Hello, Bruno. It is great to hear from you, once again. Please do stop by in Minnesota... we have a great deal of things to catch up!
Gut can be very stable in Minnesota, but with severe cold, or in the humid summers, it can be a problem. ed At 09:36 AM 2/8/2007 -0500, Bruno Fournier wrote: >Hello all, > >I myself have been playing lute for close to 25 years, but am not a >professional musician. I find that for my personal use, and the >occasional concerts that I give, a combination of Sofracob strings and >Savarez , works out best for me, both in an economical sense and a >practical one. I play a renaissance 8 course, and have an 10 course >that has been modified as an 11 course ( soon to be modified again as >a tiorbato....). Diapason is 59 cm on the 8 course. I use a Savarez >KF on the first string, then Sofracob gut from the 2nd course through >the 4 th course, followed by Savarez copper wound combined with a the >octave as a Sofracob gut string on the remaining courses. > >Contrary to Ed's remark ( Hi Ed, I have once again changed jobs and >might occasionally be travelling to Minnesota. I'll be sure to come >and see you if I can, haven't met up with you since 1980 or so???), I >find that my gut strings do not change so much in tuning, could be the >climate here....and also what I like, is that if I have to change a >string, it doesn't take so long to adjust to pitch and doesn't stretch >as much as a nylon string. > >I like the feel of gut on my fingers, and I also find the sound less >twangy.... > >Now, if I only could find the right gauge of gut strings for my >Algerian Oud...that would be great ( and more authentic for playing >the Oud in my medieval ensemble.....), as so far I am stuck with >playing on Savarez Oud strings. > >cheers > >Bruno > >On 2/8/07, Anthony Hind <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Andrew, Edward, Stephen and All > > I agree whole-heartedly with Edward's message, I am but an amateur, > > and in a way amateurs have an advantage over professionals. The > > difficulty with gut (as suggested by Ed.) is mainly when a large > > concert room fills up with people and the humidity suddenly jumps up > > (as we saw with Jakob Lindberg in London). Indeed, I can almost > > predict the weather, and have no need for a barometer, as the change > > in tension of my gut strings often allows me to predict whether I am > > going to need an umbrella! > > > > I think a number of professional lutists use nylgut or similar when > > playing in public, for that reason; but then when they record use gut. > > Jacob Heringman does that, according to his Ed Durbrow interview. > > Certainly, Jakob Lindberg has used loaded gut diapasons (explicitly > > stated in his Dowland record) and his Rauwolf was strung in gut. Paul > > O'Dette used to use gut on his Renaissance lute records when he > > recorded for Astrée CNRS, and so did Hopkinson Smith. > > > > As an amateur, I can usually avoid these extreme changes, and if like > > myself, you are not a very good lutist, you need all the help you can > > get. A very well sounding lute strung in gut will sound so pleasant > > even when playing a few notes. There is also the touch of the > > strings. Gut strings react in a very different way even to nylgut. > > The top strings are a problem and I must admit I recently compromised > > by using a top string in nylgut. The cost (over a few years) on one > > lute is not as bad as it first appears. The lower strings do last a > > very long time. Of course, if you have a whole collection of lutes, > > the problem is obviously greater. > > > > However, I personally feel that, on a Renaissance lute, gut is almost > > mandatory for the diapasons (gimped work too), if you don't want the > > bass "voice" to drown-out the higher "voices" (this always tends to > > happen with metal wounds, or the player must constantly damp these > > strings). If you can use gut throughout, the "voices" become so well > > balanced, and the sound of the strings more "homogenous", I agree > > with Martin that the 5th string sounds beautiful. It is of course > > more difficult to make the heavier 6 and 7 diapasons sing, but I > > think technique develops to help this, and at least you don't have to > > keep damping them. Martin Shepherd (I