I now have a short (2 minute) recording made with my recently acquired English guittar, which so far is tentatively identified as made by Simpson, circa 1760-1770. In the absence of any transcriptions of original music (Bremner, Oswald etc) I have taken a simple and familiar Scottish Border pattern (think Blue Bonnets or Lock the Door Lariston) and made an arrangement which shows off the quality of single melody lines and back-of-nail strums. If you think you hear echo or phasing effects, think again: this is what the instrument sounds like. Similarly, those clicks are not a plectrum despite the speed of some notes; they are very short nails on bare fingers. This instrument permits rapid birls or triplets because strings are double on the top four courses. http://artists.mp3s.com/artist_song/1416/1416640.html Direct lo-fi play: http://chooser.mp3.com/cgi-bin/play/play.cgi/AAICQsCdFQDABG5vcm1QGAAAAFLAnRUAUQEAAABDLJa_Oj1uw5gLv8BDPxn6UPrcyF4-/border_marches.m3u Direct hi-fi play: http://chooser.mp3.com/cgi-bin/play/play.cgi/AAIBQsCdFQDABG5vcm1QGAAAAFLAnRUAUQEAAABDLJa_OjLZ2Dg76h5TA62tRWg5frw-/border_marches.m3u Direct download of file (1.9 Mb mp3): http://chooser.mp3.com/cgi-bin/play/play.cgi/AAIAQsCdFQDABG5vcm1QGAAAAFLAnRUAUQEAAABDLJa_OjmktwfLxuWqcm8rS6JvmvI-/border_marches.mp3 It is a little 'high strung' tension wise and since making this recording I have tried Dr Ephraim Segerman's recommended weights of brass strings. With the lower tension much of the sparkle and projection is lost, along with accuracy of intonation and speed of attack. The low tension was bad on the fourth course and I have reverted to wound 21 thou strings in place of 20 thou brass. What you hear in this recording might be what they did not like in the late 18th century: a firm bright sound. If Dr Segerman's stringing from French evidence is correct, they preferred a quiet, twangy, buzzy sound very sensitive to fretting pressure. But did the Scots, English and Irish players? The strength, construction, body depth and tonewoods of this small guittar and the evidence of past bridge pressure seem to indicate otherwise, and that the higher tension stringing would be considered a better and more controllable, enjoyable musical sound in that period just as now. I may decide to be heretical on this question. I do also like the darker, wiry sound of Rob MacKillop's authentically strung (but quite differently constructed) guittar. Any opinions, expert or otherwise, are welcomed. Please bear in mind this recording was made within 24 hours of getting the instrument into a playable state. I have a lot to learn about the hexachord fingerings and playing techniques and I'm already sounding different a couple of days later (it's wonderful for campanella runs, which I did not use in this case, the opening phrase is on the top string starting at the 5th fret). David Kilpatrick, Kelso, Scotland Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish Music & Culture List - To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
