Gary, The reasons you outlined below are why I build my baroque lutes for a slightly higher tension, around 4.0kg rather than the historically correct 3.2 or so. The difference is transparent to the player except that projection and all over volume is much enhanced. Simply put, my lutes tend to be louder (not harsh or "strident") than others I've owned or heard. It's all in the barring and thickness profile of the soundboard. They play as softly as one of lower tension which is a function of correct setup and stringing.
Lutes can be heard, if purpose built. Best, Rob Dorsey http://RobDorsey.com -----Original Message----- From: gary digman [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, October 12, 2006 4:40 AM To: lutelist Subject: [LUTE] Re: Too soft to live, was The last word goes to Sting Dear Caroline; I've attended concerts sponsored by the San Francisco Early Music Society which has a large number of season ticket holders who get preferred seating at their concerts and fill their concerts with audiences of 2-300 people. After attending two lute concerts, one featuring David Tayler and one solo concert performed by Hopkinson Smith, I resolved never to attend another lute concert sponsored by Sfems because the lute simply could not be heard from more the 6 or 7 rows back where all the lute players (who cannot afford season tickets) were forced to sit. I refuse to pay $40 for a ticket to watch someone play a lute I cannot also hear. I've also attended Julian Bream concerts in which he played guitar and lute. Bream's guitar could be heard fine throughout the hall, but when he picked up the lute, even his "heavy" lute, no one passed the 6th row could hear it. There were many complaints. So, the idea that volume is not an issue with the lute in these situations is wishful thinking, in my opinion. I did not mean to imply that volume was the only issue leading to the disappearance of the "soft-voiced" instruments, but I think it was a very significant factor. The reason one increases the string tension on an instrument is to get more bang for the buck, i.e. more volume out of the instrument. And that's the reason, I believe, for the changes that led from the baroque guitar to the modern guitar. These changes had to be made so the guitar could handle the increased string tension. And, why increase string tension? Volume, volume, volume. The Torres guitar is significantly louder than either the lute or the baroque guitar. I don't think it is simplistic to argue that the appearance of the concert hall was a significant element motivating these changes. I also don't believe these changes occurred because of the "unhistorical early music principles" of lutenists, gambists and keyboardists. All the Best, Gary To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
