess that is for our children or grandchildren to invent. It is interesting how much more warm your instrument sounds while the other unfretted instrument is very crisp or dry with very little (to me) feeling of musicality until my ears acclimated to its sound, then I could enjoy its music but it is still a much drier instrument. Despite its scale design (which I suspect is superior to yours) the soundboard design, I think, resulted in an instrument with a much colder, dryer (or whatever adjective may fit) sound. Your soundboard makes up for any shortcomings in the string length compromises. In my piano rebuilding, I have come to have a preference for larger soundboard grain lines. I like bigger boards on my pianos and I like to orient the grain to try to maximize the motion of the board. This becomes a complicated affair in pianos while Clavichords are a little bit simpler to manage once you know the language of soundboard construction in them. Your instrument's board is designed very well, I would just love to know how the braces were made underneath. Perhaps you could convince Joris to draw you a little drawing of how your soundboard is braced some day. The big surprise was the 17th c. copy. I was really surprised at how lovely it sounds. Its volume may be less but it reaches into the heart all the same. I do wonder if the small instrument was carefully tuned like the others before the presentation. It was clearly higher in pitch but also sounded out of tune. I would be curious to know if the out of tune sound is built in so as to increase sustain by mismatching the strings a little or if it just needed to be tidied up.

great fun vid, thank you. Short test I thought; yes no.2 is 'the one', though once you played a piece my preference was no.1. - of course it's not a competition!! (and room acoustics/mic placement play their part, as well as music e.g. contrapuntal lines might be clearer on a thinner sound which might not suit chordal passages so well) The little guy certainly has character, and would be a fun 'additional' instrument - though being happy with one is certainly a benefit.

Wow, thanks for the video! I expected the bigger clavichord to have greater bass, but surprisingly it's more heavy in the middle range (listening through my laptop speakers... I should download the video and put it in the hard disk plugged to my Blu-ray player, and listen to it on my hi-fi setup.) Also it sounds broader and somehow softer, as if it was recorded in a concert hall, but that could be due to the different location in the room and / or to the big wooden organ case behind. The little guy is very top-heavy as I expected, but also very funny. Again, it's softer than your own instrument.

the first you played ,for me-most balanced sound,also the low notes

Very interesting and good vid. Personally I liked most the Saxon ca 1750-60. What really interest me is: 1) what are the major components which make these differences in the sound and is the touching one of them. and - 2 ) are these differences affects in any way your way of interpretation and performing? Thanks for this upload.

Going back to videos I have missed. This comparison is very interesting. They each have a different voice. I liked the little one best. All would be welcome at my home. 2 pianos, 2 flutes, 2 guitars.. why not.... I wish you had played the bass strings more. Some have bass which is over powering the treble and middle ranges.

You play fantastic any instruments.🌐😁

I didn't think there'd be much of a difference between the two Saxon clavichords, but that comparison was shocking! The second one was much more... plucky? (for lack of a better word)

This URL might give folks a better perspective on decibels so that they can compare your instruments in their minds to common items: www.noisehelp.com/noise-level-chart.html There are also a number of RU-vid videos that attempt to give you a frame of reference to understand decibels. I don't wish to redirect traffic so I'll leave others to find those. I was surprised to see how much volume these instruments really do put out in measured terms. The chart above is given in dBA which makes allowances for the ears response to sounds so you can believe them when they say Wim's clavichord can produce as much volume as an alarm clock or a garbage disposal - literally. Very impressive for such small systems.

He starts playing at 4:28.

How do you tune a clavichord?

I love #3

Is the tonal quality of a fretted clavichord as nice generally as unfretted ? Or is it subjective?

your instrument is very beautiful

Play some Stevie Wonder on them! No seriously, it would be interesting to hear how they'd sound played on the clavinet's ancient ancestor.

Does clavichords can change dyamics from very soft to very loud or is it 1 dynamic range? how does it change

I still wonder: When will wee see a new video of the organ?

Do you really think that Bach would have preferred the clavichord to the pianoforte? I practice solely on a clavichord in order to improve. Only when I can render something reasonably satisfying will I move to the pianoforte. There are so many more degrees of freedom to utilise on the pianoforte, and any creative artist would not turn their back on exploiting this richer palette of sound.

BONJOUR monsieur,connaicer vous une facture avec corde enrubaner de drap ,tissus ,comme video : manichordion,manicorde,épinette sourde ?

😀

Authenticsound, would you say you prefer playing the clavichord, harpsichord, or perhaps fortepiano? what is your favorite historical keyboard instrument? Personally, the harpsichord is my favorite keyboard instrument. I own a 1967 Sperrhake spinet that i'm waiting to get fully overhauled by my friend Kevin Spindler. Eventually i want to buy a full sized historical instrument... i will always love my sperrhake as my first harpsichord though, as much hate as revival instruments tend to get.

Not a nuclear test pleease John...no need to carried away.. there 7 notes ONLY!

And thé dynamics? And thé vibrato? We would heard a musicien.please

Sir May I ask you what kind of clavicord do you use ? What its name ? Do you have any drawings of your clavicord? I wanna buy/make the exact same replica. Your keyboard sounds and looks amazing.

Отличная игра на клавесине , продолжай в том же духе , кстати , сколько такой клавесин стоит?

What's the name of the piece you're playing? I need to get the sheet for it.

Partiture the songs pliss

Is that a full sized pipe organ in your house, what’s the disposition?

Please name of music

does the pipe organ at the back belong to you? :O

20 000 $ worth of instruments... Some are just lucky...