Yes you are right I did not crank my F up high enough.

Definitely an improvement over ET and balances with organ.



At 02:38 PM 11/13/2007, you wrote:
>>A, and we have a nice G chord, a nice D chord and an OK A chord
>>Assuming the A chord is barred, and we don't use the fourth course,
>
>??
>
>F = 14
>A = 0
>Fourth course open = 14
>Fret 4 = -14 gives A = 0
>
>G = 7
>A = 0
>First course open = 7
>Fret 2 = -7 gives A = 0
>
>Then A on fourth course is in tune with A on first course. Am I 
>missing something?
>
>David
>
>
>****************************
>David van Ooijen
>[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>www.davidvanooijen.nl
>****************************
>
>
>
>>we will avoid the out of tune octaves, Not ideal for full chords but
>>perfectly playable, and  more in tune than ET. More importantly, it
>>will clash less with the organ. By the way, they seemed to like the
>>clash of temperaments. Go figure.
>>
>>The picture is good as well in A tuning, where we are looking
>>essentially at F G C on the chart instead of G A D
>>Here the open A is two high for F major, but the second fret gives a
>>slightly lower one.
>>
>>Perhaps is not meantone in the the strict sense  because the  octaves
>>can be out of tune--particularly in the F chord, but for me, the
>>bergamasca works OK. In the C chord the fifth is too flat but that is
>>easy to pull up a few cents by pulling the string sideways, something
>>I do all the time (mostly between E and B).
>>On the keyboard, the octaves are NOT out of tune, but there is a bit
>>of a trade off.
>>
>>As far as I can see, this first set works OK.
>>
>>On to the lament.
>>Assuming a basic harmony of a minor, e minor (sometimes G) D minor (7
>>suspended over F) and E major,
>>we see that the A minor with a bar chord (again, leaving out any out
>>of tune octaves on the A) and E minor are workable.
>>D minor can be played with the open A to yield a better fifth, and
>>the minor third is nicely high.
>>Then the crunch--E major--the workaround here is to use the sixth
>>fret only, or a fretlet, either of which work
>>
>>As far as I can see, this second set works OK.
>>
>>Which means La Follia works too, even adding G minor.
>>Can't wait to try it.
>>
>>
>>dt
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>At 02:31 AM 11/13/2007, you wrote:
>>>Dear Martyn
>>>
>>>We seem to be talking about almost the same thing. There's a Dutch
>>>saying I cannot quite translate that goes something like:
>>>communicating is talking as closely as possible about the same
>>>thing, meaning you don't talk about the same thing at all. Human
>>>contact is difficult, each man his own universe in his own head, how
>>>will we ever make contact?
>>>
>>>>>  I'm afraid you don't appear to grasp the essentials
>>><<
>>>
>>>I'm sure your theory is better. When you talked about modulation I
>>>assumed you meant a change of key, or tonal centre, within one
>>>piece. Starting in a-minor, after five bars you find yourself
>>>playing in C-major, cadenses and all. If you'd agree that an
>>>MT-tuned organ can play these modulations, and if you'd agree that
>>>the lute's notes matches those of the organ, you'd agree the lute
>>>can play the modulation. But it appears I've lost you one step
>>>before, as you don't seem to agree the lute can match the organ note
>>>by note. Because of the straight frets:
>>>
>>>the semitone fret intervals on each string do not follow precisely
>>>the same sequence of diatonic and chromatic intervals as you move up
>>>the fingerboard
>>><<
>>>
>>>
>>>No, you're right, a lute with straight frets is not as perfect as an
>>>organ, but it isn't quite bad either. My simple look on things is
>>>purely practical. If meantone is used by other instruments, how do I
>>>tune my lute to match these?
>>>Let's assume 1/4 comma MT, deviations from ET in cents:
>>>
>>>Eb = 21
>>>Bb = 17
>>>F = 14
>>>C = 10
>>>G = 7
