Like so many things in life, the best way to learn lute building is to do it. Build a lute.
I most highly recommend Robert Lundberg's book "Historical Lute Construction" available through the Lute Society. First carve your mold (I do not personally believe in the skeletal molds but rather the solid forms) and then start building. A 6 course renaissance instrument is a good starter. Take your time and don't be afraid of mistakes, you will make them. And, in correcting them you will learn the real luthier's magic - a good recovery. A good recovery is worth a thousand first time completions. Build, it's how you learn to build, Rob Dorsey http://LuteCraft.com -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Monday, December 15, 2008 2:14 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [LUTE-BUILDER] Re: What to build. Hello Paul: >> I am considering building a lute. Unfortunately, I have little >> knowledge of the lute other that hearing the wonderful, mellow tone of >> the lute on various recordings. I see there are plans available for >> building various types of lutes. Does any one know of a resource that >> has a list of the various types of lutes and a sound sampling of each >> type? it is diffucult to list and describe instruments which failed to survive but are known to have existed. How the lute was used has changed considerably over the centuries it has been in use in europe. Three and four instruments of differant pitches, each a 5 or 6 course instrument might take the several parts of a motet, madrigal, partsong or what have you. An instrument for accompanying voice might have extra bass strings and benefit from a larger body, but could be tuned in the tenor range (G lute); or Alto (A lute). As we get later in the repetoire, lutes are more used for basso continuo with large body size and exended necks for bass string sets which came to resemble harps, and replicas begin to need their own tickets to fly. Laux Maler made excellent lutes in the late 1500's, much valued by later generations; worthy of being converted into 9,10,11,12+ course instruments; so much so that few if any survive today with original neck and top. Douglas Alton Smith has a book out on the history of the lute, Lundberg has another on Historical Lute Construction; both are complements to the Dave Van Edwards DVD course. Galpin Society Journal, Oxfords quarterly _Early Music_, Early Music America, the journals and magazines of Lute Society, Lute Society of America, and the numerous other lute societys are all of interest if you are seeking reading material. -- Dana Emery To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
