[LUTE] Re: The Galliard

2009-07-25 Thread Doctor Oakroot
Sounds like the video starts black and you're not letting it run long
enough to actually start doing anything. (But I haven't watched it so not
sure). If your connection isn't blazing fast, the video may take some time
to get going and run in fits and starts - that's what I found at vimeo
when I was on DSL-Light.


I'd like to watch David's vimeo, but when I click on the start arrow at
bottom left of image, the image becomes black and two bars (as in the
pause symbol) appear.  Clicking on that, brings back the original
image.  The video does not play.  Any ideas about what I'm doing wrong?



Ned
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[LUTE] Re: la folia witchcraft

2008-10-17 Thread Doctor Oakroot
Not that it's on topic or anything, but I'm a Witch for one. We do exist :o)

 been la-la-la-la-ling it in mandolin land these days - hope you won't
mind the following.
there's a video on youtube in which a minister in gov. palin's church
blesses her with protection against witchcraft - absolutely beggars
belief ... prompted me to write the following - using the traditional
la folia progression:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=9HIQhsY4F-0
collusion with a priest
in protection from the witch
presupposes belief that they exist
if we all give the power to palin
will we get the horror of salem?
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=billkilpatrick

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[LUTE] Re: more general scams

2008-08-12 Thread Doctor Oakroot
You were right. That's a scam.

UPS is in the business of delivering physical packages - they would have
left you a note on your door, not an email, if there were an undelivered
package.


 This is not the same issue, but like many of you, no doubt, I have
 received several offers to share with a Nigerian banker the profits
 of a person who has just died intestate.
 Of course I didn't fall for that. However, a week ago I received a
 message purporting to be from UPS about an undelivered parcel, and
 there is an attachment to click on,
 and I am told this includes a form for details I need to fill-in to
 be able to receive this parcel.
 Now this time, I very nearly clicked on the attachment, thinking
 perhaps some lute strings, I had forgotten I had ordered, had just
 arrived.
 However, something about it made me hesitate, I may be wrong and it
 may be valid, but I think it is a clever new scam to get personal
 details, or to spread a virus.
 Have any of you received a similar message purporting to be from UPS.
 Anthony


 Le 12 août 08 à 17:38, Guy Smith a écrit :

 If you are selling an instrument over the internet, watch out for the
 Nigerian scam (they'll offer to send you considerably more than the
 purchase price and you are to send the extra back...). I got one of
 these in
 response to an ad for a tandem bicycle that I'm trying to sell, and I
 advertised only on a private mailing list. I've heard of several other
 similar incidents with tandems, and I imagine they could target
 lutes as
 well.

 Guy

 -Original Message-
 From: Wayne Cripps [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 Sent: Tuesday, August 12, 2008 8:26 AM
 To: lute@cs.dartmouth.edu
 Subject: [LUTE] baroque guitar scam



 Hi folks -

  You probably know that I run a lutes for sale web page.  at
 http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute/forsale.html .  I just got
 the first for sale scam - at least it seems like a scam to me..

   I am Brad Baker.I came accross your wanted advert and email
 address on
  http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute/forsale.html#wanted I would
 like
  to inform you that i have 5 course baroque guitar For Sale @ 1,400
  Euro(Give Away Price)including shipping to your front door in Finland
  via Courier express delivery.The price of this lutes are more than
  2,500 euro.You can't get it this price(1,400 euro)anywhere.Hurry up
  now,this is give away price.Buy one and get one free Nokia mobile
 phone.


  Maybe I am wrong... maybe many respected luthiers are now supplying
 free cell phones with their usual merchandise.. but I would suggest
 that you be careful with any internet transactions with strangers.

  You can see the instruments at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/
 lute/Baker/
 There seem to be two different pairs of guitars and a fifth by itself.
 Maybe one of them is yours!

  Wayne



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[LUTE] Re: what are underlights ...

2008-05-30 Thread Doctor Oakroot
What about Aurora Borealis? Was Campion far enough north to see it?

 .. in Thomas Campion's lute song Author of Light?

 Sun and moon,
 stars and underlights I see,
 but all their glorious beams
 are mists and darkness
 being compar'd to thee.

 The OED is not really helpfull, suggestion lightning for a much later
 occurence. Anybody out there who can shed some light on this?

 David - as ever, greatly appreciative



 
 David van Ooijen
 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 www.davidvanooijen.nl
 




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[LUTE] Re: Making a duet from a solo.

2008-04-28 Thread Doctor Oakroot
In the composition of a solo piece for a lute-like instrument, compromises
are made to accommodate the limitations of the instrument. If one can
discern these compromises, one could undo them to fill out the intended
harmony in the second lute part.

 The obvious method for making a duet from a solo is
 to simply divide the notes between the two lutes,
 usually giving the melody notes to one lute and the
 remaining notes to the other lute.

 Are there any more sophisticated considerations
 for endevours of this type, which can be formulated
 into textual rules?  I ask because sometimes
 the above method seems to change the character of
 the piece somewhat.



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[LUTE] Re: tuners

2008-04-21 Thread Doctor Oakroot
I think it's really funny that folks who insist on playing early music on
historically accurate instruments use electronic tuners to set them up.
ROFL

 Stuart wrote:

 Anyone got any advice/recommendations on tuners? Do people use them to
 position frets too?

 I recently bought the Turbo Tuner (Sonic Research ST122 Chromatic Strobe
 Tuner www.turbo-tuner.com ) and love it. Easily programmable, very
 accurate,
 easy read-out, mic/software is very good in picking up lute sound - even
 low
 basses, no moving parts, sturdily build, small. You can attach a clip-mic,
 but you'll have to buy one seperately. I use it for different
 temperaments.
 Yes, fret positioning too. I also have  'the brick', as the no longer in
 production Korg MT-1200 with a slot for one programmable temperament is
 called. The Turbo Tuner is by far the better of the two.

 David


 
 David van Ooijen
 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 www.davidvanooijen.nl
 




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[LUTE] Re: Lute Sighting

2008-03-31 Thread Doctor Oakroot
Do you have an actual URL for that? I don't see a path like that at Yahoo.

 All,

 If you can get to YahoohomecomicsWizard of Id, you'll see Bung's lute.

 Steve


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[LUTE] Re: No guts no glory

2007-10-23 Thread Doctor Oakroot
But that misses the Lute meaning of gut doesn't it?

What's that in Latin?

 Nulla sine nervis gloria
 --
 Mathias



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[LUTE] Re: String Question

2007-10-18 Thread Doctor Oakroot
Those are classical guitar strings with ball ends. 1st-3rd are nylon.
4th-6th are a copper alloy wrapped around a nylon core. I would expect a
lot of intonation problems putting nylon strings on a 12-string guitar -
and no way to adjust.

Your friend might consider getting a fretted Cumbus. This has 12 metal
strings, but no octave stringing. But with an floating bridge, it's easy
to adjust for the intonation difference. I've done this with a Cumbus. I
found it necessary to make a new, wooden, tail piece to solve a problem
with the tail piece cutting the nylon strings - this was easy to do.

Lark in the Morning has Cubuses pretty cheap:
http://larkinam.com/search.asp?t=sssb=0%22ss=cumbusx=23y=15

Hmmm... I don't see the fretted one on that page, but I'm sure they can
get one for you. Or just tie frets on like a lute.


 Dear Collected Wisdom,

 A fellow I know wants to start learning the lute. However he can't afford
 a lute at this time. Instead he has a 12-string guitar that he wants to do
 a non-invasive conversion to. That is he wants to restring it with nylon
 strings instead of the steel ones that are standard on such guitars. The
 problem is that steel strings have a nut or ball on the end that is held
 in the bridge by a peg. He has found that D'Addario has a ball ended nylon
 string (http://www.classicax.com/daddario/folk.htm#anchor443559) but this
 page is rather confusing as to whether he can get a full set or even if
 they are completely nylon but, as seems to be implied, metal wound over
 nylon. Has anyone had any experience with these string in particular or
 any other strings that might suit this beginner without his having to
 replace the bridge on his guitar to allow for tied on strings?

 Thank you for your time.

 Regards,
 Craig


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[LUTE] Re: Looking for new tuner

2007-10-13 Thread Doctor Oakroot
Set your tuner to A 439.6 and tune your Bb to that. That will give you A 415.

 now i'm using my old guitar tuner to tune the lute, i cant hear the
 pitch or set it lower then A=436Hz.

 so now i'm looking for new tuner, one that i'll be able to hear and
 set the pitch for each course, and set A to 415Hz


 any suggestions?


 b.h.w.
 international shipment is needed, in israel we got nothing (and i
 searched in every store...)



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[LUTE] Re: longbows lutes

2007-10-12 Thread Doctor Oakroot
I'm both an archer (very amateur) and a lute player.


 As the only archer amongst all the lute players (so far as I know- as
 well as the only lutenist amongst the archers) I can't recommend the
 study of archery too strongly- what a great balance of culturally 
 physically complementary disciplines. Both Henry VIII and Elizabeth I
 were archers as well as lute players, after all.

 dw

While preparing for a concert on ren lute years ago at Emory University,
 in
the Law School building, I stepped out into the hallway to practice a few
quiet licks while the consort practiced another piece I didn't play in.
 This
was at 8pm. The hallway was cavernous and made a nice echo. Within a
 minute,
a crowd of angry law students with a security officer appeared and began
 to
verbally assault me. Yes and even threatened to sue for damages. How dare
 I
pluck a lute in a law shool with future lawyers in the torture of
 studying!
I told them I would stop, but the shouting peresisted on into the lecture
hall where the concert was to be. The concert was cancelled by the Law
School faculty and I got letters. The library was a floor down through
 two
sets of fire doors. And you though you had tough critics. I didn't know
 the
lute was loaded

Lou Aull

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[LUTE] Re: Historical gut strings.

2007-08-17 Thread Doctor Oakroot

 to my ear Nylgut is out of tune above
 the 4th fret, but some find it acceptable.

That probably has more to do with your fret placement than the string
material. One probably does need some fret placement adjustment to match
string material - I would thing a very small adjustment between the
materials used for lute strings.

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[LUTE] Re: Historical gut strings.

2007-08-13 Thread Doctor Oakroot

 But he also said something like I won't go into how we know this.

That sounds like code for I don't know what I'm talking about. lol


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[LUTE] Re: [Viols] question about the viola da gamba

2007-03-15 Thread Doctor Oakroot
The double bass is a viol that's lost its frets, not a violin.

 Is the double bass a member of the violin family? It shares neither tuning
 nor structure. By the way a double bass player is called a bassist.

 Gary

 - Original Message -
 From: Paul Kemner [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 Sent: Wednesday, March 14, 2007 8:17 AM
 Subject: Re: [Viols] question about the viola da gamba


 To add further confusion the bass of the violin family (double bass)
 is called a bass viol too. Maybe true lyre of Apollo would be simpler.


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[LUTE] Re: Fuenllana Tan que vivray

2007-03-06 Thread Doctor Oakroot
Is it actually 'II' (roman numeral) with a fancy hook? Is the modern
repeat sign from the same source?



 Not an eta but 'ij' (two) which means: again.

 While we're in the nitty gritty of Pete and Repeat, what is the origin
 of ij? This evolved into our modern 'ditto' mark (  ), right?

 Sean




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[LUTE] Re: Fuenllana Tan que vivray

2007-03-06 Thread Doctor Oakroot
Is it actually 'II' (roman numeral) with a fancy hook? Is the modern
repeat sign from the same source?



 Not an eta but 'ij' (two) which means: again.

 While we're in the nitty gritty of Pete and Repeat, what is the origin
 of ij? This evolved into our modern 'ditto' mark (  ), right?

 Sean




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[LUTE] Re: Fuenllana Tan que vivray

2007-03-06 Thread Doctor Oakroot
Is it actually 'II' (roman numeral) with a fancy hook? Is the modern
repeat sign from the same source?



 Not an eta but 'ij' (two) which means: again.

 While we're in the nitty gritty of Pete and Repeat, what is the origin
 of ij? This evolved into our modern 'ditto' mark (  ), right?

 Sean




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[LUTE] Re: Fuenllana Tan que vivray

2007-03-06 Thread Doctor Oakroot
Is it actually 'II' (roman numeral) with a fancy hook? Is the modern
repeat sign from the same source?



 Not an eta but 'ij' (two) which means: again.

 While we're in the nitty gritty of Pete and Repeat, what is the origin
 of ij? This evolved into our modern 'ditto' mark (  ), right?

 Sean




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[LUTE] Re: Renaissance ditto/ij/ --was Fuenllana Tan que vivray (not a ditto this time,lol)

2007-03-06 Thread Doctor Oakroot
My email program kept saying it hadn't sent it. Yikes.

In Latin 'i' and 'j' are the same letter which is what led me to the
thought that it might be II. 'ij' is certainly not a Latin word otherwise.


 On Mar 6, 2007, at 10:41 AM, Doctor Oakroot wrote:

 Is it actually 'II' (roman numeral) with a fancy hook? Is the modern
 repeat sign from the same source?

 I doubt it, Doc. In all renaissance prints I've seen, roman numerals
 are invariably upper case type and the ij is always lower case. And a
 second repeat is never III. To be fair, they may have avoided the upper
 case for size or its distraction.

 Are there any plausible latin phrases based on ij?

 Sean

 ps, your message seems to be taking this ditto topic literally.




 Not an eta but 'ij' (two) which means: again.

 While we're in the nitty gritty of Pete and Repeat, what is the origin
 of ij? This evolved into our modern 'ditto' mark (  ), right?

 Sean




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[LUTE] [Re: Google vs Youtube]

2007-02-26 Thread Doctor Oakroot
Whoops, I once again forgot that this list doesn't work right. lol

 Original Message 
Subject: Re: [LUTE] Re: Google vs Youtube
From:Doctor Oakroot [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date:Mon, February 26, 2007 7:48 am
To:  Ed Durbrow [EMAIL PROTECTED]
--

Looks very similar to me... no surprise since Google owns Youtube. The
google video is probably youtube technology running in a google skin.

 What a difference!

 On Feb 26, 2007, at 10:46 AM, Roman Turovsky wrote:

 Google doesn't have synch problems, and the visual aspect is much
 better
 too:
 http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5041167636801710718hl=en
 RT

 Ed Durbrow
 Saitama, Japan
 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 http://www9.plala.or.jp/edurbrow/



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[LUTE] Re: library copyright

2007-02-07 Thread Doctor Oakroot

Actually, the Apple Music vs Apple Computer case is about trademark not
copyright. Apple Music owns the apple trademark for use in a music
business... so they could not sue NYC which is using the apple, but is not
in the music
business. The question is whether Apple Computer is in the music business.
It seems obvious to me that they are, but so far the courts disagree.

 Check out the current situation between Apple (the Beatles publishing
 company) and McIntosh regarding the use of apples as a logo. Apple
 cannot win I think, because if they do they'll have to start suing
 everybody, including the city of New York, apple farmers, etc.

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[LUTE] Re: microphones

2007-02-05 Thread Doctor Oakroot
The Shure SM 58 also has a 1dB peak at 3000 Hz, which brings out the
vocal. The 57 is has a fairly flat response (within the limits of what can
be done with a dynamic mic) to accurately reproduce an instrument.

 I would also recommend the Sure mics. Generally the difference
 between the 57 and 58 is that the 57 is considered an instrument mic
 and the 58 vocal. The 58 has a bigger end to protect the workings
 from singers that hold it really close. Otherwise they are about the
 same. One real advantage of these mics is that they are made to stand
 up to being moved from place to place and can even live through being
 dropped once in a while. On the other hand if you drop an expensive
 condenser mic it usually means a trip to the repair shop.
 Nancy Carlin


I use a high sensitivity clip mic on my acoustic, then put that thru' a
Korg AX10A acoustic processor, for my lute I use a directional mike,
Shure SM58 or 57 then run it thru the same processor which adds a bit
more body to the sound.

Neil

-Original Message-
From: Eugene C. Braig IV [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: 05 February 2007 15:48
To: Doc Rossi; Louis Aull
Cc: lute@cs.dartmouth.edu
Subject: [LUTE] Re: microphones

At 12:50 PM 2/4/2007, Doc Rossi wrote:

 On Feb 4, 2007, at 6:44 PM, Louis Aull wrote:
 
   Ask any performing acoustic guitar player and they will swear by
   internal
   pickups over external mikes.
 
 Sorry, Louis, not me.

Nor me.

Eugene



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[LUTE] Re: Historical metronomes.

2006-11-03 Thread Doctor Oakroot
Well, there are technical problems:

1. Unpowered it probably wouldn't continue meaningful swings through a
whole piece,

2. Where in the swing is the beat? (has to be at the bottom since that's
the only point on the swing that exists at any amplitude)

3. How do you mark the beat? (Any likely visual method - say, a placard
behind the pendulum - would cause parallax problems for ensemble player;
audible methods - say, having the bob click something as it goes past -
would exacerbate problem 1.

Not that these problems couldn't have been overcome, but the players'
inate sense was probably better than the listeners' and no one was
checking them against a mechanical device (otherwise they would have had
metronomes, lol), and that was probably good enough.

 A rock on a string makes a fine metronome.
 The tempo does not depend on the rock's weight.
 Nor does it change as the oscillations gradually
 die down.  It depends only on the string length:
 MM 3626 inches
 MM 81 6 inches

 So, historical scores could have indicated tempo
 with a length, say quarter note = 12 inches.

 However, using Google, I find no reference to a rock
 and string being used historically as a metronome.

 Perhaps their musicality was so innate that the
 idea would never occur to them?



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[LUTE] Re: more than 6 courses

2006-10-18 Thread Doctor Oakroot

To me an interesting question is: how did Bakfark come about a 7-course
 lute?

Well, if you had a 6c lute and needed a 7th course, you could just put one
extra slot in the nut (a 10 minute job with a small file or a little
longer with a knife) to split the 6th c into two one-string courses. You
could even switch back and forth between 6 and 7 as easily as retuning.

I would be surprised if some enterprising ren lute player didn't think of
that.

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[LUTE] Re: Why re-entrant tuning?

2006-10-14 Thread Doctor Oakroot
Yeah, I understand how you're getting e on the 7th fret of the 1st
string... but on the 4th string:

open - g
1st - g#
2 - a
3 - a#
4 - b (not e)
..
9 - e

I've tried doing melancholy ren songs as blues and haven't gotten it to
work yet, lol.

 doc -

 i get e on the 7th fret by counting cosi:

 open - a
 1st - a#
 2nd -b
 3rd -c
 4th - c#
 5th - d
 6th - d#
 7th - e

 given the ruckus caused by sting and his dowland
 recordings and the decidedly woe is me content of
 his (dowland's) tunes, how about a
 carolina/baroque/piedmont-ie/blues-type rendition of
 same?

 woahahwoahcomeheavysleep! da-dada-dah ...

 olè - bill

 --- Doctor Oakroot [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 Bill,

 How are you tuning your uke? On my (standard) uke
 (g-c-e-a), that e is on
 the 9th fret of the 4th string.

  the star spangled banner, for example, played on
 a
  ukulele (g-c-e-a) - starting with g (2nd string,
 3rd
  fret) leaves you with the option of climbing up
 the
  neck to e (1st string, 7th fret) to reach ...
 by
  the dawn's early light or switching to the 4th
  string, 4th fret for the same.  my point was that
 the
  former - imho - leaves you up there with the
  tinky-tinks while the latter has more vibrating
  length and a fuller sound.
 
  re-entrant tuning with bourdon is something of a
 plus
  and the charango's 5th course is just icing on the
  cake.
 
  - bill
 
  --- David Rastall [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
 
  On Oct 13, 2006, at 10:00 AM, bill kilpatrick
 wrote:
 
   ...my own take on re-entrant tuning is:
   ...you can pursue the high reaches of
   the melody without climbing up the neck
 
  I don't follow you.  Doesn't it work the other
 way?
  The highest
  pitched string in re-entrant tuning would be
 either
  the second or the
  third string.  If you wanted to get above that
  pitch, into the higher
  reaches, you would have to move up the neck to do
  so.
 
  David R
  [EMAIL PROTECTED]
  www.rastallmusic.com
 
 
 
 
 
 
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[LUTE] Re: Redoing old songs

2006-10-14 Thread Doctor Oakroot
It's one of those things on my long term to do list, but haven't gotten to
it yet.

 you're absolutely right ... i was looking at my 5c.
 charango, thinking 4 string uke.

 have you tried paraphrasing the lyrics?  i've taken a
 rather stilted translation of an 8th cent. arab ditty
 and come up with this:

 one hour with you
 will last a lìfetime
 although i live to be
 old as old noah.

 looses something in print alone but works ok as an
 olde worlde warble.

 ciao - bill

 --- Doctor Oakroot [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 Yeah, I understand how you're getting e on the 7th
 fret of the 1st
 string... but on the 4th string:

 open - g
 1st - g#
 2 - a
 3 - a#
 4 - b (not e)
 ..
 9 - e

 I've tried doing melancholy ren songs as blues and
 haven't gotten it to
 work yet, lol.

  doc -
 
  i get e on the 7th fret by counting cosi:
 
  open - a
  1st - a#
  2nd -b
  3rd -c
  4th - c#
  5th - d
  6th - d#
  7th - e
 
  given the ruckus caused by sting and his dowland
  recordings and the decidedly woe is me content
 of
  his (dowland's) tunes, how about a
  carolina/baroque/piedmont-ie/blues-type rendition
 of
  same?
 
  woahahwoahcomeheavysleep! da-dada-dah ...
 
  olè - bill
 
  --- Doctor Oakroot [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 wrote:
 
  Bill,
 
  How are you tuning your uke? On my (standard) uke
  (g-c-e-a), that e is on
  the 9th fret of the 4th string.
 
   the star spangled banner, for example, played
 on
  a
   ukulele (g-c-e-a) - starting with g (2nd
 string,
  3rd
   fret) leaves you with the option of climbing up
  the
   neck to e (1st string, 7th fret) to reach
 ...
  by
   the dawn's early light or switching to the 4th
   string, 4th fret for the same.  my point was
 that
  the
   former - imho - leaves you up there with the
   tinky-tinks while the latter has more
 vibrating
   length and a fuller sound.
  
   re-entrant tuning with bourdon is something of
 a
  plus
   and the charango's 5th course is just icing on
 the
   cake.
  
   - bill
  
   --- David Rastall [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
  
   On Oct 13, 2006, at 10:00 AM, bill kilpatrick
  wrote:
  
...my own take on re-entrant tuning is:
...you can pursue the high reaches of
the melody without climbing up the neck
  
   I don't follow you.  Doesn't it work the other
  way?
   The highest
   pitched string in re-entrant tuning would be
  either
   the second or the
   third string.  If you wanted to get above that
   pitch, into the higher
   reaches, you would have to move up the neck to
 do
   so.
  
   David R
   [EMAIL PROTECTED]
   www.rastallmusic.com
  
  
  
  
  
  
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  http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com
  
  
  
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[LUTE] Re: Why re-entrant tuning?

2006-10-13 Thread Doctor Oakroot
Bill,

How are you tuning your uke? On my (standard) uke (g-c-e-a), that e is on
the 9th fret of the 4th string.

 the star spangled banner, for example, played on a
 ukulele (g-c-e-a) - starting with g (2nd string, 3rd
 fret) leaves you with the option of climbing up the
 neck to e (1st string, 7th fret) to reach ... by
 the dawn's early light or switching to the 4th
 string, 4th fret for the same.  my point was that the
 former - imho - leaves you up there with the
 tinky-tinks while the latter has more vibrating
 length and a fuller sound.

 re-entrant tuning with bourdon is something of a plus
 and the charango's 5th course is just icing on the
 cake.

 - bill

 --- David Rastall [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 On Oct 13, 2006, at 10:00 AM, bill kilpatrick wrote:

  ...my own take on re-entrant tuning is:
  ...you can pursue the high reaches of
  the melody without climbing up the neck

 I don't follow you.  Doesn't it work the other way?
 The highest
 pitched string in re-entrant tuning would be either
 the second or the
 third string.  If you wanted to get above that
 pitch, into the higher
 reaches, you would have to move up the neck to do
 so.

 David R
 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 www.rastallmusic.com






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[LUTE] [Re: Too soft to live, was The last word goes to Sting]

2006-10-10 Thread Doctor Oakroot

Whoops. Forgot to press Reply-All. Now I remember why I never post to this
list.

 Original Message 
Subject: Re: [LUTE] Too soft to live, was The last word goes to Sting
From:Doctor Oakroot [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date:Tue, October 10, 2006 11:55 am
To:  Caroline Usher [EMAIL PROTECTED]
--


But the guitar survived, and it did not become a concert-hall instrument
 until the 20th century.  There's a massive amount of chamber music from
 the 19th century.  Why couldn't the lute have continued equally with the
 guitar in that setting?

