Santiago, I found your post amusing, because I actually am trained as an archaeologist. But I understand your point. At this point I am making lutes for myself and am still grappling with the basics of construction. I feel no inhibition to changing string spacing to fit my hands, which are large, somewhat arthritic, and fumbling. My lutes fit me, and that is all I worry about.
We cannot build a 16th century lute. It isn't the 16th century. The wood is different, the gut is different. To me, the value of rigorous historically-informed construction is that it suggests what the original experience of playing and listening to a lute might have been. We will never really know, but rigorously following historical precedent gives us an idea. What we make of that idea is up to every builder, musician, and audience member. Fortunately, there is no lute papacy to determine orthodoxy. I was amused by an article in a recent Lute Society Quarterly about x- raying historical lutes. It seems that some of the instruments examined had the ends of the ribs simply broken off underneath the end cap and the void filled with glue. I had done that with a few ribs on the first couple of lutes I had made and I hoped no one ever found out how bad my workmanship was. But it seems that I was following historical precedent after all! So historical precedent is where you find it. Tim On Dec 20, 2008, at 4:15 PM, Santiago Ramos-Collado wrote: > Greetings. > > A maverick or heretic? Perhaps more of a visionary. Please, allow > me for one second to push heresy a couple of notches further. > > Why should historical instruments be built historically? Will the > use of historical methods, instrumentation and tooling actually > result in a superior instrument? I do not think so. > > Tradition is extremely important, inasmuch as it illustrates a way, > a path to follow; it affords us methods that have worked well for > decades, or even centuries. It offers a boundless source of > knowledge. It is, nevertheless, ever changing, evolving. What is > done effectively and efficiently today will surely become > tomorrow's tradition. However, when tradition ceases to evolve, it > dies, and thus, falls under the realm of archeology. And most > certainly, we are not archeologists; we are people who intend to > build lutes, who are seeking for efficient ways to achieve that end. > > I am of the opinion that Tielke, for instance, would have never, > ever regarded his instruments as historical or traditional, but > rather as contemporary, since they were instruments he built for > lutenists of his own day. If he were around today, he would > probably draw his plans with AutoCad, use molds made out of > fiberglass or ABS, carve his rosettes with laser, and fit his lutes > with Savarez strings, planetary pegs and Dunlop straplocks (that > is, provided that he were building lutes, and not--let's say-- > electric guitars). Anyone would be able to find him readily at > [email protected]. We should all think about that, I > believe, when building a lute in the dawn of the 21st century. > > Best regards and season's greetings to all, > > S. Ramos-Collado > > > --- El jue 18-dic-08, Rob Dorsey <[email protected]> escribió: > De: Rob Dorsey <[email protected]> > Asunto: [LUTE-BUILDER] Re: What to build. > A: "'Timothy Motz'" <[email protected]>, > [email protected] > Cc: [email protected] > Fecha: jueves, 18 diciembre, 2008, 11:44 am > > Let me preface this post by saying that I consider Robert Lundberg the > greatest American Lute maker, living or dead. He was a true master > producing > master works. > > I learned my building from Bob Lundberg in his shop during the > 1980s. I was > somewhat surprised by some of the offerings in the book as the > processes > were not all exactly as I had learned. Experience has made me alter my > building procedures even more from that initial tuition to suit my own > vision of the instrument. I found that Bob's fealty to exact > historical > precedent, while not slavish or dogmatic, carried an importance that I > thought unnecessary to modern playing. He was, however, just what > the HIP > advocate ordered. > > I, therefore, have assumed a comfortable position of maverick or > outright > heretic in my building techniques and uses of modern available > woods. I > depart from Bob's teaching in adhesive choices and uses, hardwood > applications and string tensions. My barring has matured with time > and my > top thicknessing scheme has evolved as well. Bob would be > interested in some > of those innovations, aghast at others. But, he might be gratified > that I > toast him often and keep a worn copy of his book right beside my own > building notes on the shelf in the shop. > > "From each according to his gifts." Read the book, it has much to > offer if > not everything. > > Rob Dorsey > http://LuteCraft.com > > -----Original Message----- > From: Timothy Motz [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: Wednesday, December 17, 2008 9:05 PM > To: [email protected] > Cc: [email protected] > Subject: [LUTE-BUILDER] Re: What to build. > > Someone once told me that I needed to read the book, but that no > one would > really build lutes that way. Having read the book, I would agree. > I'm > glad > he wrote the book and I refer to it a lot, but I wouldn't build a > lute that > way. > > Tim Motz > > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > > > ¡Todo sobre Amor y Sexo! > La guía completa para tu vida en Mujer de Hoy: > http://mujerdehoy.telemundo.yahoo.com/ --
