Dear All,
If we're really interested in how lutes might have been strung
historically, I think it's important to take the historical evidence
(very little of it, I know) as a starting point, rather than the habits
of modern players using modern strings.
We have a lot of iconographic evidence (plus the evidence from measuring
bridge holes) that bass strings were rather thin - so the conclusion
that they were more dense than a plain gut string seems pretty well
inescapable.
Having said that, the tensions which modern players expect may be too
high, for several reasons. One is that we are accustomed to wound
strings, which are very flexible and don't work at all well if they are
at too low a tension. A related problem is that modern players tend to
play much further from the bridge than their historical counterparts.
Another issue is that we have tended to assume roughly equal tension
across all the strings, so we have not experimented much with a tapering
of tension as we go down into the bass. One interesting aspect of the
iconography is that strings get progressively thicker as they go down
into the bass, but not as much as one would expect if the tensions were
equal. To make this concrete, for a descent of an octave (maintaining
equal tension) the string should double in diameter, so the 6th course
on a 6c lute should be nearly twice the diameter of the 4th.
On the subject of string diameters, Mimmo estimates the thinnest string
which could have been made in the past as .42-.44mm. Single top strings
will need to be a higher tension than the individual strings of a
course, but even so it is more or less inevitable that the tension must
be tapered to some degree, otherwise bass strings (and tension) would be
enormous. Mimmo has recently written that equal tension is different
from equal "feel", and I agree with his suggestion that (in order to
maintain equal feel) thinner strings should therefore be at a higher
tension than thicker ones. I have done this as a matter of instinct for
many years - using a higher tension on the second course than on the
third, for example. As an aside, I note that most of us have tended to
use octaves at a lower tension than the fundamentals, but the string
table in the Gaultier book (discovered by Andreas Schlegel), and my more
recent experiments, suggest perhaps a more equal tension.
As far as the characteristics of the strings is concerned, there are
some apparent contradictions in the historical evidence. Many paintings
give the impression that the strings were very floppy (compared to
modern gut strings), with lengths of spare string dangling from the
pegbox. On the other hand, one of the tests for a good string
recommended by Dowland is "stiffness to the finger" (assessed before
putting the string on the lute by pressing the end of the string to see
how bendy it is). In terms of elasticity, Mace talks about a string
stretching "an inch or two" in the winding up - suggesting a string much
more elastic than almost any modern string.
Then we come to another apparent contradiction on the area of modern
experiments. I have found the Savarez KF strings (made from PVDF, much
more dense then gut, so perhaps more like a "loaded" gut string as far
as density is concerned) work very well, in spite of being very stiff
and not very elastic. They also work well at lower tensions than other
types of string. They are usually pretty true, and that helps. The
implication seems to be that a string which is sufficiently dense (and
can therefore be thin) doesn't need to be very elastic in order to
work. I don't know how to reconcile this with the historical evidence,
but it occurs to me that there is a difference between elasticity
(stretchiness) and "sideways flexibility" or "floppy flexibility" (which
it seems the old strings may have had). Think of the difference between
an rubber band and a piece of household string - the cotton string is
very floppy but has very little elasticity. All things considered I
would definitely be interested to see Mimmo make a string with lower
elasticity. Trueness is paramount - if a string is even slightly false
the irregular pattern of vibration will make it rattle against the frets
and it will never sound well even as an open string.
Just a few thoughts for you to chew on....
Martin
On 02/02/2017 07:20, Mimmo wrote:
Well, I can add a few informations
There are no production problems it shelf. I had an extruder broken so I was
obliged to wait the time to fix it. After that I finished the raw material. I
received it a week ago.
They has more amplitude in the vibration whose problem is mostly because one
should compensate the lack of tension when the strings are under tension. In
practice they became thinner that any wound strings. In short, if the
equivalent gut by calculation is 145 I raccomand to install a 150 instead. So
under tension the final gauge will be the suitable one.
Yes, there is no problem to switch to a more stiffer plastic blend. The problem
is that we lost a bit of brightness. Is it a good idea ? I do not know, people
has the wound strings sound in comparation.
Take care
Mimmo Peruffo
Il giorno 01 feb 2017, alle ore 23:34, Matthew Daillie
<dail...@club-internet.fr> ha scritto:
Of the main copper-wound strings available, the fullest sounding and brightest
are the Kürschner followed by the Savarez, then the Aquila Ds and lastly the
Aquila DEs, which are pretty dull (and are no longer being made although
several retailers still have quite large stocks available).
As far as I am concerned the jury is still out on the Aquila loaded nylgut.
Many of us have high hopes but there are production problems (there has only
been one batch so far and many diameters are unavailable) and some strings can
have considerably sideways amplitude when plucked (even causing them to catch
neighbouring strings!) as well as intonation issues (but that is also true of a
lot of wound strings).
Best,
Matthew
On 01/02/2017 22:25, David Rastall wrote:
It seems I am back playing Baroque lute once again, after rather a long hiatus.
It’s been long enough that I have forgotten some of the points of conventional
wisdom concerning stringing. I’m playing an 11c lute currently strung with
silver-wound basses and Pyramid nylon mids and trebles. I’m not so much
bothered by the sustain of the nylon strings, but if you folks can refresh my
memory: what is the best choice of basses to get a sustain which is not
downright thunky or chunky, but has shorter sustain than the silver-wounds?
David R
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