 I don't know the answer but I am pretty sure that it's not lack of volume.
 Caroline

It may just be that the guitar is much easier (and therefore cheaper) to
build. You can afford to pay lavishly for a main stream popular
instrument, but for the second-line, lower pay gig you need to stay within
budget.

It may also be that both really died out until certain individuals.. Sor
through Segovia... started pushing such an instrument and they happened to
be guitarists.

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[LUTE] Re: EMS lutes Good or Bad

2006-10-03 Thread Doctor Oakroot
OK, here's a dumb question... Most of the lutes listed on the EMS site are
lutes by so-and-so (Substitute various names for so-and-so)... Are those
folks not luthiers? Why would some random luthier be better than one who
sells through EMS?

It's already been clearly demonstrated on this list that some luthiers
have no idea why or how a lute works and it's a good thing they're copying
older designs.

 Like others have suggested, I'd recommend you shop for something built by
 a
 luthier.  One I often recommend for great functionality and reasonable
 prices is http://www.lucianofaria.com/.

 Best,
 Eugene


 At 08:27 PM 9/30/2006, Mosabi Greyfox wrote:

Greetings!

Hi everyone! I am new to the lute list and to lutes. I have been
 looking
every where for a good starter lute. I have talked to a friend of
 mine who
is  a  luthier.  He  said  I  should  expect  to  spend  in  the
 range
of $2500 (can) and up for a decent lute. See I am a guitar player and
 the
most expensive guitar I own is only $800 so I am not in a big hurry
 drop
that much cash.

So that brings me to my question to  all of you.
Ihave   been   looking   at 7   course lute   made   by   EMS
 in
england. [1]www.e-m-s.com
This model hovers around $780 can in various stores.
I have read a few reviews on this lute and the seem pretty good. But
 one
person reviewed it as unplayable. I asked my luthier if he knew about
 this
brand but he did not.

So the question is: Is this lute a good buy? Has anyone played a
 lower end
EMS?

Thanks everyone for your time!

Robin {Bard in training}

References

1. http://www.e-m-s.com/



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[LUTE] Re: Amazed stood Apollo there ......

2006-09-22 Thread Doctor Oakroot
Well Dionysus=intoxication vs Apollo=control certainly fits with the
respective myths. Apollo comes first when we practice to perfect our
technique, but it's not music until Dionysus pushes us to the intoxicated
limit of our practiced control.


  stravinsky literally writes: What is important for the lucid ordering
 of the
 work - for its crystallization - is that all Dionysian elements which set
 the
 imagination of the artist in motion and make the lifespan ripe must be
 properly subjugated before they intoxicate us, and must finally be made to
 submit to the laws: Apollo demands it

 This is very interesting because I find this statement to be against
 everything that I beleive about music performance. It is also the absolute
 opposite of renaissance musical performance theory as put forth by
 theorists such as Ficino. Ficino's idea of divine frenzy is what I look
 forward in a performance.

 The aim of every Pantagruel performance is intoxication and I beleive that
 is what Apollo demands.
 best wishes
 Mark





 -Urspr=C3=BCngliche Mitteilung-
 Von: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 An: Undisclosed.Recipients: ;Undisclosed.Recipients:;
 Cc: lute@cs.dartmouth.edu; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 Verschickt: Fr., 22.Sept.2006, 12:10
 Thema: Re: [LUTE] Re: Hear Sting Dowland CD at amazon.de


 On Friday 22 September 2006 11:00, you wrote:
 I still find non-emotional sounds quite frightening.
 Maybe you have hit on what iritates me by some early music performaces
 non-emotional romanticism. I am not sure what if any relevance the
 philosophy of stravinsky has to early music . Mark

 there is quite a relevance of stravinsky and early music. Much can be said
 about the notion of the sublime Immanuel Kant, Walter benjamin, adorno,
 the
 baroque and the romantic interpretation of this etc. David was refering to
 Taruskin who wrote especially on this subject and stravinsky is an
 important
 person in this view. Taruskin writes that all truly modern musical
 performance (and of course that includes the authentistic variety)(, i.e.
 the
 early music movement, Taco) treats the music performed as if it were
 composed
 - or at least performed  - by stravinsky. He means to say the early music
 movement removed all 'human',  elements, i.e. a depersonalized view of
 performance in favour of abstract patterns and precision. This aesthetic
 view
 is in line with stravinsky who insisted on 'the higher mathematics of
 music'.
 stravinsky literally writes: What is important for the lucid ordering of
 the
 work - for its crystallization - is that all Dionysian elements which set
 the
 imagination of the artist in motion and make the lifespan ripe must be
 properly subjugated before they intoxicate us, and must finally be made to
 submit to the laws: Apollo demands it
 that's quite counter-nietzsche. Taruskin refers to this limitation of the
 performance freedom. Loyalty to the 'menschlich, allzu menschliches',
 emotion,  freedom of interpretation was removed because of this stravinsky
 view and adoption in early music movement. Stravinsky was attacking the
 wagner way of super sublime movement of the romantic period, by moving in
 the
 complete opposite side. You can also think of arguments against taruskin,
 but
 anyway, this link between stravinsky and early music was meant I think.
 Taco

 -Urspr=C3=BCngliche Mitteilung-
 Von: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 An: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; lute@cs.dartmouth.edu
 Verschickt: Fr., 22.Sept.2006, 10:35
 Thema: Re: [LUTE] Re: Hear Sting Dowland CD at amazon.de


 Richard Taruskin makes a strong case for this in his article 'The
 Pastness
 of the Present'. Early music players play like non-motionaly involved
 Stawinsky, not like romantically inclined Landowska.


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[LUTE] Re: Lute stand???

2006-09-20 Thread Doctor Oakroot
Looks to me like he's sitting with his left leg through the back of the
chair (maybe the back is just the two extensions from the back legs) and
that's one side of the back... but that would be even more uncomfortable
than the dagger and unstable.

 Greetings All,

 A friend sent me a link to this enggraving by Meckenem the Younger.

 http://www.artrenewal.org/asp/database/image.asp?id=24901

 Now I have seen this engraving before but she mentioned a lute stand and
 upon looking more closely I see she was referring to something that is
 sticking up under the lute between the player's legs. Now in looking
 further this appears to extend below the stool he's sitting on and I'm not
 convinced it's a lute stand but instead a dagger on a belt. Why the player
 would have this in the position it's in is beyond me as it seems that it
 would be most uncomfortable and the hilt would tend to scratch the lute.
 Also he appears to be leaning on the table to support the lute and thus an
 additional stand might not be necessary. So I ask you all, what do you
 think it is?

 Regards,
 Craig


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[LUTE] Re: Lute stand???

2006-09-20 Thread Doctor Oakroot
Wouldn't he be playing with a plectrum in that period? Looks like he's
grasping something between thumb and index - but can't really see at this
resolution.


 On Sep 20, 2006, at 7:59 PM, Craig Allen wrote:

 Greetings All,

 A friend sent me a link to this enggraving by Meckenem the Younger.

 http://www.artrenewal.org/asp/database/image.asp?id=24901

 Now I have seen this engraving before but she mentioned a lute
 stand and upon looking more closely I see she was referring to
 something that is sticking up under the lute between the player's
 legs. Now in looking further this appears to extend below the stool
 he's sitting on and I'm not convinced it's a lute stand but instead
 a dagger on a belt. Why the player would have this in the position
 it's in is beyond me as it seems that it would be most
 uncomfortable and the hilt would tend to scratch the lute. Also he
 appears to be leaning on the table to support the lute and thus an
 additional stand might not be necessary. So I ask you all, what do
 you think it is?

 I agree with everything you say. Looks like a dagger. you can see
 what could be a belt or rope that is attached to the dagger or
 possibly that is the edge of his (two) pants. It looks like a loop of
 string extends past the dagger case. That looks like a most
 uncomfortable sitting position on that triangular stool.

 The way the artist has drawn the fingers looks a trifle exaggerated
 to me. The RH pinky is really spread far from the others which appear
 to be touching the belly. I tried this and it is possible, just
 unusual for me. In fact it could be a position for very fast single
 line playing with m and a gliding on the surface and the pinky
 anchored. The left hand looks even more strained though with the
 thumb making  a very sharp angle at the last joint. All of his
 fingers are very thin, I guess so he can fit them in the narrow
 compass of the strings. I'd be tripping all the time if I had shoes
 like those. :-)



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[LUTE] Re: using PC as recorder

2006-09-19 Thread Doctor Oakroot
Audacity ( http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ ) if free multitrack software
that works well if your PC is reasonably new. Works for live recording
even on older machines, but hangs older machines if you try to multitrack
with it.

A $15 computer mic will do an amazingly good job for the price. But better
to get a pro mic and preamp and send the signal to the computer's line-in.
I like the Shure SM-57 or SM=58 for recording instruments, but others like
a high-end condenser (which reproduces high frequencies better).

Best is to use a preamp with a digitizer builtin (e.g. DBX 360) and send
to the SP/DIF in on your high-end sound card. (This assumes, of course,
that you have a high end sound card.)

The more expensive methods will get you a cleaner recording of course, but
any will sound pretty good - it's a matter of where the dimishing returns
cut off is for you.

 Dear All,

 Sorry to bother you with this but I can't seem to access old archives
 which I know contain suggestions:

 I'm interested in exploring the possibility of using a PC to make good
 quality lute recordings and want to know what kind of mic to use and
 which (cheap or free) software for editing, etc.  All suggestions welcome.

 Thanks,

 Martin



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[LUTE] Re: Galant Continuo

2006-09-13 Thread Doctor Oakroot

 Anybody have any good comebacks for this type of
 situation?

I kinda liked the yes, the knights used them in tournaments thing, ROFL.


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[LUTE] Re: strings: direction of vibration?

2006-08-26 Thread Doctor Oakroot
This is pretty certainly true and I'd be really surprised if not true on
lute too... but I think the original question was basically about
religious conviction, not science :o)


 What direction should the strings get their maximum vibration for an
 optimum
 tone?

 For a guitar (sorry to mention this word) this is quite clear, as John
 Taylor pointed out (in his book Tone production on the classical
 guitar).
 Max tone comes from up-down vibration (towards the top and back).

 This is very easily tested on an actual instrument:
 try to pull the string perfectly sideways by quite a margin, and let it
 snap
 loose. When the direction is spot on, there's almost NO sound, while the
 vibration envelope is large. Now lift up a string at the nut end of the
 instrument, and there's a lot of sound when letting it go.

 On a guitar, sideways motion (although inevitable) is wasted motion.

 Is this the same on a lute?

 Paul Pleijsier



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[LUTE] Re: Instruments in the cooler?

2006-08-23 Thread Doctor Oakroot
The baggage compartments on an airliner are pressurized. It would actually
be an engineering nightmare to pressurize the passenger compartment and
not the baggage.

Most of the baggage compartments are not heated, so temperature can be a
concern. But the one compartment in which gate-checked luggage (and live
animals) ride generally is heated.

 Arne Keller wrote:

 A born pessimist, when I was going to Glasgow some years ago, I had
 arranged to borrow an instrument
 there, rather than let my own dear instrument suffer the temperature
 and
 pressure drop in the luggage
 compartment.

 The temperature and pressure problems are greatly exaggerated in the
 popular imagination.



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[LUTE] Re: Liuto Forte

2006-08-04 Thread Doctor Oakroot
It's true, I can't afford to play an actual lute, but I've played oud and
Cumbus enough to know I really don't like double stringing. Don't like the
way it feels on my right hand fingers and don't like the chorus effect
(which interferes with detailed pitch control).

I now play lute music on a single strung gourd lute that I made myself.

 Dear Doctor Oakroot and All:
  I must say I couldn't disagree more with what Dr. O has said about double
 stringing. It almost sounds as if he hasn't played the lute much at all.
 All the
 theory in the world will fail to convince me that this very subtle
 effect
 does not in fact make a huge difference both in sound and technique.
  As for the liuto forte, if it's lightly constructed, double-strung with
 typical lute tension, and fretted in gut, what is the complaint? I've
 never seen
 or played the instrument, so I'm just playing the Devil's advocate
 here
 Cheers,
 Jim




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[LUTE] Re: Liuto Forte

2006-08-03 Thread Doctor Oakroot
Sonically it's pretty trivial - you can't really hear the double stringing
unless the strings are out of tune. And must not add any volume or the
chanterelle wouldn't be single.

 single strung instrument, not a trivial difference between HIP lutes and
 Liuto Forte!
 Paolo




 Roman Turovsky [EMAIL PROTECTED] schrieb:
   The LF modifications are not nearly as drastic. The main being the
 idea
   of
   gut frets absorbing vibration, while metal ones reflecting it.
  