think) suggested using a > > slightly thinner diapason than usual and a slightly thicker octave, > > so as to achieve the same overall course tension. > > > > I often hear lutes strung in fluour-carbon and I always feel they > > begin to sound like mandolins. I do feel nylgut is a much better > > compromise,. > > > > Perhaps, on a Baroque lute the situation might be a little different. > > The much higher cost of the strings could become problematic. > > Nevertheless, when I visited Stephen Gottlieb's atelier a couple of > > years ago, he had a 14 course swan-neck lute entirely strung in gut, > > and I must admit that the sound was superb. If Ed says gut is > > possible on a Baroque lute, when I finally oder my 11 course, for the > > French Baroque music that I love, I will just have to use gut. > > > > However, as yet, I have never lived with a gut strung Baroque lute, > > so I don't know how great the problems may be. I am told that the > > greater string lengths and tensions do become a problem and do cause > > very expensive string breakage. However, the solution may be to use > > lower tensions. There was a thread recently (I believe begun my > > Martin Shepherd) about the advantages of lutes strung at low > > tensions. It seemed that with gut strings, a lower tension was not > > necessarily a problem. > > I apologize if these issues have been discussed exhaustively over the > > last years and I am returning to a totally worn-out topic. I fear > > this is quite likely to be the case. > > Regards > > Anthony > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Le 8 févr. 07 à 00:33, Edward Martin a écrit : > > > > > > > Andrew, > > > > > > Actually, many professionals use nylgut - Paul O'Dette, Nigel North, > > > Hopkinson Smith. I think (but, I am uncertain) that Rolf Lislevand > > > uses > > > them as well. I know Jakob Lindberg used to use them. > > > > > > I have my renaissance 8 course in partial nylgut, because I have to > > > use > > > that instrument under difficult situations. Otherwise, I mostly > > > use gut, > > > for vihuela, 10 course, baroque guitar, 11 course, and my 13 > > > course. Yes, > > > the tuning is sometimes an issue, along with treble string > > > breakage, but > > > the wonderful rich sound of gut makes it all worth while. If one > > > equilibrates the instrument to the room, tuning works well. When I > > > perform > > > in gut, I must get to the hall 3 hours in advance to insure good > > > tuning. > > > > > > Sometimes I regret not using synthetics, but gut is the most > > > satisfying > > > sound of all, so I stick with it. > > > > > > Someone said earlier today that the 5th course is a problem, but > > > the Pistoy > > > 5th is, in my opinion, the most beautiful string imaginable, for > > > either a > > > renaissance or baroque lute. > > > > > > ed > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > At 01:22 PM 2/7/2007 +0000, Andrew Gibbs wrote: > > > > > >> Do any serious players use nylgut synthetic strings? perhaps more for > > >> renaissance than baroque lutes... > > >> > > >> Andrew > > >> > > >> On 7 Feb 2007, at 12:02, Stephan Olbertz wrote: > > >> > > >> > > >>> Dear all, > > >>> > > >>> the bridge of my baroque lute came off recently (ouch), but it has > > >>> been > > >>> fixed and I would like to take the "opportunity" to put new strings > > >>> on and > > >>> maybe switch to gut. Dan Larsons strings would sum up to about 360 > > >>> $ (ouch > > >>> again), Aquila is about the same. Does anyone know what Sofracob > > >>> charges > > >>> for a (13c) set? I couldn't find any information on the web... > > >>> > > >>> Regards, > > >>> > > >>> Stephan > > >>> > > >>> > > >>> > > >>> > > >>> > > >>> To get on or off this list see list information at > > >>> http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > > >>> > > > > > > > > > > > > Edward Martin > > > 2817 East 2nd Street > > > Duluth, Minnesota 55812 > > > e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > voice: (218) 728-1202 > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >-- >Bruno Cognyl-Fournier >Luthiste, etc >Estavel >Ensemble de musique ancienne >www.estavel.org Edward Martin 2817 East 2nd Street Duluth, Minnesota 55812 e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] voice: (218) 728-1202
