"That said, I've seen some lovely 7c instruments and they sound better for resisting the extra course. Ed Martin's, for example, as well as Jacob Herringman's 7c Gerle. The latter is interesting in that it retains the earlier parabolic neck which, I think, would not support 8 courses. If that is your route you're well set up to go to the 6c." Sean
Very true of 7c Gerle lutes, Sean. I have the same Gerle model by Martin Haycock as that used by Jacob Herringman on his Sienna recording, and it is such a clear open sounding instrument (although the neck is not quite as parabolic as many 6c lutes, and I know of one person who has this lute in a 10c version). I felt this 7c Gerle was an excellent compromise for Italian and English 6 and 7c music (and by keeping 7c in D, further opening its repertoire, as explained by others for most 9c music); although by the same reasoning, if it was only 6c music that I had wanted to play, there is no doubt that a 6c instrument would also "sound better for resisting the extra course". I also agree with those who prefer the 11c Baroque lute over a 13c (even rider) lute; however, it is probably true that when extra basses are in gut (pure, loaded or gimped), the lack of clarity, brought about by the additional basses, is minimised. I have had my Gerle with pure gut basses, and loaded basses, and I prefer the depth of the sound with loaded basses, but this is perhaps a question of personal taste, and also of the music I have tended to play on it (the thinner 7c bass given by a loaded or gimped bass is probably easier to stop to obtain F, than a thicker pure gut bass). However, perhaps this 7c compromise did not work quite as well as I had hoped for 6c music, as I have never actually played the Sienna lute book repertoire on it for which I originally bought the intrument (and which I love). I do think for this, the pure gut, I originally had on the instrument, might have been better than the loaded basses I have on it at present, but which seem to work so well for Holbourne, et al. Regards Anthony ________________________________ De : Sean Smith <lutesm...@mac.com> À : lute <lute@cs.dartmouth.edu> Envoyé le : Mercredi 2 mai 2012 19h52 Objet : [LUTE] Re: Re-tuning the diapason of a 7c If you haven't yet ordered a lute, I would consider an 8 course, which in my opinion is more versatile.A It even allows you to cheat and play 10 course music... Very true, Bruno, I loved exploring the Vallet and Ballard books for years on my 8c, turning singers on to Airs de cours and knowing that nearly all the English was, at least, doable w/out retuning something. That said, I've seen some lovely 7c instruments and they sound better for resisting the extra course. Ed Martin's, for example, as well as Jacob Herringman's 7c Gerle. The latter is interesting in that it retains the earlier parabolic neck which, I think, would not support 8 courses. If that is your route you're well set up to go to the 6c. Ed, I believe you have a gut bass w/ a metal filament on the 7th course on that instrument. Could you weigh in on how it does re: Joshua's question? I'm curious myself. Dalza expected lutes to accept a one-step scordatura and in one 'suite' on the 5th course also. Could the extra half step really be too much? But truthfully, Joshua, a 7c is a fine place to start and I applaud your resolution. You'll work out the D/F situation one way or another. Sean A A Bruno On Wed, May 2, 2012 at 11:48 AM, Braig, Eugene <[1]brai...@osu.edu> wrote: It's beginning to sound like an 8-course might actually better suit your needs. A While short lived in period, they seem pretty ubiquitous today. Best, Eugene -----Original Message----- From: [2]lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu [mailto:[3]lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu] On Behalf Of Joshua Burkholder Sent: Wednesday, May 02, 2012 11:40 AM To: [4]lute@cs.dartmouth.edu Subject: [LUTE] Re-tuning the diapason of a 7c Dear lute-listers, A question from a beginner: First to introduce myself, my name is Joshua and I've been playing the lute for several months now; I have been on the list for a couple weeks and am really enjoying following your discussions. I have a rental 7-course and I am now in the process of taking the plunge and buying a lute of my own. After much reading, pondering and agonizing over the best number of courses to start with, I've come to the conclusion that a 7-course best suits my needs. So onto to my question: I know that some people re-tune the 7th course from D to F as needed, but on my rental lute this seems quite impossible. The diapason is stung to F and if I drop it down to D it becomes far too wobbly and flabby. From this I assume that if I were to restring it to D, which I'd prefer on the whole, it would likewise be impossible to raise it to F. Currently the lute is strung with Pyramid strings so the basses are metal wound. Is it only possible to change from D to F on the same string if one uses gut strings (Poulton remarks to this effect in her tutor that if it's strung to be tuned at D "it will only be possible to raise it to F if gut strings are used")? Otherwise I have to re-string? Or does someone use some other stringing solution, besides just keeping it D and fingering the third fret for F (or buying an 8-course lute...)? I've read enough about stringing lutes to understand that it will be a while before I understand anything about stringing lutes... Thank you for taking the time to help out a newcomer. Best wishes, Joshua To get on or off this list see list information at [5]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html -- A Bruno Cognyl-Fournier A [6]www.estavel.org A -- References 1. mailto:brai...@osu.edu 2. mailto:lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu 3. mailto:lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu 4. mailto:lute@cs.dartmouth.edu 5. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html 6. http://www.estavel.org/
