I have found that lutes sound the best at a pitch in which a gut treble would work. My baroque lute (13 course) is 70.5 mensur, and the upper limit of gut for a=415 at f is about 68 cm. In other words, if one increases the mensur at a given pitch, gut will not work...... it will fray, break prematurely. This is not fiction.......... there are upper pitch limits for gut, at any size diameter.
So, if one wants a gut treble on a baroque lute, at a=415, the longest it should be is about or around 68 cm. If one wants the baroque lute to be at a=440, then the longest mensur it should be is around 64 or 65 cm. , and that would be a small baroque lute.... I have no knowledge of one ever having exhisted. For my mensur, at 70.5, it ideally should be at a=392, but actually, I leave it somewhere between 392 & 415, and it seems to work well in that pitch. Pitch preference is subjective, for sure. But, when considering pitch, in my opinion, results are best in gut, and its according limits should be taken into account. ed At 05:06 PM 1/16/04 +0900, Ed Durbrow wrote: > >I use Korg AT1. It permits some calibration, but my 13c sounds best at 440. > >I was just wondering if people tune their Baroque lutes at 440. How >many other people do? How many at a lower pitch? > >-- >Ed Durbrow >Saitama, Japan >http://www9.plala.or.jp/edurbrow/ Edward Martin 2817 East 2nd Street Duluth, Minnesota 55812 e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] voice: (218) 728-1202
