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This is a Ruckers mother-and-child virginal—a 17th-century keyboard instrument with a second, smaller instrument built into it, tuned an octave higher. The “child” could be pulled out to play duets or set on top of the “mother” to add a jangly, buzzing color to the main sound—a Renaissance-era layering trick, centuries before mixing desks. Antwerp instrument makers were doing this in the 1600s.
@BrianRoemmele #globalmuseum #museums #musicalinstruments
