Robert Barto uses a string band of 152mm, no real difference to my 153mm, so I have nothing to complain about. Just get on with it, MacKillop!
Rob www.robmackillop.net On 4 Oct 2011, at 14:06, William Samson <willsam...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote: > At a quick glance I'd say that the median is about 146mm. > > I'd love to see similar figures for 11c lutes. I once heard an eminent > maker say that they tended to be more widely spaced than the first 11 > courses of a 13 course lute, and it would be nice to see that confirmed > (or not) with hard evidence. > > Incidentally, Diana Poulton had small hands, and she always played with > her little finger on the bridge. > > Bill > From: Rob MacKillop <robmackil...@gmail.com> > To: William Samson <willsam...@yahoo.co.uk> > Cc: Martyn Hodgson <hodgsonmar...@yahoo.co.uk>; BAROQUE-LUTE > <baroque-lute@cs.dartmouth.edu> > Sent: Tuesday, 4 October 2011, 12:44 > Subject: Re: [BAROQUE-LUTE] Re: L'Infidele > Thanks, Bill. That's it. To which Malcolm added a few more, including > the bizarre c.160mm on the small Berr, the smallest lute but with the > largest string band. > Thanks to all the advice on different approaches to managing these > stretches. I'll give them all a go. > Rob > www.robmackillop.net > On 4 Oct 2011, at 12:02, William Samson <[1]willsam...@yahoo.co.uk> > wrote: >> Hi Martyn, >> I believe I've found David's stuff on string spacings in the > archive: >> >> > [1][2]http://www.mail-archive.com/lute@cs.dartmouth.edu/msg19722.html >> >> Best regards, >> Bill >> From: Martyn Hodgson <[3]hodgsonmar...@yahoo.co.uk> >> To: BAROQUE-LUTE <[4]baroque-lute@cs.dartmouth.edu>; Rob MacKillop >> <[5]robmackil...@gmail.com> >> Sent: Tuesday, 4 October 2011, 10:25 >> Subject: [BAROQUE-LUTE] Re: L'Infidele >> Dear Rob, >> It is a stretch but I do think the low A (ie 13th) is meant: the > BL >> MS >> is very clear and there are no signs of an a on the 6th course > being >> altered to a 6 (as we sometimes find elsewhere). >> I think there are two factors here: >> 1. Clearly much depends on how one disposes the hand: to play such >> extensions I move the thumb closer to the bridge (ie behind the >> plucking position of the fingers) and I find this allows the first >> and >> 13th to be plucked simultaneously. >> 2. The other thing is that I'm not quite sure if a string band of >> 153mm >> isn't a bit too wide for a 13 course instrument. The JC Hoffmann >> (1730) string band is 140mm (both the Museum and Stephen Murphy's >> drawings) and my own instrument is 145mm (based on an average >> inter-course seperation of 12mm). As pointed out in a FoMRHI paper >> several years ago, there is some evidence that inter-course >> seperation >> reduced with the advent of the additional two bass courses (eg the >> earlier 11 course JC Hoffmann of 1716 has an average inter-course >> seperation of around 13mm) but I agree that some of the later > large >> theorboed German lutes exhibit quite large inter-course > seperation. >> However Weiss seems to have written for the 13th course instrument >> with >> a single pegbox (with treble and bass riders) as the 1730 Hoffmann > as >> witnessed by stopping basses below course 8 and not the late > 'galant' >> type of 13th course lute. Incidentally, Baron (1727) particularly >> singles out JC Hoffmann for making instruments which fit the hand: > in >> DA Smith's translation 'He [JCH] also knows how to place the > courses >> and strings at the proper distances so that his lutes can be >> manipulated very easily'. >> Finally, could you remind me of the paper /research source which >> analysis the sizes of 13th course bridges and suggests an average > of >> 153mm? >> regards, >> Martyn >> From: Rob MacKillop <[2][6]robmackil...@gmail.com> >> Subject: [BAROQUE-LUTE] L'Infidele >> To: "BAROQUE-LUTE" <[3][7]baroque-lute@cs.dartmouth.edu> >> Date: Tuesday, 4 October, 2011, 9:05 >> Enjoying exploring my new 13c, and slowly getting the feel for >> right-hand string spacing and thumb placement. I'm determined not > to >> look at my right hand, just feel my way. So, I've been slowly > growing >> in confidence...until I read through Weiss' L'Infidele. >> It's years since I listened to anyone play this suite, and it was > a >> great joy to start reading through the Entree: 'Hey, I can do > this!'. >> I >> read the Courante slowly, but thinking it a possibility I will one >> day >> be able to play it up tempo. The Sarabande, like all Weiss >> Sarabandes, >> is sublimely beautiful. The minuet lies under the fingers. So, I > was >> beginning to think this is a suite I can get my teeth into. Then I >> hit >> the Musette... >> Bar 4 demands the thumb on the 13th course, the index on the 5th > and >> (presumably) the ring finger on the 1st. The string band on my > lute >> is >> 153mm, and I have large hands. I should be able to do this, but is > is >> very hard. I can manage it, but, clearly, at a stretch. 153mm does >> not >> seem excessive, and is pretty much bang in the middle of all >> surviving >> 13c bridges, in other words an average size. Will practise of this >> passage make my stretch longer? >> Anyone else have problems with this passage? I seem (in > desperation, >> maybe) to recall someone arguing that originally the low A was up > an >> octave at the 6th course, and the 13th course was written in > later. >> Any >> info on that? >> Rob MacKillop >> www.robmackillop.net >> To get on or off this list see list information at >> [1][4][8]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html >> -- >> References >> 1. [5][9]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html >> >> -- >> >> References >> >> 1. > [10]http://www.mail-archive.com/lute@cs.dartmouth.edu/msg19722.html >> 2. mailto:[11]robmackil...@gmail.com >> 3. mailto:[12]baroque-lute@cs.dartmouth.edu >> 4. [13]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html >> 5. [14]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html >> > > -- > > References > > 1. mailto:willsam...@yahoo.co.uk > 2. http://www.mail-archive.com/lute@cs.dartmouth.edu/msg19722.html > 3. mailto:hodgsonmar...@yahoo.co.uk > 4. mailto:baroque-lute@cs.dartmouth.edu > 5. mailto:robmackil...@gmail.com > 6. mailto:robmackil...@gmail.com > 7. mailto:baroque-lute@cs.dartmouth.edu > 8. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > 9. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > 10. http://www.mail-archive.com/lute@cs.dartmouth.edu/msg19722.html > 11. mailto:robmackil...@gmail.com > 12. mailto:baroque-lute@cs.dartmouth.edu > 13. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > 14. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html >
