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In 2005, Walter MAENE (Belgium) finished my white spinet. Words fail me to describe the fascinating timbre of the spinet. This artisanal keyboard is small but it produces greath sound. Rich overtones inspire me everyday to improvise continuously much more than any piano or digital keyboard can evoke. This spinet sounds transparantly and softly, just like the historical instrument (harpsichord, virginal, lute), and also just like ethnical string instruments (especially the 'oud' from the Middle East area (Iran). Click and listen to an mp3-excerpt > my spinet (© P-ART).
In the sixteenth and seventeenth-centuries, the spinet was a european home used harpsichord with only one manual. Historically (look at the virginals on Vermeer's paintings=> http://essentialvermeer.20m.com/music/vermeer_and_virginals.htm), the harpsichord (aka clavecimbel) has earlier variants (virginal and spinet), but all types of clavecimbels are missing the power and dynamics (piano-forte) of the pianoforte and the piano of the eighteenth-century. However, the expressive limits of my spinet overcompensated by the wide range of quality overtones are the best condition for my musical creativity.
About sixty years ago, John Cage introduced the prepared (acoustic) piano. Now, I play the prepared spinet, capturing and transmitting the acoustic sound through the sound effects processor (KAOSSPAD, Korg). The result is an organic fusion of acoustic and electronic timbres. The mix-patch is a gamelan-like sound with a digital vs acoustic dialogue in the attack and sustain of the sound bathed in a natural resonating environment. Click here and listen to > mp3-excerpt of a P-ART prepared spinet composition 2006.(© P-ART)
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