> It's a lightly strung instrument. You want to get strings from a > specialist.
I'd tend to agree that it is lightly strung - lighter than a modern guitar, for example - but mine has a higher tension than, say, a lute. It might be more accurate to describe it as lightly built. Rob is right about action - a low action makes a huge difference. There were a couple of collectors at the Waldzither conference with their newly acquired 18th century guittars. I found both completely unplayable - strings far too light, action far too high. This also caused intonation problems, and the tone was pretty awful. My guittar doesn't have intonation or tuning problems and holds the tuning for a long time. I think this is due to the low action and proper placing of the bridge, which takes a little experimenting. The frets are not in equal temperament, so using harmonics can be deceiving, but angling the bridge helped me achieve a good compromise. As for strings, except for the basses, I make my own from harpsichord wire. Malcolm Rose supplies excellent iron and brass wire at reasonable prices. A medium-sized spool may be all you ever need because the strings actually sound better with age. They don't seem to go out of tune with themselves or get dull sounding the way modern steel strings do. Right now I'm using Newtone strings on the bass - not ideal, but they do work. When I find a decent supplier of twisted brass who doesn't overcharge, I'll switch over. I don't like the sound or the feel of modern steel strings on my citterns - they don't have the softness under the fingers that iron and brass do, and sound more metallic, at least to my fingers and ears. I used to have a Hintz guittar with friction pegs rather than the key. I was able to use silver-wrapped silk on the basses, but they're too stretchy for the key tuning mechanism. Tying the loops is straight forward once you've done it a few times. Just make sure the wire twists together rather than one bit wrapping around the other; if not, it will slip. When they're properly twisted, you can get by with surprisingly few twists. You can finish the loop off by wrapping the end tightly around the main part. Iron and brass are much more delicate than steel and break easily when crimped, so take it easy. Make sure the tuning tab on the tuning mechanism is in the "loose" position, that is, screwed almost down towards the nut so as to give you plenty of draw, but don't screw it down all the way just in case you make the string a little too short. Put the loop over the pin then wrap it lightly over the tuning tab to give you an idea of the proper length, then clip the wire leaving plenty of extra for twisting the second loop. Take your time and it will work fine. Maybe I should formalise the instructions, do a few drawings, and put them up on the Music in Time site... > Some of the tutors seem to suggest that you play the lower three > 'courses' with the thumb (which is fair enough) and then ALL the notes > on the third 'course' with the first (right hand) finger, ALL the > notes > on the second 'course' with the second finger and ALL the notes on the > top 'course' with the third finger! There were several right-hand techniques. Stuart mentions only one of them here. I deal with historical technique in detail in my tutor, but briefly I would say keep your nails short. bring your arm around behind the bridge so that the wrist is more or less parallel to the strings and, as Stuart says, press into the string rather than plucking it. The stroke starts from the main finger joint, moving in towards the body. Resting the little finger lightly on the top helps stabilise the hand, but don't lock in and cramp up - just rest it there as a guide. By the way, I'm moving house at the end of the week, so note the new address below. Doc Via San Giuseppe 1 06038 Spello (PG) Italy http://www.musicintime.co.uk/DocRossi/doc.htm http://www.magnatune.com/artists/docrossi cell: (+39) 348 8000 572 To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
