(This company later became Baldwin Pianos). The company, then called ‘Winter & Co’ later became the more renowned ‘Aeolian-American Corporation’. If accounts are to be believed the first spinet piano came up for sale to the public in May of 1935. This limited the options for the instrument when it came to performances in larger venues than the home. As you might expect the volume produced by the spinet piano was not even close to that of a grand or upright. The bass notes had a particularly poor tone quality that may have contributed to the decline of the instrument.
The strings were by necessity shorter to be easily accommodated in the cabinet and this, in turn, made the quality of the sound produced by the spinet piano quite considerably inferior to that of even the humble upright piano. Given the smaller dimensions of the spinet piano, there were also limits in terms of its tonal response. The smaller cabinet also meant that there was not much room for tuning to easily take place or for any repairs to happen. The casing of the spinet was quite cramped which meant that drop action engaged the hammers in an indirect way that made a less distinct and crisp tone. What was different was what became known as the ‘drop action’ mechanism.Īs the spinet was significantly smaller than even an upright piano, the usual hammer directly striking string used in conventional pianos was not possible.
The Spinet piano instead used the similar hammer action common to most other pianos of the time. Interestingly, the spinet piano does not share the same mechanical method of producing its tone as its predecessor, the spinet. As many spinets were made in the US, the 1930s was not a financially stable time as the Great Depression had taken hold of the country and money was scarce. The compact design of the instrument made it popular amongst many people who simply did not have space or finance to include a larger piano in their homes. In the 1930s the spinet piano was in its heyday. The word spinet became synonymous with the small piano, and in some cases the electronic piano. Essentially, the spinet produced its sound by a similar plucking method to the harpsichord and sounds similar if slightly thinner. Given that the spinet was a more modest version of the grander harpsichord, its cost was also more in line with the budget of more families and this accounted for the large number manufactured during the 17 th and 18 th centuries. Smaller than the harpsichord and slightly odd-looking, as its strings sit at an oblique angle to the keyboard, the spinet probably had its origins in 16 th Century Italy.Ī gentleman known as Giovanni Spinetti who was an instrument manufacturer could have given his name to the spinet. What is a Spinet Piano? What is a Spinet Piano?īefore the harpsichord had become fully established as a favourite keyboard instrument the spinet took centre stage.
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