Hello Ariel
You seem to be an example that proves me wrong.
It is just that I did notice how, at first, I found it difficult to
make my gut basses sing.
I am still far from happy with my playing abilities, but I have
noticed an improvement, here.
However, on the instant I moved from overwounds to pistoys or gimped,
I could hear a far more homogeneous sound coming from treble, mid and
bass voices, and also I felt the basses no longer tended to cover the
other voices (I imagine that might be why you yourself like your
Larson basses). I just needed to draw more from those basses.
I think that effected how I listened to myself playing. I have no
real proof of what I put forward, but my knowledge of phonetics and
feedback, make me
think that we are bound to adapt our playing to the sound our strings
tend to produce (damping our overwounds, but trying to squeeze the
last drop out of our gut diapasons).
I dare say that, as you have moved between string types, you can
rapidly adapt to either, as some people can readily move between
Baroque and Renaissance techniques.
Expert players should no doubt adapt with alacrity to any change of
string, room, etc. However, when I have handed my gut strung lute to
good amateurs, used to playing with overwounds, they always seem to
find the gut basses very difficult to handle.
I know many lutists feel that gut diapasons are the weakest element
in gut stringing, but personally they are almost what is the most
essential for me, for the above reason. I think I could swap all my
top strings for nylgut, without suffering too much (although I would
miss the special gut sound), but I really would not like to go back
to overwound basses.
I heard Hopkinson Smith's performance of Dowland in Paris, and I was,
as always, astounded by his musical presence, and so admirative of
his use of the minutest variations, from near silence to the faintest
whisper. I somehow see him as the master of silence (which seems a
little contradictory when speaking of music). However, the recording,
of Dowland's Dream, does show that those wirewound basses do tend to
drown the mid range. Unless, of course, it is because the sound
engineers have added too much reverb.
Nevertheless, while speaking of some of the advantages of gut, I have
never suggested it was a solution for every one and all contexts. I
have always mentioned my special situation, as an amateur.
The point you make about beginners, is completely fair. I agree that
as few problems as possible should be put before them and their
playing; and tuning, as you say, is obviously one of them. It is
better for a beginner to acquire the best lute possible, and then to
spend much less on strings, and much more on lessons.
I also agree that the context in which most players have to perform
precludes the use of gut except for those who are really dedicated to
it.
I do, however, often notice a greater clarity coming from recordings
of players using gut basses. I thought that was mainly true for
Renaissance lute recordings (Lindberg's Dowland, using loaded gut,
over Dowland's Dream, for example); but recently the Weiss Bis
recording by Jakob Lindberg on his Rauwolf and the Weiss recording by
Paul Beier (Stradivarius STR 33731, see: http://musico.it/lute/
StradSolo.htm) shows that Baroque lute recordings can also benefit.
To be fair, these are also recordings on 11c lutes, and I have a
feeling that even synthetic strung Weiss 11c performances might
somehow sound "more agile" than equivalent 13c performances, whatever
the stringing. That is just my intuition.
It is a pleasure to communicate with you,
Best regards
Anthony
PS I know this is not a good comparison, but some people also argue
in favour of tea bags over loose tea for similar reasons of
practicality, and even finish by preferring it. However, some of us
just can't give up our loose leaf tea. Ok, I am weakening my point,
but I can't resist a little humour in a serious topic).
Le 16 août 07 à 12:08, ariel a écrit :
>
> Hi Anthony,
>
>
> I've been working with Eugène for years (as his student), we've
> recently
> played a couple of gigs together and we'll be doing some duet
> programs next
> year (yes, his playing is out of this world, indeed).
> I've heard him playing on nylgut, carbon, gut and plain nylon.
> Always the
> same technique (maybe sometimes experimenting plucking at different
> areas),
> and always as good. He doesn't give strings any credit or importance.
> String materials doesn't play a substantial role in the way you
> develop your
> technique, unlike some people think. This is very important
> specially for
> beginners.
> I remember some lute teachers convincing their students to invest
> fortunes
> in gut strings, and the result was that they were unable to tune
> the thing
> (let's don't even talk about playing properly).
>
> It is true- as we all know- that gut has qualities that cannot be
> replaced... and we cannot-at the same time- build up the ideal
> climatic
> conditions for performing in gut (in tune) everywhere we go on tour.
> I've used overspun strings for years, and now switched (on my
> vihuelas) to
> Larson gut basses.
> My style and my technique did not change (I keep on working,
> obviously, I'm
> not yet happy) and nothing really worth mentioning happened to my
> playing
> since then. I only like the sound better, but that's it.
> Same thing when 10 years ago I've started using loaded gut by Mimmo.
> If I'm not a relevant example (many people here seems to be rather
> self-confident, which I admire), I can tell you the same about
> O'Dette, or
> Hoppy Smith.
> They've moved from gut to nylon/nylgut and nothing changed in the
> way the
> approach the music and their techniques, no matter what some people
> want to
> believe.
> Taste is something else, I guess.
>
> Salud,
>
> a
>
>
>> "I strongly believe that what makes a
>> person a lutenist is not the type of string he uses, it is rather his
>> knowledge of lute technique, control of his sound production and good
>> taste.
>> I remember Eugene Ferre playing on an all carbon set and his sound
>> was
>> excellent, not to mention his great playing. I personally have the
>> impression that nylgut is not very projective and has a poor sustain,
>> although it feels good under the fingers. The first and the second
>> courses
>> might work fine."
>>
>
>
>> I was told Eugene Ferre recently made an exceptional Dowland
>> performance here in Paris; and all those who were present tell me
>> that it was out of this world. I regret having missed this. I also
>> agree with what you say about the lute player, and his technique,
>> being more important than the strings he uses; but I also believe,
>> that his skills will evolve differently according to the lutes and
>> strings that he uses. Each string type has its special qualities and
>> defects, and a good player will surely learn to bring the qualities
>> forward and hold the defects back, but this will inevitably lead to
>> his style changing over time. If he then picks up a lute strung
>> differently, he will probably find that his technique does not suit
>> this different stringing. It does not necessarily follow that the
>> stringing is worse, just different.
>
>
>
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