MatthiasThat was initially the question I asked to the list. Stephen set it up in 6th comma by ear from his tuner box. I just didn't have time to look at the relevant tuning options, and used VT. It may be quite wrong, but it does sound extremely sweet.
I have to say, I am very surprised that the 70cms does not seem to be any bother, the neck just seems so well made and organic. It is lovely to the touch, although it looks quite thick, it just doesn't matter. Oh and the pegs are just bliss which is just as well when a lute is strung in gut.
The sound is, at least for the moment, of the reserved type. A friend who has a huge collection of lutes came round, with a Durvie 11c. It was strung with wirewounds and synthetics, and it easilly trounced the SG from from the point of view of decibels, but I thought the Gottlieb had it on the floor from the clariry and rhetorical point of view. It seems to talk quietly to you, in such a convincing soothing voice. Not perhaps for a large hall, more for the bed chamber. I see the French Baroque benefitting from such subtle shades. The Durvie was all Italian exuberance.
I don't have much base from which to judge the sound of an 11c strung in gut. I have heard them on recordings, but only rarely in public. My best reference is Benjamin Narvey's Martin Haycock. He will be coming over soon, and we will be able to compare. I think probably the Haycock will project more (synthetic strung however), but I wouldn't like to predict anything else.
All I can say, is that the sound, the balance and the touch, seems very hypnotic to me. The soundboard is clearly a fine hard piece of timber with mild bear claw markings.
However, all this does depend on individual taste.If you try loaded strings, as I am doing, do not judge them, at least for a week. it does take some time for them to come up to stability, and during that time the remain a little soft in sound. Then either, you adapt to the strings, or they adapt to you. I have them on my Renaissance lute too, now, and I find they impart a free and easy sound on the other strings. On the other hand, I am sure you are aware that it does take some time to get used to any string type, and my ears are already very much atuned to gut. Some synthetics users may feel they lose a little punch. Personally, I just feel they allow the other strings to sing.
For example the lutist who came round, initially, just found them faulty, but as he got used to them, his attitude changed slightly, without saying he was going to change over. (He has been using wirewounds for 50 years), he said, oh I see, you don't need to keep damping them, mhmmm? He was very impressed by the overall sound, while not considering it as better than his, he did end by saying that I should definitely think about ordering another lute from SG.
Best wishes Anthony Le 18 juin 08 à 22:02, Jean-Marie Poirier a écrit : Le 18 juin 08 à 22:40, Mathias Rösel a écrit :
Congratulations for this beautiful new baby then.May I second the congrats. And I can see that your 1st and 2nd frets have been shifted toward what on the renaissance lute is mean tone fretting. I wonder how you tune it and what it sounds like. Mathiasbut here is a link to those images: http://tinyurl.com/4zmwblA friend who is a lute player and lute collector came round, he has agood number of lutes to jusdeg from. He thought the "lutherie" was superb, and the sound excellent, and very articulate, if a little more reserved than his most "outspoken" Matthias Durvielute; but his lute is in synthetics and wirewounds, mine in plain gutand loaded, so the comparison is not easy. He played a few pieces on both, and while his Durvie had more power and sustain, it was almost too much sustain, for certain pieces. My lute seemed more reserved, but spokeinto the ear, and the message seemed somehow with more depth and lessflash, in short the message more poetic. This visiting luthist said his lute was exuberant and Italian, mine more French. I know Benjamin's Martin Haycock, which I like a lot, and which is also very vibrant, so I will have another chance for a comparison in a few days. However, each lute maker has his idea of what type of sound he wants to acheive (He/she). Martin H; has told me that he is looking for projection, and he does achieve that.I think Stephen is looking for something else, but he hasn't given mewhat that might be in a "nut-shell". I do think the variety that comes form lute makers striving for different aims, and string makers also, gives us a very large soundpalette to choose from. I just think that lutists should spend more timelute and string tasting, Choosing the most suitable instrument and strings should be considered as an extension of the lutist's technique, I think. I can say that, I need to extend my technique, by any means at my disposal. Regards Anthony PS This lutist always plays with equal temp., but he didn't find any problem with the 6th comma fretting and VT or VY tuning. To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html-------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------- Orange vous informe que cet e-mail a ete controle par l'anti- virus mail.Aucun virus connu a ce jour par nos services n'a ete detecte.= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://poirierjm.free.fr 18-06-2008
