The invention of the Piano

The invention of the modern piano is credited to Bartolomeo Cristofori (1655–1731) who was hired as the "Keeper of the instruments".

Examining the more classical instruments such as the piano or the harp, we find that the Harp / Lyre ( LYRA ) star constellation is the only musical instrument amongst the 88 astronomical star constellations. There are 88 keys on the modern piano, just as the 88 star constellations in the sky. Of the 88 piano keys, we recognize 36 black ones that correlates to the 36 Northern star constellations and also the 52 white ones that correlates to the 52 Southern star constellations.

Out of the 88 modern constellations, 36 lie predominantly in the northern sky, and the other 52 predominantly in the southern.

Constellations - Wikipedia
Piano - Wikipedia

Source reference The World tree - Dr. William Gaspar - Amazon

What a fantastic idea.

The answer to 'why?' has been at many a person's fingertips?

Amazing, I could actually see that that the answer to that question would be 88. Such a sweet sounding number, tuneful almost.

a reply to: Cobaltic1978

First one was the other way around, 52 black keys and 36 White..

That puts me in mind of one of the better vacuum tubes for audio output, the KT88.

a reply to: tikbalang

That is fascinating, and glad to learn this about the origin of the keyboard.
Thanks!

originally posted by: charlyv
a reply to: tikbalang

That is fascinating, and glad to learn this about the origin of the keyboard.
Thanks!

It's not the origin of the keyboard. Harpsichord came first.

The reason they invented the piano is because the harpsichord couldn't sustain pitches, owing to it being technically a string instrument (each mash of the key plucked a string). Whereas the piano is a percussion instrument, where hammers "pound" the strings in the interior. This allowed the piano to sustain a variety of longer pitches, whereas the harpsichord had a rather limited pitch range.

Despite all that, I do still love the sound of a harpsichord.

a reply to: Talorc

While you may be right...i think the OP may also have something.

Music is a matter of esoteric religious study going back to at least Pythagoras, where he was relating music to astrological projections.

"There is music in the spheres".

The synchronicity of the numbers is interesting, and gives pause for thought on their design inspirations (and what that says about them).

a reply to: Talorc

Great input!

Could you elaborate on the technical?

originally posted by: tikbalang
a reply to: Talorc

Great input!

Could you elaborate on the technical?

Yes....

When playing a harpsichord, the musician has no control over dynamics (I.e. volume). This limits the harpischord in many ways. Emotional impact depends greatly on the musicians ability to control volume, thereby controlling emphasis. Which is to say, parts of the song to be emphasized.

Let's compare Bach's concerto for harpischord with something of Chopin's piano work:

Bach concerto:



Chopin Mazurka:



Piano seems more able to evoke pure emotion on its own, without accompaniment. On the other hand, the harpischord requires orchestral accompaniment to achieve the greatest effect.

originally posted by: bigfatfurrytexan
a reply to: Talorc

While you may be right...i think the OP may also have something.

Music is a matter of esoteric religious study going back to at least Pythagoras, where he was relating music to astrological projections.

"There is music in the spheres".

The synchronicity of the numbers is interesting, and gives pause for thought on their design inspirations (and what that says about them).

Music is a language of the universe, just like mathematics. The Greeks of course were the some of the first to realize it, like they realized most everything else.

a reply to: tikbalang

I come from a musical family and have sometimes been persuaded that this was the connection I have had to synchronicity. Could be the gods of coincidence like the arts. Musically I'm average but above-average for synchronicity. My father was a pianist.