   They offer their instrument with the option of either metal or gut
 frets,
   and either single or double courses. See their web site.
   David
  The LF tension is so high that double courses on one is simply a
 recipe for
  anatomic disaster.

 those LFs I was allowed to try in Salzburg in 2002 (with Mr Burguete
 watching and listening) had normal low tension. They were lightly built,
 single strung instruments, the main difference being that they were
 capable of conceivably more volume than HIP lutes. That's all. Nothing
 wrong with them, as far as I could see.
 --
 Best,

 Mathias

 http://de.geocities.com/mathiasroesel
 http://mathiasroesel.livejournal.com
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[LUTE] Re: Liuto Forte

2006-08-03 Thread Doctor Oakroot
Yeah, I know all about chorus effect - but on an instrument as quiet as a
lute, it's a very subtle effect. Not worth the trouble of double stringing
IMO. (Of course octave stringing is another matter. That's audible, but
mostly, I don't like it.)



 Sonically it's pretty trivial - you can't really hear the double
 stringing unless the strings are out of tune.

 But they always are - at least slightly. Try googling chorus effect.

 ...Bob
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[LUTE] Re: Historical amplification

2006-07-28 Thread Doctor Oakroot
I suspect the concert hall could supply the table... much easier than
supplying a grand piano :o)

 Dear Craig,

 Agreed. I have had the same experience. I think it is important to
 have the lute resting on the table (not leaning against it), as does
 the lutenist in the Costa painting in the National Gallery, and the
 lady on the cover of Poulton and Lam's edition of Dowland. The
 difference in volume is considerable using my wooden table at home.
 However, I haven't pursued it, because

 1) I find it hard to keep the lute steady, when it is on the table,
 and there is no need at home for the sound to be amplified.

 2) Extra volume would be useful for public performances, but I don't
 fancy carrying a great big table around every time I have a gig.

 Best wishes,

 Stewart.


 - Original Message -
 From: Craig Allen [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 To: Lute Net lute@cs.dartmouth.edu
 Sent: Friday, July 28, 2006 6:17 PM
 Subject: [LUTE] Historical amplification (was: Liuto Forte)


 Stewart McCoy wrote:
 
 Nowadays we are expected to play to much larger audiences, and
 audibility can be a problem.

 I have nothing to say on the subject of the Liuto Forte, however
 the comment above of Stewart's raises an interesting side topic,
 that of historically informed amplification (for want of a better
 term).

 At the recent LSA festival in Cleveland I had the opportunity to
 attend a lecture by Chris Morongiello of the Venere Lute Quartet on
 this very subject. Using iconography from period showing lutenists
 either resting the lute on a table top or against the edge of it he
 discerned that this was not done so much to obviate the use of a
 strap, but instead to actually amplify the lute (though naturally it
 could have been done for either or both reasons). He demonstrated
 this by first playing a lute supported in the normal way so we could
 hear the sound. He then sat at a large, wooden table similar to a
 dining room table, which was itself on a wooden floor and placed the
 lute before him on the table top. There was a definite increase in
 volume that was rather impressive in such a large room (I believe
 formerly a library turned classroom).

 I mention this simply as an interesting side note to the previous
 discussion of loud lutes.

 Regards,
 Craig





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[LUTE] Re: Builder disses his own instrument

2006-07-13 Thread Doctor Oakroot
Well, the obvious thing would be to ask the seller to send you an mp3 of
something played on the instrument - then you could make your own
judgement of the sound. If it sounds good to you, buy it.

I suspect the builder does have a narrow view of the correct sound of a
vihuela - not to say that his view is wrong. But it's your opinion of the
correct sound that matters.

 I never expected a luthier to speak derisively of his own instrument,
 but I had just such an experience today and I wonder what others make of
 it.

 I have been considering the purchase, sight-unseen, of a used (almost
 new) vihuela. When I contacted the builder to ask him about it, he said,
 I can't recommend that instrument. It sounds more like a guitar than a
 vihuela. Normally I would never want to make a vihuela with such a
 large, deep body. When I built that instrument, I was not following my
 own design principles, which always aim for the best possible sound.
 Instead, I followed the customer's request to build an instrument with a
 particular look. A complete novice, he wanted a vihuela that looked
 exactly like the vihuela used by a certain famous lutenist, and he
 didn't care if the result was a sound that was not quite right for the
 genre.

 By the way, the builder is not trying to sell me a different instrument.
 He's just saying, Don't buy the vihuela I built that has a guitar-like
 sound.

 If you don't mind, please take a look at the pics. I'd like to hear
 people's opinions about this.

 http://img129.imageshack.us/img129/5908/mimi2006jp2000img600x450115251.jpg
 http://img131.imageshack.us/img131/5908/mimi2006jp2000img600x450115251.jpg
 http://img47.imageshack.us/img47/5908/mimi2006jp2000img600x450115251.jpg

 I have seen vihuela kits that sold for more than the cost of this
 lightly used finished instrument and case. So the price is attractive.
 But a guitar-like sound?

 By the way, the open string length is 60cm.

 One thing that did occur to me -- if it really does sound like a guitar,
 perhaps a guitarist might be interested in turning it into a guitar! How
 difficult could that be?

 Another thing which occured to me is, perhaps the builder simply has a
 narrowly preconceived notion of what a vihuela is supposed to sound
 like, and perhaps the sound of this instrument is sufficiently within
 the range of vihuela after all. However, I am inclined to suspect that
 is probably not the case. A person who can build an instrument with this
 sort of finish should be able to make a rational judgment about the
 sound. I have heard of people over-estimating the sound quality of their
 products, but I think the opposite is rather rare.

 Anyway, I would be very grateful for any thoughts on this.

 Thanks!

 Chris Witmer



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[LUTE] Re: String tension

2006-07-08 Thread Doctor Oakroot
Well for horsepower you need a ampifier :)  But even a 200 watt amp is
less than one horsepower (a HP is about 750W if I remember correctly), so
you probably need a BIG PA system - one of those 2500 W jobs - for about 3
HP, lol.


 On Friday 07 July 2006 21:26, Doctor Oakroot wrote:
 To get tension in kg, divide the N by g (gravitational acceleration at
 the
 surface of the Earth) or about 9.8 m/sec2. (My physics is a little
 rusty;
 someone who knows some physics please advise if I got that wrong).

 And yes, I know measuring tension in kg is silly, but people still do
 it.

 Doc, you are right. It's much better to use 3.266,67 (or perhaps
 3,266.66?)
 duim/sec2 from now on (or in voet/sec2 is also possible).

 Actually I would like to know how much horsepower I can put on my lute
 instead
 of this silly kg or newton. I'm sure that is the unit used in the US,
 right?
 Doc could you give the numbers?

 Taco







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[LUTE] Re: String tension

2006-07-07 Thread Doctor Oakroot
To get tension in kg, divide the N by g (gravitational acceleration at the
surface of the Earth) or about 9.8 m/sec2. (My physics is a little rusty;
someone who knows some physics please advise if I got that wrong).

And yes, I know measuring tension in kg is silly, but people still do it.

 Dear lutenists, I have been very confused lately about the right string
 tension for my lute. For a 8 course lute in g 59 cm, what would be the
 avarage tension in kg? All the courses must have the same tension?

 Have the patience to read all,

 http://home.planet.nl/~d.v.ooijen/david/writings/stringtension_f.html

 or skip to the example for a lute of 59cm (a'=440Hz):

 (course - note - tension in N - diameter for gut)
 1. g' 35 N 0.40mm
 2. d' 32 N 0.51mm
 3. a 28 N 0.64mm
 4. f 28 N 0.80mm
 5. c 28 N 1.07mm
 6. g 25 N 0.68mm
 6. G 28 N 1.43mm
 7. f 25 N 0.76mm
 7. F 28 N 1.60mm
 8. d 25 N 0.90mm
 8. D 28 N 1.92mm


 David


 
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 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 www.davidvanooijen.nl
 



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[LUTE] Re: LUTE] tying gut frets

2006-06-14 Thread Doctor Oakroot
goma laca = shellac

 Hello,

 Let me share with you a trick related with this topic, which I learned
 last week, when I visited Jaume Bosser, a luthier who lives 1 hour away
 from Barcelona.

 I went to have him build a new fretnut for my viola da mano, because I
 wanted different distances between the courses, and once there I took
 profit from his experience, and asked him to change all the frets...

 Now here is the trick: after fastening the gut tightly around the neck,
 the luthier pushes the fret downwards using a piece of wood on which he
 applies force with a hammer. Simple, but effective! In other words, he
 does not push with the fingernails.

 Another trick, as a bonus. Prior to making the knot, he applies a 10%
 solution of 'goma laca' (sorry, I don't know the word in english) to the
 gut, and so it becomes a little bit sticky (the knot holds better) and
 at the same is better protected against wear.

 Saludos from Barcelona,

 Manolo Laguillo

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[LUTE] Re: Microphone

2006-06-13 Thread Doctor Oakroot
First, Audacity is OK for live recording (which is probably most of what
you're doing) but it causes many computers to hang if you try to play back
two tracks simultaneously - so not so good for multitracking. So if you
decide you want to record an historical ensemble with you playing all the
instruments, you may need to actually buy a program.

The ideal mic for recording a lute is a large diaphram condenser. (Some
will say small diaphram - which will record the highs more accurately but
IMO is too harsh). A really cheap mic like this will run you about $200
and you also need a preamp that can supply phantom power to the mic -
another few hundred $ at least.

You could also get pretty good results with a pro dynamic mic (Shure SM-57
for example). You'll still need a preamp between the mic and the computer
but you can probably come in 25%-50% cheaper than a condenser system.

If you really want to stay cheap - the built-in mic in your laptop is
probably a small diaphram condenser and will actually do a pretty good job
if you have a very quiet place to record. The built in mic is probably
better than a cheap Radio Shack dynamic mic that could plug straight in to
the labtop, the plug-in mic would allow you more flexible options on
positioning the mic.


 I know that there was a thread on recording with a laptop/notebook a while
 ago, but I have now got it into my head that I would like to have a go at
 recording myself to see quite how terrible it sounds when sitting on the
 other side of the instrument...

 I've downloaded Audacity, which seems great.  The problem is a microphone.
 I tried the crappy computer microphone which came free with the Gatway
 2000
 that I bought in 1994 and I was most disappointed with the results(!).

 I've trawled round the various audio shops in parochial little Exeter, and
 rather surprisingly there was no-one who had any experience in recording
 historical plucked instruments.  So I thought I would appeal to the
 general
 wisdom of the list.

 I really don't want to spend very much, because I am only messing around
 (whilst I wait for the inevitable call from DG offering me that record
 contract...).  And every penny I save I can spend on lessons with Great
 Lute-Master Lindberg.  I also don't particularly want to buy any other
 bits
 of equipment - just me, a microphone and the laptop.  And the lute, of
 course.

 Any thoughts?

 Thanks,

 Peter



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[LUTE] Short tunes, was Re: New Heringman CD

2006-06-02 Thread Doctor Oakroot
Hmmm, 48 seconds per tune average.

That brings up something I've wondered about - a lot of ren lute music
seems to be very short. Did they just play lots of short pieces or was the
practice to repeat a piece several times? Do the written scores represent
themes which the player developed as he played?

 Jacob Heringman has a new CD out on Magnatune.com called Blame Not
 My Lute (insert joke here). A 47 minute collection of 58 Renaissance
 Lute pieces. Very solid and clear playing. Highly recommended for
 beginner and intermediate players who will likely come across these
 pieces in various collections. You can listen to all the full length
 tracks on Magnatune prior to purchase.

 DS



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[LUTE] Re: page update

2006-05-15 Thread Doctor Oakroot
Isn't viendo a present participle? It would be Watching the time pass
I think.

 something like I see (watch?) the time passing?


The title in spanish is Viendo pasar el tiempo. Perhaps some of you
with a good knowledge of both the spanish and english languages can
suggest a translation...



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[LUTE] Re: Barto CD

2006-05-08 Thread Doctor Oakroot
Even better news from the artists' perspective is that Apple Computers
only won because they don't own the music - so they are essentially
prohibited from grabbing any publishing rights as a condition for getting
on their service :o)

 the good news is that apple computer (ipod) won the
 apple logo court case with the beatles today ... which
 means that affordable music should ... could ... might
 possibly be available from them IF! there's enough
 demand for it.

 not only record companies got this hand fulla' gimmie
 thing ... i was looking for a book entitiled the
 english medieval minstrel by john southworth and
 found 4 used copies available on amazon u.k. for the
 low-low, low-low-low price of anywhere between £59.00
 to £207(!) ... quid, that is.

