> > > > Still we encounter so many ensembles where all violins, >> > > violas, celli, .. use gut strings but the theorbo/lute player >> > > has an instrument stringed with an ugly set of nylgut,, pvf, > > > > nylon and some gut diapasons.
Sometimes that's a good thing. Last year I heard a programme of two bass viola da gamba players accompanied by Jakob Lindberg on the theorbo. Conditions were such that the violists could neither get nor stay in tune to save their lives (very good viol players, too, by the way) Nor was it a situation mentioned on a tributary to this thread where gut strings can mask other faults of the performer- but it was a slightly schadenfreude-ish feeling for this lute player to sit smugly in the audience noting that "our boy" was not the one holding up or ruining the show with all the typical tuning issues associated with lutes. Good old Nylon, Carbon, and maybe even overspuns; valiantly holding their good and proper tuning while all around them all else was dissolving way past mean or other tones. On a theorbo, at least, in ensemble situations the distinction between gut and synthetics seems to have been counterbalanced by stability. Dan -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
