Guys,
This discussion is not about whether one should use pythagorean or
equal temperament, it is about two strings in octavbles on the same
course not being in tune together, by the time I've reached 5th fret,
and the dissonance increases as I go beyond 5th fret. the only change
I have done on both my G lutes, (57 cm and 60 cm tuned in 440hz), is
to replace the wound string with CD loaded. The calculation was at 3
Kg tension for the fundamental CD loaded on the 5th course, and I ended
up with a 115 CD, as neither 110 nor 112 was available, and frankly we
are still eyeballing it since I have had no clear answer as to what the
real tension was on those strings is. My octave remained as is, 5.0
gut, hence 2.5 kg.. (same gauge as my 2nd course) I guess I could try
a thicker octave ( if I can find the right gauge in my SOFRACOB supply
of strings..)
as for the 6th course I have the same problem
I have used SOFRACOB gut for 30 + years in combination with wound
basses and never had the problem, I recently switched to nylgut and
wound with no problem either, only when I put on the CD did I start
having the problem.
I suspect as mentioned before, that the real culprit is the elasticity
of the CD and that I have not stretched it enough, I do agree that when
I tune it up, it requires much more turning of the peg, as it doesn't
instantly respond upwards. although stretching the string onto the peg
prior to tuning is a bit of a challenge.. I will try turning it
around to get it to stretch the other way as well, perhaps this will
even out the string on its entire length. As I recall also from the
numerous conversations about the CD, the recommendation was to go with
a higher tension in order to have a less bouncy and rubber band effect.
Mimmo, I do realize that this is a work in progress, and I do
appreciate your offer to replace the strings, but before we do this I
think the exact tension of the new strings should be calculated, and
also compare the amount of stretch to standard nylgut or gut. The
feedback I sent is not a criticism in any way on your work, I hope you
understand that, but rather trying to understand what is happening and
see how we can remedy the situation. Overall I find the strings
interesting in sound, and I do like them more than wound strings.
As I mentioned, I will be in Italy this summer near your area, so If
you are in town I would really like to see you. I will not have my
lute with me however, as it is inconvenient to take on the plane and I
will be travelling around a lot and not have time to play.
regards
Bruno Cognyl-Fournier
Montreal, Quebec
2017-02-28 12:56 GMT-05:00 Bruno Cognyl-Fournier
<[1]fournier...@gmail.com>:
Dear Collective wisdom,
I have been tuning my 5 and 6th course in octaves for years, with wound
strings and gut or nylgut.
recently I bought the CD loaded strings from Mimmo and am slowly
getting used to them. I have thus replaced the fundamental with CD
loaded, while keeping my octave strings in gut or nylgut, this on two
different lutes.
I have noticed that the octaves are horribly out of tune as I go up the
neck, especially by the time you get to the 7th fret. I realize I
rarely have to play up there, but it bothers me. Am trying to figure
out what the problem is.. would it be a mismatch of tension? or would
it be the Loaded CD strings, that as some of you have probably found to
be very elastic. I have never had this issue with wound string/gut
combinations.
I will be testing each string individually to check which one goes out
of tune as you move up the scale, but I suspect it is the Loaded string
that is giving me the problem.
any comments?
Bruno
--
References
1. mailto:fournier...@gmail.com
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