 - bill

 --- Taco Walstra [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 On Monday 08 May 2006 11:52, Gary Digman wrote:
  I went to Amazon to purchase the Barto/Weiss CD
 and noticed that the
  Barto/Hagen CD had gone from $6.98 to $39.98! What
 the hell is going on.
  Not only can't I afford to go anywhere, I can't
 afford to stay home
  either.

 Buy it and sell the CD for double the price to make
 a nice profit, because
 amazon.de sells the same CD for Euro 106,85!


 http://www.amazon.de/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0JYTY/qid=1147083692/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_8_1/302-3208262-0180810

 taco
 
  Best to
  All,
  Gary



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[LUTE] Re: Lute straps

2006-05-05 Thread Doctor Oakroot
I suspect his other 4-5 Haydn sonata (sightread) would have been just as
mediocre as sightread music usually is.


 Hi all,

 I strongly agree with Roman of his comment below!

 Arto

 On Thu, 4 May 2006, Roman Turovsky wrote:

  Hmmm.. Tab may be hard to memorize (don't know - never tried), but
 music
  isn't, lol. IMO, if you need to read to play in performance you don't
 know
  the music and you might as well just program it into a sequencer
 (which
  can read it much more accurately than you can).
 Lute music is not exactly green onions, you know.
 That's why even our virtuosi like to read as they play.
 Not everyone thinks that memorization is such a wonderful thing.
 Svyatoslav
 Richter once said that if he weren't forced to play from memory he
 wouldn't
 be stuck with his limited [sic!] repertoire. He would have liked to play
 5-6
 Haydn sonatas in concert, rather than 1, but sightreading just wasn't
 done
 in the old country.
 RT
 ==



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[LUTE] Re: Lute straps

2006-05-05 Thread Doctor Oakroot
In an orchestra the players are acting as a sequencer and their job is to
reproduce the written music accurately. The musical value comes from the
conductor - who usually has the score in front of him, but, if he's any
good, he doesn't actually need it. That's why experiments with
conductorless orchestras are generally flops.

And, no, blues isn't memorized - it's created during the performance... a
whole different art.

 HAs it ever occurred to you that all orchestral (and most small-ensemble)
 music is sightread, always?
 And all them mediocre blues are played from memory, ain't they?
 RT


I suspect his other 4-5 Haydn sonata (sightread) would have been just as
 mediocre as sightread music usually is.


 Hi all,

 I strongly agree with Roman of his comment below!

 Arto

 On Thu, 4 May 2006, Roman Turovsky wrote:

  Hmmm.. Tab may be hard to memorize (don't know - never tried), but
 music
  isn't, lol. IMO, if you need to read to play in performance you
 don't
 know
  the music and you might as well just program it into a sequencer
 (which
  can read it much more accurately than you can).
 Lute music is not exactly green onions, you know.
 That's why even our virtuosi like to read as they play.
 Not everyone thinks that memorization is such a wonderful thing.
 Svyatoslav
 Richter once said that if he weren't forced to play from memory he
 wouldn't
 be stuck with his limited [sic!] repertoire. He would have liked to
 play
 5-6
 Haydn sonatas in concert, rather than 1, but sightreading just wasn't
 done
 in the old country.
 RT
 ==



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[LUTE] Re: [Re: Lute straps]

2006-05-05 Thread Doctor Oakroot
I wouldn't even tell that to my sister (She's been principle second violin
in a couple of pro orchestras), lol. But the slavish adherence to the
written note was a significant reason for me for leaving classical (in the
broad sense) music.

 Doctor Oakroot wrote:

 In an orchestra the players are acting as a sequencer and their job is
 to
 reproduce the written music accurately. The musical value comes from
 the
 conductor

 Don't tell that to the principal wind players.



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[LUTE] Re: Lute straps

2006-05-04 Thread Doctor Oakroot
Hmmm.. Tab may be hard to memorize (don't know - never tried), but music
isn't, lol. IMO, if you need to read to play in performance you don't know
the music and you might as well just program it into a sequencer (which
can read it much more accurately than you can).

 Dear Stewart and list,

 The quote from the Burwell lute Book brings up another topic here:
 performing lute music in concert by memory.  I've read the argument
 that tablature is difficult to memorize...who knows?

 Do you prefer to have the tablature always in front of you?
 Personally, I'm leaning more and more in the direction of performing
 by memory.

 David Rastall


 On May 3, 2006, at 6:16 PM, Stewart McCoy wrote:

 Dear Manolo and Katherine,

 Mouton's coat certainly gives him the choice of several buttons to
 hook his lute on.

 One important factor not mentioned so far in this discusison, is how
 people sat to play the lute. When this was discussed on the Italian
 Lute Net in January 2004, I made the point that lutenists were
 expected to sit up straight, and not crouch over the lute, hugging
 it as so many of us do, with footstools to boot. There is less need
 for straps and gut tied between two buttons, if you sit hunched over
 the instrument. If you sit up straight, there is less of you to hold
 the instrument, less purchase (in the grabbing sense), and more
 reason to have extra paraphernalia to stop the lute slipping away. I
 quoted a passage from folio 16r of the Burwell Lute Book, which runs
 as follows:

 Those that are short sighted or have a short memory are bound to
 have allwayes there [=their] nose on there booke and soe they may
 fall into that inconveniency Therefore wee must be diligent to take
 them out by the booke and practise them soe well as we may play them
 by heart and learne the time and humour of the Lesson by the Eare
 that one might looke chearfully uppon the Company and not stoope The
 grace and chearfullnes in playing not being lesse pleaseing then
 [=than] the playing it selfe One must then sitt upright in playing
 to showe noe Constrainte or paines, to have a smileing Countenance
 that the Company may not thinke that you play unwillingly and showe
 that you animate the Lute aswell as the Lute does animate you yet
 you must not stirre your body nor your head nor showe any extreame
 satisfaction in your playing You must make noe mouthes nor bite your
 lipps nor cast your hands in a flourishing manner that relishes of a
 fidler in one word you must not lesse please the Eyes then the
 Eares

 It's a pity (but understandable) that we can't send attachments to
 the list, otherwise everyone could see Kenneth's picture of a
 17th-century lutenist. The young man is sitting up quite straight.
 His eyes are not on his instrument, and there is no music in sight.
 One imagines he would perform like a singer, looking around the room
 as he played, not with his head buried behind a book of music, or
 constantly staring at the movement of his left-hand fingers.

 I am sure Mary Burwell was right. What we see at a concert is an
 important part of the performance. As performers we think of the
 clothes we should wear, and how we should present ourselves. We may
 shake with nerves and regret a host of wrong notes, but we still
 look cheerful, smile, and politely acknowledge applause. When people
 describe a concert to someone afterwards, they usually describe what
 they saw, rather than what they heard: He wore a pink bow-tie, and
 kept scowling at the audience, rather than, He played out of time
 with a splat every bar.

 Anyway, I think there's more to those bits of gut tied behind the
 lute, than meets the eye.

 Best wishes,

 Stewart.


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[LUTE] Re: Lute on ebay germany

2006-04-27 Thread Doctor Oakroot
Looks nice. Is it a new student-quality lute? That's about what I'd expect
at that price.

 Dear lutelist

 As the pakistani lutes on ebay.com, there are chinese made (?) lutes on
 germany:
 http://cgi.ebay.de/RENAISSANCE-LAUTE-8-choerig-NEU_W0QQitemZ7409580350QQcategoryZ10179QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 What do you think of that lute ?

 regards




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[LUTE] Re: Can a total novice learn from a slightly more experienced student?

2006-04-26 Thread Doctor Oakroot
Hmmm.. want to stay on good terms with your daughter? Spring for lessons
from the teacher, lol.

 My daughter recently started taking Renaissance lute lessons and is
 making good progress -- considering that she has only been playing for
 one month.

 Now I'm thinking of studying lute too, but if possible I would like to
 avoid the time and expense of going to the house of my daughter's
 teacher to take lessons. I'm wondering if I could ask her to teach me.
 Some day, a decade down the road, perhaps my daughter will be a pro,
 but that will never be the case with me, as I'm approaching age 50 and
 have no prior experience with string instruments. I'm hoping I can get
 to the point where I can enjoy simple pieces, duets with my daughter,
 and perhaps keep my brain agile enough to delay the onset of senility by
 a few years. However, even though my goals are modest, I would like to
 avoid acquiring bad habits. Is it unreasonable to expect that my
 daughter, with only a one-month lead on me, would be able to instruct me
 properly?

 One reason I ask is because I know that self-instruction books for the
 lute have been published since the Renaissance, although perhaps
 quick-pickin', fun strummin' home guitar courses for any instrument
 always leave a lot to be desired.

 If I do decide to ask my daughter to teach me, can anyone recommend
 books or videos that would be especially useful?

 Finally, if you think it would be a good idea, I might consider having
 lessons with a bona fide lute teacher on an infrequent basis, but even
 two lessons a month (assuming I have to travel to the teacher's
 residence) would be a bit tough for me, on account of my heavy work
 schedule. (In fact, I'm thinking that I'll do most of my practicing
 during my lunch break at work.)

 Thanks for your advice!

 Chris Witmer



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[LUTE] Re: What is it?

2006-04-16 Thread Doctor Oakroot
Pibcorn = hornpipe (pib=pipe, corn=horn - word order in Welsh compounds is
generally reverse of English)

 ON Sat, 15 Apr 2006 06:58:13 -0700 A.J. Padilla, M.D. wrote:

 An aboka.  Interesting.  The French website describes it as a basque
 instrument, with the name derived from Arabic. ...

 Well double clarinets, with the pipes of the same length, are fairly
 widespread. In 'alboka', the player blows into a horn to get the reeds
 vibrating, like a sort of mouthpiece in a trumpet I suppose, and hence its
 name. Plus there is a horn on the other side to make it sound louder.
 There is a Welsh equivalent to 'alboka' - called 'pibcorn'. (Is there
 anybody who knows Welsh on the list who can tell what it means?)

 There are also mouth-blown double clarinets without a horn attached, such
 as 'zummara' (India), 'argun' (Turkey), 'cifte' (Greece) etc.

 AB

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[LUTE] Re: Building a fine action.

2006-04-07 Thread Doctor Oakroot
Acoustic instruments usually have higher action than electric guitars and
consequently a great absolute error tolerance. And gut (and nylon) are
considerable more forgiving than steel.

Beyond that, it's careful measurement, careful construction, and a good
set of files for adjusting the nut and bridge... oh, and a lot of
patience.


 From my experience in setting up electric guitars, a good action
 has an error tolerance of 1-3 thousandths of an inch (string to
 fret clearance).

 It seems remarkable that lute builders achieve this without
 adjustment screws.  Is this a matter of holding the neck exactly
 in place while the glue dries?



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[LUTE] Re: The happy camper with her first lute

2006-04-05 Thread Doctor Oakroot
When I was studying bass fiddle, some 30 years ago, my bow cost $2000.
$6000 for a cello bow now sounds pretty cheap. (I'll stick to building my
own instruments for $50 each, thank you, lol)

 For a beginner?


 Christopher Witmer wrote:

 after visiting a shop that specializes in violins and cellos to get a
 cello for another daughter who is starting cello, I will no longer
 complain about the prices of lutes. My other daughter's cello teacher
 generously arranged for her to get the use of a $20,000 cello for free
 (for which I am, as you must imagine, extremely grateful), but there
 were other cellos there costing more than 10 times that much. Yikes!
 And
 the bows! Good grief! A few days ago, if you had told me I would be
 spending $6,000 for a wooden stick with a horsehair ribbon attached to
 it, I would have suggested you go get your head examined. Now I'm the
 one who needs to get his head examined. I called professional cellist X
 to ask her opinion of professional cellist Y's recommendation of a
 $6,000 bow for a beginning student, and she said, If Y recommended the
 bow, you had better get it. His opinion is entirely trustworthy. The
 store will buy it back for almost the entire purchase price if you ever
 want to get rid of it, so think of it as an interest-free loan to the
 shop. You could get a bow for one-fifth the price, but you would not
 recover the purchase price when you eventually move up to a more
 expensive bow later.



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[LUTE] Re: The happy camper with her first lute

2006-04-05 Thread Doctor Oakroot
Parenting tip: It's OK to say we'll buy you the first one, but you'll
have to buy any additional lutes with your own hard-earned money.

 heard about the bow) is saying, Honey, let's encourage the other kids
 to take up lute, where the prices are not so outrageous. It's hard to

 Indeed, but lutes tend to multiply. It's a bit like with pets. You start
 with one, after a while you think another one would be nice and before you
 know it you have a house full of them.

