Dear All, As another long-time gut user, just a brief comment:
The only time I feel I've had the problem which Dan describes is in hot and humid weather, when talcum powder might well help.
In general, I find gut to be the quietest of all string materials - unpolished Nylgut produces a high-pitched squeak, which an audience would never notice, but a microphone might (and I do, because I'm sitting right on top of it). Nylon and PVF are too slippery for my taste, and Nylgut is too rough - but gut is just right, rough enough to be grippy and smooth enough to be quiet. I'm using mostly Sofracob strings, which are quite well polished. They also polish themselves as you play them in, to some extent.
I'm very interested by DT's comments, there certainly is a lot of technique involved in making (or not making) extraneous noises. I try to keep a "light pressure" left hand, and I was surprised once when I played for someone who had never heard a lute at close range before and he commented on how silent my left hand was. But you can hear all the scraping noises on my recordings (very close-miked), anyway...
How quietly can you lift off a barre? I find it difficult and go to some lengths to avoid it.
Best wishes, Martin To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
