I'm just aware of so little evidence of medieval performance practice beyond iconography. Portrayals of hand positions that would imply plectrum use don't necessarily show great plumes protruding. By the late 18th and early 19th c., there is a relatively substantial body of text in a burgeoning body of mandolin literature regarding plectra, and it tends to describe pointy, shaped feather quills or slivers of wood. When shaped with a degree of flexibility (thus reducing some of the inherent brittleness), a quill (the shaft part from the pointy end) can be relatively long-lived, even on wire strings.
I would be very interested in more on Crawford's technique and its evidential inspiration. As a frequent plectrummer, it just seems weird on a superficial description. Eugene > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On > Behalf Of Guy Smith > Sent: Saturday, October 10, 2009 6:32 PM > To: 'Stuart Walsh'; 'Ed Durbrow' > Cc: 'LuteNet list' > Subject: [LUTE] Re: Anyone see Crawford Young's concert? (still puzzled) > > 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 > > > > >
