Once more unto the breach, and again with little knowledge. I have heard harps with decent sound that were made with poly-ethylene pipe. Not traditional, but cheap and practical as a learner's tool. I have skippered a sailboat made of ferro-concrete (a heavy boat, but she handled well and had surprising speed). Somehow I don't feel that a carbon fiber shell would resonate properly (and I get the feeling that my wooden "flat back" might sound better), but that doesn't mean that modern materials and construction couldn't duplicate a sound. Perhaps an amalgam of wood chips and cement could make a moulded shell, but I doubt it.
The point is that there are two philosophies that I've seen in my brief time on this list. One is the specific duplication of the instruments of the Renaissance, and the other the playing of the music true to the sound of the time. I think the sense of the song would be more important than the specific tones in bringing back the music. I'm sure that the lutes of the time all had very different characteristics in timbre and tone. Best, Jon
