The feather he recommended using - the thin end of an ostrich feather, stripped down to just the spine - isn't all that different from a guitar string, just more fragile. He did have a well-developed historically-based rationale for using a plectrum of this sort, but I don't recall the details.
Guy -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Stuart Walsh Sent: Saturday, October 10, 2009 2:38 PM To: Ed Durbrow Cc: LuteNet list Subject: [LUTE] Re: Anyone see Crawford Young's concert? (still puzzled) Ed Durbrow wrote: > > On Oct 7, 2009, at 2:18 AM, Guy Smith wrote: >> . I located my notes, and it was a >> nylon G string, which makes more sense. AFAIK, the feather was just a >> decoration. > > When I did a workshop with him several years ago he didn't have a > feather on the guitar string but a triangle of paper or something. He > said that it was so if he dropped it, he could find it. > > I still don't understand why Crawford Young is using a guitar string as a plectrum! I'm not a plectrum player so I have no axe to grind at all. It's just that all the plectra I've ever seen have not been anything like a guitar string (nor a wrong-way-around feather). Even plastic risha or the little plastic plectra for the saz are not as flexible - nor as small - as a guitar string. Is Crawford Young seeing something in the music (15th century and back) - or the instrument (lute/gittern)- or the music on the instrument that need this kind of plectrum? And - it's a small point - if Crawford is using a guitar string because feathers wear out quickly, doesn't this slightly suggest that players at the time would have used something else, something a bit more functional? Stuart > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > Version: 8.5.421 / Virus Database: 270.14.9/2426 - Release Date: 10/09/09 18:43:00 > >