 David - stopped counting




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[LUTE] Re: fret spacing: dowland vs mathematics

2006-04-05 Thread Doctor Oakroot
Well, first, if you use his mathematical method, you compound your
measurement error at every fret, so, of course it sound out of tune. Each
fret should be measured from the nut.

Second, Dowland's instructions have a big error in the placement of the
seventh fret (unless I'm just completely missunderstanding what he's
saying)... and it's really hard to do things like divide a measure into
elevenths... If you're tying on the frets, why not just do it by ear?

BTW, I have a spreadsheet that will give you fret placement for
Pythagorean tuning at
http://doctoroakroot.com/tools/Pythagorean_Fret_Calculator.xls - much
easier than Dowland :o)

 on this site:

 http://www.shipbrook.com/jeff/frets.html#fn1

 .. jeff lee has kindly posted a modern
 transliteration of dowland's fret spacing method and a
 mathematical formula for calculating same.

 he prefers the dowland to the math method as it ...
 sounds extremely out of tune compared to dowland's
 spacing.

 has anyone had comparable experience?

 i'll be tying frets onto my oud (lude) when it
 returns from the luthier and would like them to be as
 precise as possible.

 thank you - bill

 early music charango ... http://groups.google.com/group/charango



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[LUTE] Re: Antique tools.

2005-09-22 Thread Doctor Oakroot
Older tools were made of carbon steel which can be sharpened to a very
fine edge, but is soft enough to dull with use.

Modern tools use harder alloys which do not dull (at least not in your
lifetime with reasonable use), but can't be easily resharpened, reshaped,
and maybe can't be as sharp as carbon steel.

For the typical home handyman, the modern tools are better because they
require less care. But for a serious craftsman, the older tools may be
better (depending on the temperament of the craftsman).

The above explanation is, of course, over-simplified.


 Larry Brown (on his website) says that many of his tools are
 antique, and superior to their modern counterparts.

 The man's woodworking expertise is obvious (and probably
 also not obvious).

 So I wonder how it is that Craftsman, Black  Decker, and Stanley,
 with their engineers, experience, capital, and tremendous manufacturing
 resources, do not compete effectively in this area.



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Re: pipa

2005-07-14 Thread Doctor Oakroot
The apostrophes in old style transliteration indicate a puff of air. So p'
is pronounced like initial English p and p is pronounced like Italian p.
In modern pinyin transliteration these sounds are spelled p and b
respectively.

 Steve Amazeen [EMAIL PROTECTED] schrieb:
 How lucky!  The p'i p'a is an amazing instrument.

 often seen this transcription of the instrument's name, wonder how to
 pronounce it (because of the apostrophees = stress?).

 Best,

 Mathias
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Re: How the 'Old Ones' held the lute

2005-04-05 Thread Doctor Oakroot
Does your oud have three sound holes (usual for ouds)? You could run the
thong in one of the side holes and out the other. Avoids interference with
the strings and the oud couldn't slip out of the harness.

 because the group in which i play tends to walk around
 while performing, i tried putting a very simple
 harness on my oud made from leather thong boot laces.
 i was warned against it, saying i'll be sorry when i
 drop the oud ... ahh ... but i was so much older then
 ..



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Re: How the 'Old Ones' held the lute

2005-04-05 Thread Doctor Oakroot
Oh, didn't think about that. The sound board on my oud could take it just
fine, and it doesn't have any roses. (It's a really cheap oud - got it in
a pawn shop for $40). Might depend on the weight of the instrument too -
mine is really light, but an Egyptian one might be too heavy for that.

 boo ... hisss ...

 the soundboard is much too fragile and it would damage
 the roses.

 - bill

 --- Doctor Oakroot [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
 Does your oud have three sound holes (usual for
 ouds)? You could run the
 thong in one of the side holes and out the other.
 Avoids interference with
 the strings and the oud couldn't slip out of the
 harness.

  because the group in which i play tends to walk
 around
  while performing, i tried putting a very simple
  harness on my oud made from leather thong boot
 laces.
  i was warned against it, saying i'll be sorry when
 i
  drop the oud ... ahh ... but i was so much older
 then
  ..
 


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Re: How the 'Old Ones' held the lute

2005-04-05 Thread Doctor Oakroot
On second (or is it third?) thought, the sound board is hold the tension
of the strings which is much more than the weight of the oud. I think it
could take it. (The roses may be a different issue).

 boo ... hisss ...

 the soundboard is much too fragile and it would damage
 the roses.

 - bill

 --- Doctor Oakroot [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
 Does your oud have three sound holes (usual for
 ouds)? You could run the
 thong in one of the side holes and out the other.
 Avoids interference with
 the strings and the oud couldn't slip out of the
 harness.

  because the group in which i play tends to walk
 around
  while performing, i tried putting a very simple
  harness on my oud made from leather thong boot
 laces.
  i was warned against it, saying i'll be sorry when
 i
  drop the oud ... ahh ... but i was so much older
 then
  ..
 


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Re: LUTE-etymology

2005-03-22 Thread Doctor Oakroot
Well, as a native English speaker, I would say leather definitely does
not include parchment (even though they're made from the same raw
material). Depending on the speaker, it may not even include skin (from
a dead animal as opposed to on a living animal) which is another likely
lute (in the broad sense) covering material.

 FYI, there are no references to leather soundboards. Parchment, yes;

 well, there are. Take a look into good old Oswald Koerte's thesis. He
 cites related Arabic authors. And, okay, parchment does not qualify as
 leather to you, obviously. To me, it does.
 As it should, to most people. Or at least to those who know what parchment
 is made of.
 RT



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Re: LUTE-etymology

2005-03-21 Thread Doctor Oakroot
What Greek word(s) is a candidate for the etymology of LUTE?

 There is a fascinating discussion on the etymology of LUTE on the French
 lute-list. In a nutshell:
 not only the Greek provenance of the word is no longer discountable, but
 limiting oneself to Arabic provenance is beginning to look ludicrous.
 The messages can be found on Yahoo-Groups.
 RT
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Re: LUTE-etymology

2005-03-21 Thread Doctor Oakroot
If LEUTIKA is a familiar Greek word, I wonder why the only online
reference I can find to it is the name of some guy who got murdered. I did
find a lot of words for ships and boats in Greek - none significantly
similar to LUTE though.

How old is this word? Could it be an independent borrowing from Arabic (al
'ud means the wood - could easily refer to a wooden boat)? Or could the
word for the boat have derived from shape of a lute after the lute
appeared in Europe?

Well, if I could find any reference to the word I might track it down.
What is the Spanish cognate?

 There is a fascinating discussion on the etymology of LUTE on the
 French
 lute-list. In a nutshell: not only the Greek provenance of the word is
 no
 longer discountable, but limiting oneself to Arabic provenance is
 beginning
 to look ludicrous. The messages can be found on Yahoo-Groups.

 Unfortunately, I do not speak French. Would you mind to keep us
 informed?
 Not at all, happy to oblige:
 In many European languages there are LUTE-like words that describe MARINE
 VESSELS of obvious derivation from the familiar Greek (HA)LEUTIKA, in
 Italian, Spanish, Catalan, French, AND last but not least- Slavonic
 languages.
 This certainly is corroborated by the iconographic evidence of lutes
 predating Muslims' spewing out of Hijaz.
 RT

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Re: McFarlane Workshop in Durham NC

2004-11-15 Thread Doctor Oakroot
Is there any info on this workshop anywhere? What I found in the archives
wasn't very useful.

I hate to travel to the benighted and fascist city of Durham, but might if
I could learn something useful, lol.

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Re: 'But' again

2004-09-23 Thread Doctor Oakroot




Eugene C. Braig IV wrote:
 At 01:07 PM 9/23/2004, Howard Posner wrote:
Stewart McCoy wrote:

 full of tritones.

I suppose children are taught not to start sentences with prepositions
because the results are so bad when they do.  But then we grow up and put
aside some of the rules of childhood.  We cross the street by ourselves,
 go
to bed late, go places without asking permission, have sex, run for
political office, and start sentences with prepositions.


 Um, I think you mean conjunctions instead of prepositions here,
 Howard.  Start as many sentences a you'd like with prepositions, but don't
 end a sentence with one (emitting a private chuckle...) at.

 E

Actually you can't end a sentence with a preposition because then it would
not be pre-positioned. OTOH English has many word that look like
prepositions but are really verbal particles and make perfectly good
sentence enders.

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Re: Why paintings but no lutes?

2004-03-08 Thread Doctor Oakroot
The thing is, when a lute stops being a musician's working tool (e.g. the
musician dies or gets a new lute) it becomes a piece of junk that's too
much trouble to take care of.



Herbert Ward wrote:

 My not-so-scholarly take:
 Good lutes were working tools and subject to the whims and clumsiness of
 working musicians.  Paintings were valuable decoration to be preserved
 well
 out of the way of trouble.


 Seems like the owners would have been more careful than to have destroyed
 _all_ of their lutes.  But I've never climbed onto a horse with a lute, so
 perhaps I should be more understanding.





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Re: why paintings but no lutes

2004-03-08 Thread Doctor Oakroot

If the mob were at the gate, I'd definitely grab my instrument, lol.


bill wrote:
 at the risk of causing offense - paintings have more value.  if the mob
 was at the gate and there was only seconds to spare, i think i'd opt
 for the caneletto too.





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Re: Girl with the Pearl Earing

2004-01-07 Thread Doctor Oakroot
One reviewer I heard on the radio said so little was known about the
artist and his model that everything except the actual paintings was a
wild guess. (I haven't seen the movie yet).



Monica Hall wrote:
 And the baroque guitar - featured in one of his most famous painting which
 I
 regular pay hommage to  at Kenwood House in North London.  The question is
 -
 were these models actually playing the instruments are are they just
 props.
 The lady playing the guitar is wearing the yellow jacket bordered with
 ermine featured in several other paintings too.

 If the film is anything like most historical movies everything except
 the
 music will be authentic.


 Monica



 - Original Message -
 From: James A Stimson [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 To: Patrick H [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 Cc: Lute List [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 Sent: Monday, January 05, 2004 11:06 PM
 Subject: Re: Girl with the Pearl Earing






 Dear Patrick and All:
  Even more interesting would be whether the film features a cittern.
 Such
 an instrument (apparently the same instrument, a tenor with a striped
 back)
 is featured in no fewer than five of Vermeer's paintings.
 Yours,
 Jim



 |-+
 | |   Patrick H|
 | |   [EMAIL PROTECTED]|
 | |   com |
 | ||
 | |   01/05/2004 12:30 |
 | |   PM   |
 | ||
 |-+

---
 ---|
   |
 |
   |   To:   Lute List [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 |
   |   cc:
 |
   |   Subject:  Girl with the Pearl Earing
|

---
 ---|




 I had a chance to see a preview of the Johannes Vermeer movie, Girl with
 a
 Pearl Earing, several weeks ago, but due to a bad storm I missed it.  I
 have since seen the preview, and there are scenes of Vermeer with his
 models painting.   I was wondering if anyone had seen the movie yet, and
 whether any lutes were featured?   Either on the soundtrack or being
 played
 by the models.


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 Find out what made the Top Yahoo! Searches of 2003
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Re: Ukulele and chitarrino?

2004-01-05 Thread Doctor Oakroot
BTW, I regularly play renaissance guitar music on my baritone uke (which
is tuned like the top 4 on a guitar) and it works great.

Of course the uke is a direct descendant of the renaissance guitar... but
by way of the modern guitar. That is, after the development of the six
string guitar, the Portuguese developed a number of small variants, one of
which found it's way to Hawaii where it was duplicated.

Arto Wikla wrote:

 Hi all

 On Friday 02 January 2004 01:50, Bill Sterling wrote:
 ?

 http://www.crane.gr.jp/HyperUkuleleSchool/hyper-U/Weiss/Passagaille_1.gif

 I made a few ukulele searchs by Google, and to my astonishment the
 little guitar is often tuned in  g c e a  in re-entrant way (so the
 low 4th string is a fifth higher than the 3rd string.

 This tuning is like the renaissance guitar (chitarrino) tuning.
 (Well, the chitarrino has both the high and low g in the 4th course.)

 Anyhow, some of the google found pages could tell that one Portuguese
 instrument was taken to Ocean islands in 19th celtury, and that instrument
 gave the idea for ukulele.

 Does the collective List Wisdom happen to know, if it really is so that
 the ukulele is a direct(?) descendant of renaissance guitar?
 And is there anything in common in the playing technique?

