On Sunday, January 4, 2004, at 02:47 PM, Martin Shepherd wrote: > ...we should not ignore the evidence just because it suits our > prejudices.
I am quite willing to ignore it if it fails to suit my needs! If gut strings sound too dull and heavy in the bass, or fail to stay in tune because of the weather, or fray and break too readily in the treble, I am not going to use them. If I can get a better sound playing thumb-one way as opposed to thumb-some other way, I will do it. I've been playing the lute long enough to know what works for me and what doesn't, and it's that consideration that shapes my playing, not the tyranny of history (not even the benign dictatorship of history!). > Of course the most important thing is the music,! I agree, but learning to reproduce old masters, fascinating as that may be, is only a small part of learning how to play the lute. > ...we wouldn't be doing what we're doing if we didn't believe that the > technology which makes the music possible wasn't inportant too > otherwise we'd all be playing it on the electric guitar... I dont know about electric guitar, but a lot of orchestras, bands, brass ensembles and soloists of all types and from all imaginable backgrounds, do play early music on modern instruments. We lutenists are not the only ones making music with this old repertoire. Are you going to say all the rest of the world is wrong? If you are, then I would have to suggest that you do so because it suits your, uh, I hate that word "predjudices," let's say your likes and dislikes. I await the flames. David Rastall
