I think Mimmo Peruffo sent an extremely interesting letter about wound strings and their size on ancient instruments, but I can't find it at the moment, and I don't know whether he will feel like writing to this list again, because apparently he was not treated in a very kind way. I was not receiving the messages at the time, so I can't judge, but there was a thread about that on the Italian list.. --and maybe the letter about wound strings was on the Italian list--
Donatella http://web.tiscali.it/awebd ----- Original Message ----- From: "Martin Shepherd" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "lute list" <lute@cs.dartmouth.edu> Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2005 2:54 PM Subject: Re: Arto: Carbon fiber strings > > Dear All, > > As far as I know, all the talk about how wound strings dramatically > improved the lot of the poor lute player as soon as they were invented > (c.1660) is just wishful thinking. If there is evidence of the use of > wound strings on any kind of lute before the 20th century I have not yet > seen it (yes I know there are the fragments of open-wound strings, > *possibly* dating from the 18th C, on the Mest lute). On the contrary: > 1. Iconographic evidence suggests that wound strings were used on bowed > instruments but not lutes (sorry I can't find the references, but Mimmo > Peruffo has studied the iconography and has found paintings which show > both types of instruments together, which seems pretty convincing). > 2. Mace (1676) and Burwell (c.1670) make no mention of wound strings, > only the usual "minikins" and "catlins". Mace of all people would > surely have told us of this newfangled invention (and would probably > have disapproved of it, especially if it had suddenly become fashionable). > 3. The 13c "swan-neck" design, as Ed Martin has said, only makes sense > if uncovered gut strings (of whatever type) were used. > > Interestingly, the change (described by Burwell) from the 12c lute (with > "two heads") to the 11c lute (with "a single head") in France was > attributed at the time to the fact that the sound of the (long) basses > was "too big" and "smothered" the sound of the other strings. In modern > times (wishful thinking again) it has been attributed to the invention > of wound strings which enabled the basses to be shorter! > > Best wishes, > > Martin > > > > > > > > > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html >