 Arto





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Re: Odd tablature notation

2003-12-31 Thread Doctor Oakroot
Doctor Oakroot wrote:
 The IV indicates a IV chord (i.e., F min in the key of C min). Play the
 tab. That's what it's there for.

Whoops, that's an F major. (Wasn't looking at the score when I wrote that
and missed the natural sign).

As for the split course stuff, can anyone actually play that without it
sounding like crap? Seems like it would be easier to play this:

---
-5-
-4-
-3-
---
---


 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
 There are a couple of pieces in a book that I
 have of the lute music of Vincenzo Capirola.
 Here is an example:

  http://tobiah.org/measure.jpg

 It seems to indicate that a half bar should
 be used at the fourth fret, but I can't figure
 out any way to get a reasonable sound by playing
 the measure that way, let alone get the pitches
 that are indicated on the grand staff.

 It sounds correct if I just play the grand staff
 as written, ignoring the IV{ marking, but I feel
 that I am missing something.

 Thanks,

 Tobiah





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Re: Horns (was Lewd, not lute music)

2003-12-25 Thread Doctor Oakroot
James A Stimson wrote:

 The audience was marveling at the fact that the notes
 were in tune...

That's how I feel when I hear a horn (valved or natural) playing in
tune... something which happenes far too rarely.

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[Fwd: Re: John Cage on Lute]

2003-12-19 Thread Doctor Oakroot
Stupid lute list - gotta send everything twice, lol

 Original Message 
Subject: Re: John Cage on Lute
From:Doctor Oakroot [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date:Fri, December 19, 2003 11:57 am
To:  [EMAIL PROTECTED]
--

Someone's missing the point :)

The point of 4'33 is what happens in the room when the audience is
exposed to it - it's music as performance art (but before anyone had
conceived of performance art).

Like performance art, a sense of humor is required.

The resulting art is at least as musical as, say, serialism. (Which I
mention because I've just been listening to a CD of my own serialist
compositions - didn't use any lutes, but I may next time.)



Thomas Schall wrote:
 If I could regard this as a joke it would be a fine idea but if I recall
right Cage really thought to be a serious composer.
 Reminds me on a german band (I think it was Einstuerzende Neubauten)
which recorded a similar piece called Nichts (nothing) in the 80's.

 Strawinski's comment propably meant any time Cage spends with nothing is
better than if he would produce tones ...

 Thomas

 Am Fre, 2003-12-19 um 16.05 schrieb Howard Posner:

 Roman Turovsky at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

  Was the piece that requires no playing? I forget the title, something
 like
  4.32. Just sit for 4 and a half minutes and take your bows.

 Close.  It was 4'33 (as in four minutes, 33 seconds) and involves
slightly
 (but not much) more than just sitting.  The first performance (this is an
 account, mind you, written by someone who thought the piece worth writing
 about) in 1952 went like this:

 Tudor placed the hand-written score, which was in conventional
notation with blank measures, on the piano and sat motionless as he
used a stopwatch
 to measure the time of each movement. The score indicated three silent
movements, each of a different length, but when added together totalled
four
 minutes and thirty-three seconds. Tudor signaled its commencement by
lowering the keyboard lid of the piano. The sound of the wind in the
trees
 entered the first movement. After thirty seconds of no action, he
raised the
 lid to signal the end of the first movement. It was then lowered for
the second movement, during which raindrops pattered on the roof. The
score was
 in several pages, so he turned the pages as time passed, yet playing
nothing
 at all. The keyboard lid was raised and lowered again for the final
movement, during which the audience whispered and muttered.

 You can read all about it at www.azstarnet.com/~solo/4min33se.htm.

 Stravinsky remarked that he hoped we could have similar works of major
length from Cage.

 HP

 --
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 Niederhofheimer Weg 3
 D-65843 Sulzbach
 06196/74519
 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 www.lautenist.de / www.tslaute.de/weiss

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Re: Names (olim Vihuela)

2003-12-13 Thread Doctor Oakroot
Leonard Williams wrote:
  Wales/Gales,

Just for the record, the proper name is Cymru. Wales is a Saxon word
meaning foreign.


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Re: a rosette by any other name...

2003-12-12 Thread Doctor Oakroot
Hmmm... it's truly amazing that there's one physics for lutes and an
exactly opposite physics for globular flutes (which certainly behave the
way Bob described). Maybe it's the 'f' on the start of the name that
reverses things, lol.

Seriously, the resonance of the fixed sized chamber is determined by how
fast air can move in and out. bigger hole=more air in a given time=faster
movement=higher frequency. Run that by your physicist friend.

Michael Thames wrote:
 Dear Doctor,
   Actually I just looked this up in my book here, and I will explain it
 like
 this.
  One needs a fixed, solid air cavity with an opening.  As one
 increases
 the size of the opening it lowers the air space resonance, period!that is
 science. Bob actually has it ass backwards!
 I actually don't really get what Bob is talking about because he is
 not
 using science and I have a hard time following him.
   Bob talks about blowing into the soundhole and hearing something.
   What Bob is actually hearing is what is called mode coupling. that is
 a
 phenomena were you are hearing both the air resonat frequency coupling
 with
 the frequency of the vibrating plates to create one frequency,as on a lute
 or guitar.
If however, the plates where not able to vibrate and had a fixed air
 cavity you would only hear the air resonance frequency.
This really is not up for debate it is pure science, no matter how Bob
 trys to sell it!
 Michael Thames
 Luthier
 www.ThamesClassicalGuitars.com
 Site design by Natalina Calia-Thames
 - Original Message -
 From: Doctor Oakroot [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 Sent: Thursday, December 11, 2003 9:41 PM
 Subject: Re: a rosette by any other name...


 Michael, your physicist friend didn't understand the problem. As Bob
 described it the amount of beer in the bottle during the experiment was
 fixed. Only the size of the opening changed.

 Michael Thames wrote:
  I've just spoken to my physicist friend, and he explained it like
 this.
  When you have a beer bottle and blow into it,  the pitch changes
 according
  to how much beer ( air volume) is in the bottle.
 Bob, what has the most significant effect on the pitch is how much
 beer
  you consumed during your experiment!
  Michael Thames
  Luthier
  www.ThamesClassicalGuitars.com
  Site design by Natalina Calia-Thames
  - Original Message -
  From: BobClair or EkkoJennings [EMAIL PROTECTED]
  To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
  Sent: Thursday, December 11, 2003 8:48 AM
  Subject: a rosette by any other name...
 
 
 
  Philippe Mottet [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
 
   I think M. Thames is right when he mentions that a bigger opening,
 a
   rosette with a longer diameter and an airy (?) motive, tends to
 favor
  bass
   and fundamental resonances.
 
  And you, also, would be incorrect. I'm not trying to be mean or rude,
  you
  are entitled to
  believe whatever makes you happy. But unlike some more subjective
  things,
  like whether a
  note is sparkling or not, the pitch of the main air resonance of a
  guitar or lute or violin
  and what happens to that pitch as you make the hole(s) in the top
  smaller
  (it goes down) are objective
  things that you can easily measure with a simple experiment. They are
 no
  more influenced by how you think
  or feel about them than is the height of the Eiffel tower.
 
  As for this particular rose design causes those particular tonal
  qualities - there are just way too many
  variables involved. Making such a statement on the basis of one or
 two
  instruments is nothing more
  than a superstition. To make any meaningful statement you would have
 to
  make two batches of otherwise
  identical instruments with twodifferent rose patterns and then show
  that,
  on average, a pair with different
  roses had a significant difference in the quality you were testing
 for
  compared to a pair with the same rose design.
  At this point it would be wise to recall a statement attributed to
  Michael
  Lowe: An exact copy of a historical instrument ?
  I can't even make an exact copy of one of my own instruments.
 
  Pendulums ? Divining ? Dowsing? Mysterious Energy ? My contract with
 the
  Physicist's Union has a clause limiting
  the amount of time I have to spend arguing with believers so I will
 just
  leave with a single
  word: unlikely.
 
 
  .Bob
 
  
  
 
  Replies: (remove the )
 
  Ekko Jennings:  [EMAIL PROTECTED]
  Bob Clair: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 
 
 
 
 
 


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Re: Current ongoing topics

2003-12-12 Thread Doctor Oakroot
Good idea, Jon.

Of course, then as now, it was strongly opposed by one of our more
prolific flamers... proving your thesis, I suppose, :)



Roman Turovsky wrote:

 Some time ago I suggested to
 Wayne (Wayne please note) that he set the list to have a prefix of
 (Lutelist) to the subject line by the listserv. He said he had suggested
 it,
 but the members of the list had not liked the idea (Wayne, if I misquote
 you
 please correct me, I'm operating on my fading memory).

 It is probable that some on this list, and probably including the most
 prolific, have little other email. But others may have a lot of
 legitimate
 email coming in. I belong to the Harp List (which adds that
 parenthetical to
 the subject line),
 It resulted in the multiple Lute prefix  that obliterated the subject
 after 2 responses.
 RT
 __
 Roman M. Turovsky
 http://turovsky.org
 http://polyhymnion.org







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Re: a rosette by any other name...

2003-12-11 Thread Doctor Oakroot
Michael, your physicist friend didn't understand the problem. As Bob
described it the amount of beer in the bottle during the experiment was
fixed. Only the size of the opening changed.

Michael Thames wrote:
 I've just spoken to my physicist friend, and he explained it like this.
 When you have a beer bottle and blow into it,  the pitch changes according
 to how much beer ( air volume) is in the bottle.
Bob, what has the most significant effect on the pitch is how much beer
 you consumed during your experiment!
 Michael Thames
 Luthier
 www.ThamesClassicalGuitars.com
 Site design by Natalina Calia-Thames
 - Original Message -
 From: BobClair or EkkoJennings [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 Sent: Thursday, December 11, 2003 8:48 AM
 Subject: a rosette by any other name...



 Philippe Mottet [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:

  I think M. Thames is right when he mentions that a bigger opening, a
  rosette with a longer diameter and an airy (?) motive, tends to favor
 bass
  and fundamental resonances.

 And you, also, would be incorrect. I'm not trying to be mean or rude,
 you
 are entitled to
 believe whatever makes you happy. But unlike some more subjective
 things,
 like whether a
 note is sparkling or not, the pitch of the main air resonance of a
 guitar or lute or violin
 and what happens to that pitch as you make the hole(s) in the top
 smaller
 (it goes down) are objective
 things that you can easily measure with a simple experiment. They are no
 more influenced by how you think
 or feel about them than is the height of the Eiffel tower.

 As for this particular rose design causes those particular tonal
 qualities - there are just way too many
 variables involved. Making such a statement on the basis of one or two
 instruments is nothing more
 than a superstition. To make any meaningful statement you would have to
 make two batches of otherwise
 identical instruments with twodifferent rose patterns and then show
 that,
 on average, a pair with different
 roses had a significant difference in the quality you were testing for
 compared to a pair with the same rose design.
 At this point it would be wise to recall a statement attributed to
 Michael
 Lowe: An exact copy of a historical instrument ?
 I can't even make an exact copy of one of my own instruments.

 Pendulums ? Divining ? Dowsing? Mysterious Energy ? My contract with the
 Physicist's Union has a clause limiting
 the amount of time I have to spend arguing with believers so I will just
 leave with a single
 word: unlikely.


 .Bob

 
 

 Replies: (remove the )

 Ekko Jennings:  [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 Bob Clair: [EMAIL PROTECTED]








-- 
Rough-edged songs from a dark place in the soul:
http://DoctorOakroot.com




Re: Note I left out

2003-12-10 Thread Doctor Oakroot
A much better solution would be for the lute list to automatically reply
to the list as all real listservs do.

Jon Murphy wrote:
 May I suggest that you all look at the header on your email message when
 you
 send to this list (my apologies Wayne, that is your purview). There are
 two
 lines in the header that matter, the To: line and the CC: line. If
 either one of them is Lute List then it goes to the entire list,
 including
 the sender from the list. That is all that is needed, unless you are
 sending
 a reply to the sender off list, then you need to eliminate the Lute List
 from the header.

 It is a simple matter of a mouse click, and the delete key, to edit that
 header. When you send a To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], Lute List, CC: lute
 list
 I get three copies (and that applies to everyone else, just used my own
 address as an example). And in my case, as I filter all Lute List messages
 to a Lute List folder, the CC: isn't filtered and I see the same message
 in
 several places, which makes it hard to follow the thread.

