The original lute tutors consistently recommend playing close to the bridge - with the pinkie very close to the bridge - or even on or behind the bridge. Taking into account the possible differences between modern and historical strings, this still seems to indicate 16th c taste (early 16th c at least) was for a much sharper, more pungent sound than most modern lutenists are playing. The close-to- the-bridge sound is certainly surprising - I keep trying it but my hand keeps creeping towards the rose...
On 25 Sep 2008, at 02:00, Stephen Fryer wrote: > What sort of sound were they trying for in e.g. the 16th century? > Do we have any evidence on this? -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
