Matthias
That 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.
Mathias
but here is a link to those images:
http://tinyurl.com/4zmwbl
A friend who is a lute player and lute collector came round, he
has a
good 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
Durvie
lute; but his lute is in synthetics and wirewounds, mine in plain
gut
and 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 spoke
into the ear, and the message seemed somehow with more depth and
less
flash, 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 me
what 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
sound
palette to choose from. I just think that lutists should spend
more time
lute 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
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