>>>D = 3
>>>A = 0
>>>E = -3
>>>B = -7
>>>F# = -10
>>>C# = -14
>>>G# = -17
>>>D# = -21
>>>
>>>Lute in g'
>>>Fret = note = cents deviation
>>>
>>>First course:
>>>0 = G = 7
>>>1 = G# = -24
>>>2 = A = -7
>>>3 = Bb = 10
>>>4 = B = -14
>>>5 = C = 3
>>>
>>>Second course:
>>>0 = D = 3
>>>1 = Eb = 18
>>>2 = E = -6
>>>3 = F = 11
>>>4 = F# = -13
>>>5 = G = 4
>>>
>>>Third course:
>>>0 = A = 0
>>>1 = Bb = 17
>>>2 = B = -7
>>>3 = C = 10
>>>4 = C# = -14
>>>5 = D = 3
>>>
>>>Fourth course:
>>>0 = F = 14
>>>1 = F# = -24
>>>2 = G = -7
>>>3 = G# = -31
>>>4 = A = -14
>>>5 = Bb = 3
>>>
>>>Fifth course:
>>>0 = C = 10
>>>1 = C# = -24
>>>2 = D = -7
>>>3 = Eb = 11
>>>4 = E = -13
>>>5 = F = 4
>>>
>>>This gives the following ideal fret positions on all five courses:
>>>
>>>First fret: -24, 18, 17, -24, -24
>>>Two positions: high is in agreement, low equally so.
>>>
>>>Second fret: -7, -6, -7, -7, -7
>>>Perfect enough for me.
>>>
>>>Third fret: 10, 11, 10, -31, 11
>>>Ouch for the G# on the fourth course. Perfect Ab, but otherwise a
>>>note to avoid. The high fret positions are in agreement, though.
>>>
>>>Fourth fret: -14, -13, -14, -14, -13
>>>Perfect enough for me.
>>>
>>>Fifth fret: 3, 4, 3, 3, 4
>>>Perfect enough for me.
>>>
>>>
>>>Not too many typos, I hope, however, the math is simple enough to
>>>correct these yourself. Calculating with more decimals will make the
>>>figures agree more in theory, by the way, but is nonsense in
>>>practice. Other varieties of meantone (1/6, 1/7, 1/8 comma) will
>>>give less extreme fret positions, and might make the g# on the
>>>fourth course acceptable, depending on your ears (or ensemble). This
>>>leaves us with the problematic first fret. I, and others, have found
>>>different practical ways of living with that, let it rest for now.
>>>Fretting from 6th fret repeats basically what is done in the first five.
>>>
>>>I think I have shown it is possible to tune a lute in meantone to
>>>match all the notes on the organ, with the practical problems of g#
>>>on fourth course and first fret to be solved in a practical way
>>>(tastini, split fret or avoidance of wrong notes. Been there, done
>>>that, it works).
>>>
>>>I have no idea about historical evidence for this, but I would
>>>assume that a lutenist of old, faced with an organ in meantone,
>>>would come up with something similar to make his life workable. I
>>>see modern viol, violone and lute players move their frets all the
>>>time to match the organ, I see no reason why that would have been
>>>different in olden times. I know that is not evidence, but
>>>musicians' ears and their desires to solve problems cannot have
>>>changed that much.
>>>
>>>Additionally, I find, when tuned in meantone, a part of the lute and
>>>notably theorbo solo repertoire to work very well. That's my liking
>>>only, perhaps, but would a lutenist of old change his frets and
>>>retune for his solo pieces, if these can be played with the frets in
>>>ensemble setup? Purely speculation, no historical evidence, take it
>>>or leave it, but do try it.
>>>
>>>David
>>>
>>>To Roman: last count was closer to 30 than 20, but I'm sure not
>>>nearly as many as POD's, whose solo cds are perhaps the only ones
>>>you've counted. Mine are all ensemble of some sort or other. No big
>>>deal, then. Furthermore, quality is more important than quantity;
>>>only for my late mother was I world-famous, for the rest of the
>>>world I'm just another plucker trying to scrape together an income
>>>from music. Not famous then, please.
>>>
>>>
>>>****************************
>>>David van Ooijen
>>>[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>>www.davidvanooijen.nl
>>>****************************
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>To get on or off this list see list information at
>>>http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
>>
>>
>
>


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