Hello Craig, When I use a tuning fork (to tune my lute) I strike the fork on my knee and then hold it with my front teeth. You can hear it perfectly, and it leaves both of your hands free to tune the instrument.
Regards, Miles On Saturday, January 17, 2004, at 10:29 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Vance wrote: > >> I am not replying to your post specifically, but using it as a piggy >> back >> into this discussion. Neither do I desire or intend to create a >> controversy >> or argument, understanding that when finances allow I intend to >> purchase one >> of these electronic wonders. What happened to tuning by ear? The >> entire >> history of the Lute was tuned by ear, meaning the original >> instruments and >> not the modern revival. To this date I have never used anything >> other than >> a tuning fork. Are there any good suggestions and or methods for >> doing this >> properly (by ear)? > > Dear Vance, > > I have always used a tuning fork for my guitars, and carry an A440 in > the > case. I started using electronic tuners when I was playing hammered > dulcimer. I would also use a strip of thick felt like piano tuners use > and > thread it through the strings to dampen the harmonics of the other > strings. > > I used two methods of using the fork. One was to strike the fork on my > knee > and then place the knob against the bone at the base of my ear. This > allowed the resonant note to vibrate more directly in my ear. This was > a > good method for playing in large, noisy crowds. The other method, was > to > place the knob against one of the string pegs in the bridge, causing > the > note to resonate through the instrument itself. This of course works a > bit > better in smaller, less noisy environments. At least for me. I have > tinnitus in my right ear, and a high frequency hearing loss that is > getting > worse as I get older. And the tinnitus is starting to occur in my left > ear, > though the hearing loss is less in that one than it is in the right. > I've > been looking at fancy digital hearing aids since my hearing loss is > frequency specific and volume specific analog types won't do the > trick, but > they're horribly expensive and my company's insurance (Blue Cross) > won't > touch a penny of the cost, so it's all out of pocket for me. > > Bottom line is, more stings on the lute, vs. guitar and my hearing > getting > worse I must resort to an electronic tuner when playing out with the > consort. At home I tune by ear (unless I've just put on a new set of > strings) against my piano as there's no good place to place the tuning > fork > on a lute. > > Regards, > Craig > > >
