Excellent observations, Martin. I agree, in that I have a few instruments that are 20 + years old, and they seem too have improved with age.... all of them. They seem to have improved depth & sweetness of tone, which in my book is quite desirable.
Does anyone have ideas about the proper way to break in a lute? Should one play loudly, or quietly, or does it matter? ed At 12:38 PM 3/18/2007 +0000, Martin Shepherd wrote: >Dear Anthony and All, > >I can only say from my experience that lutes continue to improve with >age. I made a lute in 1982 which I still play regularly and it has just >got better and better over the years. I have several other lutes made >twenty years ago which seem to have improved over that time. It remains >to be seen whether they will continue to improve over the next twenty >years.... > >Changes also occur on a much shorter time scale. When a new lute is >first strung it is sometimes disappointing, sounding rather disjointed >in different registers and possibly lacking in sustain in the treble. >This improves over a period of hours and days as the strings stretch and >the instrument "takes up the tension". It may take weeks or months for >a more integrated sound to develop, and it seems (though it is only a >matter of intuition) that being kept well in tune and played regularly >helps this process. > >Sorry there's no science here, only intuition. One suggestion which >seems to make sense is that the resins in the soundboard harden with age >and make it stiffer (or at least lessen any damping effect of soft >resin). Old wood is dry, but changes in humidity and temperature in the >environment seem to affect things - have you noticed how some days the >same instrument just isn't "happy" and seems different? I think >violinists have commented on this as well. > >Best wishes, > >Martin > >P.S. I forgot to mention the issue of clarity in the midrange. It has >been observed of the old restored lutes that they are better than modern >ones in exactly this respect. I'm pleased to say that it has commonly >been observed that my lutes have this clarity as well! Don't ask me how.... > > > >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
