Before I bought my instrument, I played an instructors lute that he rarely used, he was more of a guitarist. But he constantly said that since I was playing the instrument, the lute just sounded better as a whole. I was using it every day for a couple hours for two months;he'd just pick it up to play and go on and on about how it sounded so much better since it has been played more. It was an older lute(probably 20 years or so.)
rtin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: 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 --------------------------------- Now that's room service! Choose from over 150,000 hotels in 45,000 destinations on Yahoo! Travel to find your fit. --
