Well, I do like the sound you are making, and the basses sound good to my ears - very clear, and with little sustain, which is generally a good thing for open strings and moving bass lines.
I do wonder though how thick the lowest strings must be, and what size of holes you must have in the bridge. Looking around the rest of your website, I'm astonished how much recording you have done. Although not a professional, your interpretations must carry some authenticity for how the many hundreds of good amateur lutenists played. I am perfectly content to sit with headphones on and listen to all this wonderful music through your performances. I do wish, however, you would consider joining SoundCloud, and using their player. I'm afraid your player does not work continuously on my iPad. It would be nice to just click Play once, then lie back and enjoy the beautiful sounds, music and playing. Rob www.robmackillop.net > On 5 May 2014, at 17:52, "stephen arndt" <stephenwar...@verizon.net> wrote: > > Thank you, Rob, for your kind words about my Dante work. I have revised it > extensively since the version I sent you a number of years ago and made > numerous improvements. > > I see that the title of the work got garbled because of the acute accent on > the "e." I'm sure everyone figured out it is "La rhetorique des dieux." > > The string length on my Andreas von Holst 11-course is 67.5 centimeters; the > strings are made by Damian Dlugolecki and tuned to A = 392. Andreas von Holst > thought that the pure gut basses sounded terrible. I think they needed a > little time to settle in, and now I think they sound good, but I shall let > you all judge for yourselves. Some of you may not like them. I use a .46 on > the top course, and it usually lasts three or four months. I haven't found > any other stringmaker whose strings last that long. > > As for pros and cons, the main advantage is simply the sound of gut. I think > that even with my amateur technique the sound is both warm and clear for the > most part. I find it difficult to maintain those qualities when the melody > dips down into a lower register, which it does often enough in "La > rhetorique," but that is probably more a consequence of my playing than of > the strings themselves. The main disadvantage is the instability of tuning. I > record on a Fostex and get 7 minutes and 13 seconds worth at 48 Hz. If I > don't get a good take in that time period (and I usually don't the first few > times), the instrument will probably have gone out of tune, and I shall have > to retune before the next take. I know that some people on the list perform > in public on gut strings. I play at my wife's church once a month and use the > New Nylgut strings for that. I can't imagine what a tuning nightmare playing > on gut would be. That's about all I can say on that topic. Thanks for > listening. > > -----Original Message----- From: Rob MacKillop > Sent: Monday, May 05, 2014 11:21 AM > To: stephen arndt > Cc: baroque-lute mailing-list ; lute mailing list list > Subject: Re: [BAROQUE-LUTE] New Recording > > I can highly recommend Stephen's translation of the Divine Comedy, as I've > enjoyed a private copy for a number of years. I'm really pleased to see it > available as an eBook, and will get a copy of that for my iPad. > > Stephen, it is great to listen to your performances with pure gut strings. > Can you tell us about your experience with them, pros and cons? And who made > them? What string length and pitch? Etc ;-) > > And thanks for recording the entire publication! Hearty congratulations for > getting through it! > > Rob > > www.robmackillop.net > >> On 5 May 2014, at 15:33, "stephen arndt" <stephenwar...@verizon.net> wrote: >> >> Dear Friends, >> >> I invite you to listen to my recording of Denis Gaultier's La >> rhA(c)torique des dieux on an Andreas von Holst 11-course lute strung >> entirely in pure gut (i.e., the basses are not gimped). Quite some time >> ago I recorded the first forty-three pieces and then put the project >> aside for well over a year owing to various reasons. Towards the end of >> last year I resumed it and recorded pieces forty-four to sixty-one but >> was very dissatisfied with my earlier recordings in terms of tempo and >> sound quality, so I redid them. I used the tablature available for free >> on Richard Civiol's site and took the Louis Pernot recordings as a >> model, arpeggiating chords where he did and attempting to imitate his >> ornaments. >> >> >> If you care to, you can listen to an individual piece by clicking on >> its title or to all pieces successively by using the playlist at the >> bottom of the page here: >> [1]http://www.verseandsong.com/song/baroque-lute-2/la-rhetorique-des-di >> eux/. For those of you who do not know me, be forewarned: I am not a >> professional musician, and this is strictly an amateur endeavor. >> Nevertheless, I hope you will find it pleasant enough listening. Please >> feel free to explore my website by using the expandable menu on the >> left side of the page. >> >> >> I hope you will forgive my including off-topic information on another >> recent project of mine. I have revised my translation of Dante's Divine >> Comedy in iambic pentameter and terza rima and now offer it as a Kindle >> e-book. It is written in modern diction and normal syntax and strives >> to remain highly faithful to the sense of the original. Moreover, it is >> the only translation in the 400-year history of Dante translations into >> English to employ perfect rhyme throughout. If you are interested, you >> can find generous samples by clicking on the cover image at the >> following Amazon pages: >> >> >> The Inferno: [2]http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JQWNUXC >> >> The Purgatorio: [3]http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JRD2MPW >> >> The Paradsiso: [4]http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JS3B414 >> >> The whole Divine Comedy: [5]http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JST98MK >> >> Best regards to all, >> >> Stephen Arndt >> >> >> >> -- >> >> References >> >> 1. http://www.verseandsong.com/song/baroque-lute-2/la-rhetorique-des-dieux/ >> 2. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JQWNUXC >> 3. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JRD2MPW >> 4. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JS3B414 >> 5. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JST98MK >> >> >> To get on or off this list see list information at >> http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > >
