Piano is a hybrid invention of the clavichord and harpsichord. It inherited the following features from the formal: independent soundboard, metal strings, hammering the strings to produce sound and the damper. From the harpsichord, it has the wing-formed case (as to grand pianos), three strings to one note, three pedals and the shifting keyboard.
Inventors
Many inventors had tried incorporating the hammer action into the harpsichord but none succeeded; the first being Marius of Paris in 1716. Subsequently, there were people such as Christofori in 1701, Marius in 1716 and Schroter in 1717 who came up with a totally different mechanism from that of a harpsichord. However, the most perfect invention of the pianoforte should be credited to Bartolomeo Christofori in 1709. In Christofori’s pianoforte, he invented the escapement device, a mechanism that the performer could “through his touch produce a delicate pianissimo and also a strong fortissimo”[1].
Development
Due the Industrial Revolution in the 1790s to 1890s, tremendous changes were made to the pianoforte due to increased technological resources. High-quality steel for strings and precision casting for production of iron frames are now available. Under Broadwood hands, the piano grew in size and are more robustly constructed. He extended the keyboard range of the piano from 5 octaves to 5 octaves and a 5th in the 1790; 6 octaves in 1810 and 7 octaves in 1820.
In 1820, the centre of innovation had shifted to Erard firm of Paris which built pianos used by Chopin and Liszt. In 1821, Sebastian Erard invented the double escapement which permitted a note to be repeated even if the key had not yet risen to its maximum vertical position, a great benefit for rapid playing especially thrills. As revised by Herz in 18540s, the double escapement action ultimately became a standard action for all grand pianos for all manufacturers.
Erad piano
The other technical innovation to rock the era is the iron frame, also called the eplate. It sits on top of the soundboard, and serves as the primary bulwark against the fork of string tension. The iron frame was the ultimate solution to the problem of structural integrity as stings were made thicker, tenser and more numerous. The iron frame was invented in 1825 in Boston by Alpheus Babcock, culminating earlier trend to use even more iron parts to reinforce the piano. The first iron frame in grand pianos (1840) was the work of the Chickering Firm, at which Babcock was employed.
Iron Frame
In 1826, Jean Henri Pape introduced hammers covered by compressed felt, which could stand up to harder, softer strings of Broadwood piano. Additionally, Pape was also the first to introduce over-stringing or cross-stringing: the technique of overlapping two vertically slanted bridges instead of one, allowing longer strings to fit within the piano. Henry Steinway was the first to apply this to grand piano in 1859. It was also during the same time that the piano received its third pedal (the sostenuto pedal) invented by Jean Louis Boisselot in 1844. The pedal was further improved by Steinway in 1874. Duplex scaling, invented by Theodore Steinway in 1872, permitting parts of the string near the ends to vibrate freely, adding resonance and richness of sound.
Cross-stringing
Upright Piano
The first piano invented exists as a ‘grand piano’. The first upright piano was only invented around 1780, 70 years after the grand piano, by Johann Schmidt of Salzburg and revised by John Isaac Hawkins of Philadelphia. However, their inventions and improvements failed as an instrument. The proper upright piano we have today originated from William Southwell of
London and he named it the ‘Cabinet’ piano. It was built and introduced between 1806-7. It has strings arranged vertically on a continuous frame with bridges extended nearly to the floor.
[1] Alfred Dolge. Piano and their makers. New York:
Dover Publications. 1972. Pg 47.
