By far the most important “tool” is one you can’t buy – your ability to pay attention to small details. If I tell you to prepare a piece of wood 6 49/64” long [171.85mm] and you decide that 6 ¾” ( 6 48/64” )[171.45mm] is close enough, you will soon find yourself in trouble. The most beautiful chest of drawers is useless if the drawers stick and can’t be opened. The most beautiful harpsichord in the world is useless if the keys don’t function properly – and the tolerances necessary to make it work properly are far smaller than 1/64 [0.4mm] of an inch. You will make mistakes … I guarantee it! I’ve been building harpsichords for over 35 years and I can honestly say I’ve never built an instrument that was “mistake free”. Making errors is understandable and forgivable. Ignoring your mistakes is not. Not knowing you made a mistake can be fatal.

Now that you know some of the pitfalls involved in undertaking this project, let’s look at some of the benefits. For me, the prime benefit is doing creative, meaningful work. I spent many years working as a piano technician/rebuilder. Restoring fine old grand pianos to their former glory was tremendously satisfying work – work that I truly enjoyed. There was only one drawback – I needed to find a piano worth restoring before I could restore it. Then harpsichords came into my life. The prospect of building an instrument from scratch was very appealing to me. Unfortunately, I didn’t know how to build one – where do I start? – what tools do I need? – how do they work? – where can I learn?

I decided to read everything I could find about harpsichords and their construction. What I found was an abundance of historical information, and little, if anything, concerning their construction. Then I got lucky. I was tuning pianos at a music conservatory and stumbled upon a harpsichord they had hidden away in a storage area. I sat down to play it and it took only a few moments to reaffirm my desire to build one. I asked for information about the builder of this magnificent instrument and was told his name was Paul Kennedy. And here’s where the luck came into the picture. He lived a mile from my home. Later that day, I was in his workshop. That was the beginning of six wonderful years of friendship and learning from a master. The years passed by and eventually Paul moved away to be closer to his family. He passed away in July, 2018 and with his passing we lost a humble and accomplished builder, and I lost my dearest friend and mentor. We used to talk on the phone every couple of months – conversations that, to an outsider, would sound like two equals talking shop. Not so! In my mind, he will always be the master and I the student. The Harpsichord Project is my way of repaying him for his kindness and generosity. I am forever in his debt.