On Sun, Jul 6, 2008 at 9:13 PM, David Tayler <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> This is a very difficult situation that you describe. > I think the question to ask yourself, is where exactly you a are > going in your studies. Well, actually, where I'm going in my studies is an EE degree. > Because ultimately, the instrument you > describe is going to hold you back. What I'm describing is taking a piece of junk and making it the equivalent of a drummer's practice pad. > > Another point to consider is why the instrument is in its current > state? What does that say about the program? ok, two instruments are under discussion here. First, my LSO: I'm not intending to change the neck. All I'm intending to do is set it up with a wider nut and bridge to support more courses than it currently does, and string it single, so that I have something a step closer to a theorbo or chitarrone than I currently have, which is a classical guitar with reentrant tuning. I want to have more practice with diapasons than I can get with an 8-course doublestrung lute. I'm not in any danger of playing continuo for the English Concert in the next two months. The theorboed lute at UCONN: This instrument was purchased long before I started playing there as a 'townie' in the early 80's. They had three lutes then: this theorboed lute, which was broken; a 13-course baroque lute, and an 'elizabethan' lute, probably 8-course, but I can't be sure because the closest I got to it was when the alumnus who had it in hands came to play at a few of our rehersals and a concert. That lute is still in the hands of an alumnus, although I don't know if it is the same person. The baroque lute is about, probably available, but while I'd be willing to spend a year or two learning dminor tuning and such, I'm really looking to develop some continuo ability. That leaves the disabled theorboed lute. It has been 26 years since I last saw it, and my memory isn't so good that I remember exactly what the broken part was, but I doubt that it is unrepairable, and the 'cello maker is good enough, and good enough a friend, that I'm pretty sure we can get it functional again. This may allow putting on a new, longer neck for the diapasons. I don't know yet. Frankly, I won't know for sure until I see it. In the mean time, I'm looking to gain some facility with picking out diapasons. I suppose I could restring the guitar with all A and low E strings and tune them for six steps, and just practice with my thumb, but that's kind of purposeless, since I'll need to be able to find the right diapasons while still dealing with the top courses. > After you test those issues, it is perfectly reasonable in one sense > to restring it single. > But it is not what in another sense what you deserve. Sadly, it is > tough to get started when the admission ticket is so steep. > Good luck! > dt > It is hard to say what I deserve, although it is nice to think that I deserve an excellent instrument and a chance to play it. Some day, perhaps, with an EE degree, rather than "just" 35 years experience as an electronics technician, that can happen. The admission ticket does, indeed, seem steep at this point! So, in review, what I'm asking is this: Admitting that the result is going to be sub-optimum, what string length should I shoot for that will allow single stringing this EMS LSO with single courses, at some pitch, which I will call an A theorbo for the sake of argument, but might be anything, as long as it allows fingering the top six courses (eight should actually be fingerable) and a set of diapasons enough to simulate a theorbo's string spacing? If the true and just answer is that I'm a dunce and shouldn't consider attempting to get a feel for playing with diapasons in the two months I have before audition time, so be it. At this point, though, I'm not seeking to produce a perfect tone nor a perfect reproduction of a theorbo. Nor am I going to spend money (in short supply) and time (in shorter supply) trying to make a real theorbo out of the LSO. That, I'm going to save against the chance that I can convince the director of the Collegium that I could be trusted with the college's theorboed lute, repair and refurbish it and then undertake to learn to play it effectively. ray -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
