Dear Jon,
I'm pleased my e-mail on the theorbo tuning was useful. I think you
understand it now.
The word "re-entrant" is used to describe a tuning where the strings
do not ascend in the usual order of pitch. A harp, a violin, a
modern guitar - these and many more - do not have re-entrant
tunings, because as you go from the lowest string to the highest,
each successive string is higher than the previous one.
A good example of an instrument with a re-entrant tuning is the
five-string banjo, which has that short 5th string tuned higher than
the others, yet it lies where you'd expect the lowest string to be:
---(-)-----°----------------------
----/--------------------------o--
--/-|\--------------------o-------
-(--|-)--------------o------------
--\-|-----------------------------
_|8 °
String: 5 4 3 2 1
The English cittern is another instrument with a re-entrant tuning:
---(-)----------°------------
----/----------------o----°--
--/-|\-----o-----------------
-(--|-)---------o------------
--\-|------------------------
_|8
Course: 4 3 2 1
which is similar to the re-entrant tuning of the ukulele:
---(-)-----------------------
----/------o--------------°--
--/-|\---------------o-------
-(--|-)---------o------------
--\-|------------------------
_|8
String: 4 3 2 1
The baroque guitar had various tunings, of which this re-entrant one
was common in France:
---(-)-----------------------------
----/-----------o--------------°---
--/-|\--------------------o--------
-(--|-)----°---------o-------------
--\-|------------------------------
_|8 °
Course: 5 4 3 2 1
The re-entrant tuning of a theorbo with 2 courses down an octave
would look like this:
----------------------------------°---o-
-(---):-------------------------°-------
----/-------------------------o-----°---
---/------------------------------------
--------------------------o-°-----------
--------------o-°
---------o- °
---o--°
°
Course:14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
I've not tried writing music in this way before. It looks OK on my
screen; I just hope it comes out OK on yours. You'll need a
mono-spaced font like Courier to get the vertical alignment correct,
and with luck the little degree signs will look like notes in the
spaces between lines.
Best wishes,
Stewart.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jon Murphy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Lute Net" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "Stewart McCoy"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Sunday, January 11, 2004 6:29 AM
Subject: Re: Double 1st (HIP message included)
> OK, I'm a retired computer programmer at that level where we wrote
the
> internal code. Re-entrant has a meaning to me that may be
different than
> your use in the musical sense. But there may be a parallel. Do you
mean that
> the theorbo tuning allows you to "run up" the instrument and
re-enter the
> melody at a lower pitch?
> Best, Jon
