Hmmmmm... we have a nice new harpsichord, a single manual Flemish model with two 8 foot and a single 4 foot choirs of strings. And apparently, our living room can't stay in this formation... we are going to have to find a way to temporarily seat the new instrument until we get the music room built out. And now, the music room plans have kicked into high gear... it will be the major expense of the coming year (and a bit...). It had been on the backburner, but it is definitely now needed!

So, according to my wife... this can't be the way that the living room stays for the next year or so... and my kids aren't crazily happy that it blocks the TV either... and our suggestion to dump the TV didn't go down well!

So, anyway... it was a bit of a crazy two days of driving to get the harpsichord from its previous owners in a small country town back to our home... then down to Sydney for the technician to look at properly.

Due to the fact that it hadn't been played or used in the last 25 or so years, the keyboard was quite heavy and shallow in touch... and that was made even worse by the fact that each key was potentially imparting its energy to three different jacks for the three different choirs of strings.

But a few hours with the technician was enough to convince us that it was fixable... and we returned back home with a more than acceptable instrument which will have its first outing soon. It is going to be our travelling harpsichord... it is still heavy and long, but a good deal less so than our double manual monster... and it is a long stronger sounding and powerful than the ones that we have been renting for touring. As a bonus, I was able to cancel the forward bookings for the harpsichord rentals for the rest of the year... which was about 1000 AUD in savings already! So, the instrument is already earning its keep!

Over the intervening months since we first saw it... there were some very minor cracks that had developed... but nothing that affected either the structure or sound... so, nothing for us to worry about! On the other hand, it is prudent to keep an eye on them to make sure that they don't develop... and if they do, then they are promptly repaired and attended to!

So, two very happy musicians... but with incoming building costs as we bump the music room construction up the timeline of renovations to our house!

... and this is my wife's toy. I'm now eyeing off a potential violin... and two bows as well...

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