Hi Omer,
I'm glad it's working for you. Yes, it takes a bit of homework w/ the
calculator and patience in the what-the-hell-does-it-all-mean
department but it does pay off --in the right keys, mind you. I just
slipped back into 1/4 mt this week and am loving it too.
A couple of notes:
1) I've heard of some trouble w/ nylon frets. They don't always stretch
and tie easily and they might wear out gut strings quicker.
2) Careful on the Dowland disparaging. There are more than a few
sensitive ears in lute-O-cyberworld,
Sean
On Nov 7, 2008, at 10:01 PM, Omer katzir wrote:
so today, after much sitting, reading, thinking and petting my cats
I
have decided. 1/4 comma is my new temperament.
First i took my lute out of her nice bed, few strings jumped from
the
drastic temperature changes here in the last few days. With a nice
A4
piece of paper and a pencil, I marked the current fret locations
from
the nut to the body (I have not included the frets on the body, I
can't
change them anyway...)
and used the other side of the paper to mark the 1/4 comma fret
locations, i used LSA paper and my own calculator to make sure there
are no errors.
Then I had to move the frets, my frets are old and i really need to
replace them, soon my darling... most of them move easily to their
new
home, the last fret was my biggest problem and i had to put a piece
of
paper in the back so it will stay tight (still need to work on it
more accurately)
after solving every error, and rechecking the fret locations, it was
time to tune the strings.
I used [1]this paper to get the numbers, after tuning, i checked the
tune again with my ears and made some fine tuning to the frets.
Finally it was time to play, and may the great cat bless me, most of
the pieces sounded much better! dowland, was the worst, i hate him
anyway... Milan, Milano, Newsidler, Dalza, Campion and some anon
sounded like the sweet meow of a just born cat. dowland, as i said
before, sounded like all dying whale in chernobyl. Even my
first fantasy (not published yet) sounded much better then in ET.
After few hours of playing (not sure how much, only my student
stopped
me from playing more) I put the lute back in her place. I
have decided not to use "tastini" fret for now and just go with the
music, had no problems with that at all for now. i really wish i
could
replace the frets, but i cannot do it right now (I've ordered new
gut,
wonder if i can just use an old nylon string... anyone?)
For now, Omer is happy. I'm going to try few more temperaments
(well,
only two more, 1/6 and 1/8)
and I might even create a new temperament with pure tritons running
all
over the place and screaming for the great cat to help them. but
don't
mind that now...
My plans for the future: Electric guitar with moveable frets, I
think
it's time to kill ET forever!
And of course, I couldn't do it with out you guys (and girls...if
any),
thank you all for your help and wanting to help. I'm glad this
discussion is archived for future generations I gained much from
reading everything again before stating to have fun.
--
References
1. http://home.planet.nl/~ooije006/david/writings/meantone_p.html
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