Charles, Hence the definition of the Nigerian scam: an out-of-tune one-string lute from that country... Alain PS: Ashcroft tuning(3): the act of clipping strings on the wrong side of the bridge.
At 10:04 AM 6/8/2004, Charles Browne wrote: >recursive tuning would certainly be useful for a nigerian single stringed >lute . It sounds a bit like the Theramin! >Charles > >-----Original Message----- >From: Alain Veylit [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] >Sent: 08 June 2004 17:43 >To: bill; Jon Murphy >Cc: James A Stimson; lute society >Subject: Re: really bad deals and reentrant tuning > > > > >On Marted�, giu 8, 2004, at 07:10 Europe/Rome, Jon Murphy wrote: > > > > > What is "re-entrant tuning". > >--I thought re-entrant tuning was when you stop the other guys from playing >so you get a second chance to tune. >--In a solo setting, re-entrant tuning means to stop mid-way through a >piece to adjust the tuning so that difficult fingerings are made easier to >play. Jimmy Hendrix used it a lot, but because he was a sloppy player, he >did not bother to stop playing. >--Re-entrant tuning is to be distinguished from "recursive tuning": >recursive tuning consists in successively tuning the same string to all the >pitches needed for your instrument. >--To tune a lute: tighten the chanterelle carefully until it breaks, then >unwind a quarter turn. Finally, tune all the other strings on the >chanterelle. >--Tuning: the act by which a perfectly good instrument is made to sound >totally off. >--Temperament: the state of mind or mood that follows an attempt to tune >your instrument. Traditionally, among lutenists, temperaments go from >choleric to depressed (or melancholic). >--Equal temperament: a state of persistent despondency following many >failed attempts to tune. Sometimes results in an attempt to tune all the >strings to the same pitch to make it easier. >--Chromatic scale: the results of applying different colors to all the >courses on your archlute so as to give a chance to your right hand to know >which one is which (see also under "Rainbow coalition") >--"High-fifth": what two lutenists give to each other after tuning to each >other. >--Thumb under: what 2 lutenists get for failing to tune successfully to >each other >--Re-entrant tuning is also used to describe the particular sound of a lute >hitting the ground really hard after yet another failed attempt at tuning >it - probably by analogy with a re-entry into the atmosphere. (see also >under "sonic boom") >--D minor tuning: as opposed to major tuning, i.e. when you only bother to >tune all courses up from the fourth one, carefully leaving the bourdons >untouched. >--Octave tuning: describes the attempt at replacing a broken bass string >with fishing line >--Sonic boom: the sound made by a theorbo that was tuned just a tad too >high, thereby separating the neck from the bowl. >--Pythagorean ratios: an act of revenge taken by mathematicians on musicians >--Tuning with gut is generally more difficult because it involves letting >your instinct tell you exactly where 415MHz is as well as chose what gauges >to use for each course. >--Ashcroft tuning: designates a long period of silence in a classical music >concert hall. >--Ashcroft tuning (2): the attempt to tune your lute as if it were a >5-string banjo in order to be able to apply for an NEH grant. (generally >followed by a sonic boom) >--Tuned in fourths: when you only bother to tune every fourth string >--Tuned in fifths: no one is lazy enough in the lute world to do it, but >widely in use in the violin family of instruments > >If you don't get all the jokes above, you have not been playing the lute >long enough... >Alain
