Dear David, I hear you!
I'm going all the way with my new continuo theorbo: I'm having the full 19- courses. As far as I am aware, this is the maximum number of courses that historical instruments are known to have had. Kapsberger mentions that his theorbo had such a set up. Despite the added tension - which is the only real drawback (one needs lighter stringing) - one can have all the acidentals at one's disposal, much as a harpsichordist might. I'll let you know how I get on with the beast once it's finished! All best, Benjamin In message <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> LGS-Europe <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > Not in an attempt to be authentic, more to be practical. > > I have a 14-course archlute in g', with 7/7 division of strings, so F still > on the fingerboard and lowest course F1. > I often need E and Eb in one piece / recital. > I wanted to lower the string tension of the diapassons anyway. > So I made the following tuning for course 8-14: > E-Eb-D-C-B-A-G > I've tried it now for two (already three?) weeks (5 concerts in this > instrument so far), and I love it! > I don't miss my low F1 and my thumb find its way around the basses > surpisingly well. > The only mistakes I keep making are in tuning. ;-) > A friend of mine goes even further, and ordered a 16-course archlute for > even more chromatics. > > David - just wanted to share his entusiasm > > ***************************************** > David van Ooijen > Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Http://home.planet.nl/~d.v.ooijen/ > ***************************************** > > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html >