 I'm sure Wayne could say this better, but I suggest for the sanity of all
 that before hitting the send button you look at where you are sending
 it.
 It will be right there at the top of the page in the header. If everyone
 that you want to have receive it is on the Lute List, then just knock out
 the other names. And have the Lute List in the To: rather than the
 CC:.
 Makes life easier for all of us.

 Best, Jon





-- 
Rough-edged songs from a dark place in the soul:
http://DoctorOakroot.com




RE: Tabs, Staff and the rest of it. (for Stewart McCoy)

2003-12-10 Thread Doctor Oakroot




Spring, aus dem, Rainer wrote:
 Of course, it is almost impossible to play 3 versus 5 on a lute or guitar.

Says who? I do it all the time. :)

-- 
Rough-edged songs from a dark place in the soul:
http://DoctorOakroot.com




Re: Tabs, Staff and the rest of it. (for Stewart McCoy)

2003-12-10 Thread Doctor Oakroot

The example does not show an advantage of tab over staff notation... you
could just as easily write the bar in staff notation as 4 quarter notes
(expecting the player to figure out which notes to hold), with no less
simplicity nor less accuracy than the tab. In fact, such simplifications
are common in guitar staff notation.


Stewart McCoy wrote:
 Dear Tom,

 Here's a simple example. (You will need a monospaced font like
 Courier to get the vertical alignment correct.) The inner part has a
 bit of syncopation:

   |\ |\|\   |
   |\ | |\   |
   |  | ||
 ___
 __|_||_
 __c__d_c__|_d___||_
 __|_||_
 __|_||_
 __|_||_

 It has crotchet, minim, crotchet in the first bar.

 Now, if the highest part has a semibreve, and the lowest part has a
 couple of minims, all three parts will have different rhythms. That
 would look quite complicated in staff notation, but in tablature
 everything fuses together to make a bar of four crotchets.

   |\|
   |\|
   | |
 ___
 __a___|_c___||_
 __c__d_c__|_d___||_
 __c___|_||_
 __|_a___||_
 a_|_||_

 Of course, the lutenist has to be careful to hold notes for their
 full length, but he will use his common sense, and the open strings
 will help notes ring on. Four crotchets is easier to count than the
 syncopation of that inner part.

 Best wishes,

 Stewart McCoy.




 - Original Message -
 From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 Sent: Tuesday, December 09, 2003 11:14 PM
 Subject: Tabs, Staff and the rest of it. (for Stewart McCoy)

 while I have now
 understood your point (c), I still don't really see how tablature
 copes with the
 problem of complex inner rhythms. I spent some time this evening
 looking through my lute music and did not
 come across anything that seemed to correspond to what you say in
 your point
 (c).






-- 
Rough-edged songs from a dark place in the soul:
http://DoctorOakroot.com




Re: # 1 lute question

2003-12-10 Thread Doctor Oakroot




James A Stimson wrote:




 Dear All:
  There seems to be a very simple explanation for the bent-back pegbox: The
 joint is more stable. The glue holds the pegbox in place but is not
 subjected to upward pull -- as it would if the pegbox were in line with
 the
 neck.
 Yours,
 Jim


I'm inclined to agree with that as the basic, original reason, perhaps in
addition to pulling the strings down against the nut.

Those two reasons clearly account for the peg box angle on an instrument
such as the oud. But the lute's peg box angle is more extreme than an
oud's. I suspect the not-poking-the-guy-to-your-left explanation may have
some validity for the extreme angle used on the lute.
-- 
Rough-edged songs from a dark place in the soul:
http://DoctorOakroot.com




RE: Tabs, Staff and the rest of it. (for Stewart McCoy) (fwd)

2003-12-10 Thread Doctor Oakroot
Thanks for the plug Wayne. Don't think there's any 3 on 5 in that one.
(And lute folks probably won't like it anyway).



Wayne Cripps wrote:
 From: Doctor Oakroot [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 Subject: RE: Tabs, Staff and the rest of it. (for Stewart McCoy)

 Spring, aus dem, Rainer wrote:
  Of course, it is almost impossible to play 3 versus 5 on a lute or
 guitar.
 
 Says who? I do it all the time. :)


  You can hear Doctor Oakroot at:

 http://doctoroakroot.com/dl.php/Doctor_Oakroot-Dancing_on_Quicksand.mp3






-- 
Rough-edged songs from a dark place in the soul:
http://DoctorOakroot.com




Re: # 1 lute question

2003-12-10 Thread Doctor Oakroot




Howard Posner wrote:
 James A Stimson at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 There seems to be a very simple explanation for the bent-back pegbox:
 The
 joint is more stable.

 But isn't it the bent-back design that makes a joint necessary in the
 first
 place?  I.e., if the pegbox were straight, couldn't it be made from the
 same
 piece of wood as the neck?

You can't actually make it straight. There wouldn't be enough downward
pull on the strings against the nut and the strings would buzz when played
open.

I think the headstock on a guitar is also glued on (although I guess you
could make it by steam bending the the neck stock), but it needs a heftier
joint than a lute's peg box.

-- 
Rough-edged songs from a dark place in the soul:
http://DoctorOakroot.com




Re: Bulk?

2003-12-08 Thread Doctor Oakroot
Yahoo sends anything that's not addressed to you, that is, anything that
doesn't have your email address in the To: field to the bulk mail folder.
This causes problems for poorly designed listservers (like the one the
lute list runs on) which send to themselves and blind copy the list
members. Well designed list servers send an individual email to each
member.

Steve Ramey wrote:
 Hi,

 Don't know for sure, but shortly after I started
 deleting whole groups of Lute List messages without
 reading them (I'm also on the list in a different mail
 system) Yahoo started to send first, only a few, then
 all the Lute List mail to my bulk.  I tried
 transfering lots of the messages to my in box without
 reading them first a few days ago, but that did not
 seem to change anything.

 The only thing I know to suggest is you move them in
 bulk (no pun intended) to your in box.  They pretty
 much read and transfer as well in Bulk as in the in
 box, though.

 Regards,
 Steve



 --- Sal Salvaggio [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
 Any one know why my lutelist stuff is
 winding up in my bulk mail folder on Yahoo?

 Sal

 __
 Do you Yahoo!?
 New Yahoo! Photos - easier uploading and sharing.
 http://photos.yahoo.com/





 __
 Do you Yahoo!?
 New Yahoo! Photos - easier uploading and sharing.
 http://photos.yahoo.com/





-- 
Rough-edged songs from a dark place in the soul:
http://DoctorOakroot.com




Re: Facsimeles etc.

2003-12-03 Thread Doctor Oakroot




Matanya Ophee wrote:
 At 09:20 PM 12/2/2003 -0600, Michael Thames [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 wrote:

  St. Michael the Liberator!  I notice you don't give your guitars away.
  Don't you think the world should be given free access to such fine
  instruments?  ;-)
 
  DR
This is not an analogy, he MAKES them from scratch.
RT
   Roman, thanks.  I just didn't know what to say to someone like
 that.

 It's easy to grab at the straws RT supplies you with when your hypocrisy
 is
 staring you in the face. But Roman is wrong. The analogy is perfect. The
 issue is not the music, but the object you hold in your hand when you put
 it on the copy machine. That is a book, and it was made from scratch by
 one
 person who invested a great deal of time and money in creating it.

What a load of crap! Making a book is a manufacturing operation and, per
se, does not involve any creativity. There may be creativity in the
content... but not when the content consists of facsimiles.

There is no copyright in operating a copying machine no matter how
inconvenient or expensive it was to obtain the source manuscript.

-- 
Rough-edged songs from a dark place in the soul:
http://DoctorOakroot.com




Re: fretted ud

2003-11-22 Thread Doctor Oakroot
Actually the modern oud has a single sixth string.

Vance Wood wrote:
 Hi Ed:

 It is my understanding that the Ud is fretless and has only a single first
 course. I am no authority on the Ud, I am just echoing what I have learned
 around here and in some reading.   However contrary to what most Lute
 players that I know think or believe, in the early history of the Lute
 there
 were as many Lutes with a doubled first course as there were those with a
 single Chanterelle.  According to Lundberg's research Lutes did not start
 finding themselves with a single first string until conversions starting
 making 6, 7, and 8 course Lutes into 9, 10, and larger formats.

 Vance Wood.
 - Original Message -
 From: Ed Durbrow [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 To: Vance Wood [EMAIL PROTECTED]; lute list
 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 Sent: Friday, November 21, 2003 8:53 PM
 Subject: Re: fretted ud


 Does anyone know when this picture was painted?  Not only are the frets
 interesting but the fact that the first course is doubled is
 interesting
 as
 well.  Here is an interesting thought (probably way off the wall)  is
 it
 possible that this is a painting of a very early Lute and not just an
 Oud?

 And what is the difference between a very early Lute and an Oud?
 Double first strings are not all that rare, are they?
 --
 Ed Durbrow
 Saitama, Japan
 http://www9.plala.or.jp/edurbrow/





-- 
Rough-edged songs from a dark place in the soul:
http://DoctorOakroot.com




Re: Carbon Copies

2003-11-04 Thread Doctor Oakroot
CCs to the sender are an artifact of the absurd policy of making the
return address the individual rather than the list. This should be fixed,
but apparently the influential members of this list enjoy this chaos.

Stewart McCoy wrote:
 Let's try again. Wayne's robot intercepted my last message.

 Dear All,

 There is no need to send a duplicate copy of a message to an
 individual who s*bscr*bes to the list. If he s*bscr*bes, he will
 receive the message as a s*bscr*ber. If he gets his own c.c. copy as
 well, he will receive the same message twice, which is unnecessary.

 Stewart McCoy.






-- 
Rough-edged songs from a dark place in the soul:
http://DoctorOakroot.com




RE: Baroque pitch

2003-09-25 Thread Doctor Oakroot
So which is it? Is H B or Bb? I had heard that it was Bb.



Spring, aus dem, Rainer wrote:
 the English notes a, b-flat, b, c

 are called a, b, h, c in German

 B-major is called H-Dur and b-flat-minor is called B-Moll.

 Best wishes,

 Rainer aus dem Spring
 IS department, development

 Tel.: +49 211-5296-355
 Fax.: +49 211-5296-405
 SMTP: [EMAIL PROTECTED]




 -Original Message-
 From: Robert Compton [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 Sent: Donnerstag, 25. September 2003 13:36
 To: Lute Mailing List; Michael Thames; Jon Murphy
 Subject: Re: Baroque pitch


 the key H  is actually b-flat.  why the germans did that i
 have not a
 clue,   one of those interesting anomolies that make music
 fun~,  Robert

 - Original Message -
 From: Jon Murphy [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 To: Lute Mailing List [EMAIL PROTECTED]; Michael Thames
 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 Sent: Thursday, September 25, 2003 1:49 AM
 Subject: Re: Baroque pitch


  For all you younger folk,
 
  Pitch is irrelevant (except when it is grossly different).
 Those of us who
  are very senior citizens have found that middle C has
 dropped to about A
  when we go for the songs. ( And I will leave this list for
 a few days to
  spend a long weekend with my fellow dotards singing our
 group songs of the
  late fifties. No, not Elvis, the Princeton Tigertones of the late
 fifties.).
 
  As  you all know I'm new to lute notation, but as I look at
 the French
  notation I see no absolute at to a pitch, nor any key
 signature (I'm sure
  I'll be corrected on this). The old German notation had a
 key called H
 (and
  I have a modern fugue written in the sequence BACH, in honor of the
  composer, I'd have to pull out the music to see what note
 the H was, but
 it
  was in the Western chromatic scale.
 
  As I'm playing with string lengths and guages for a new
 thing I'm doing
 I'd
  guess that the change of materials may have changed the
 base pitches (not
 on
  organs, of course). Perhaps what happened was that
 instruments were made,
  and stringed with what was available, and the instrument/string
 combination
  defined the pitch. But then when ensemble, or orchestral,
 music came in
  vogue there had to be a standard made.
 
  Pure speculation, interested in comments.
 
  Best, Jon
 
 





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Rough-edged songs from a dark place in the soul:
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Re: lute player in blocks

2003-09-25 Thread Doctor Oakroot
Ed Durbrow wrote:
a lot better than meeting Scratch at the Crossroads.

 What does this mean?

In US southern black culture of the early 20th century, the story is that
if you go to the Crossroads at a certain time, you can meet the Devil
(i.e., Scratch) and learn to play guitar excellently in exchange for your
soul.

Tommy Johnson, a blue player of the early 20th century claimed to have
done this.

Robert Johnson (the 20th century blues player not the 17th century
lutenist) later made the practice of going down to the crossroads famous
by recording a song about it.


-- 
Rough-edged songs from a dark place in the soul:
http://DoctorOakroot.com