As has been alluded in many replies, lutes don't necessarily stay in tune when subject to variable environments. The question might be more appropriately phrased as "What makes lutes going out of tune less problematic?"
One thing I have not seen mentioned is minimizing friction over the nut. This better balances the tension of the vibrating string with the tension stored behind the nut. Well-smoothed nut slots help. Winding strings so they come off the nut in as straight a line as possible also helps. Eugene > -----Original Message----- > From: lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu [mailto:lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu] On > Behalf Of Herbert Ward > Sent: Saturday, January 16, 2010 5:59 PM > To: lute@cs.dartmouth.edu > Subject: [LUTE] What makes a lute stay in tune? > > > Ignoring for a moment the tuning instability of gut strings, what > construction details make a lute stay in tune better? Is staying > in tune a sign of a good lute? > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
