> The Scots/Irish clarsach (medieval wire-string harp) of yore had the > two central strings tuned to b, and were referred to as the 'two > sisters'. I have a couple of theories as to why this should be. 1) one > of them was b flat
Thanks for the mention, this is the first I have heard of the 'two sisters', dont recall it in Roslyn Rensch's book on harps (my copy is the 1998 edition, I see a 2007 now). Any date for first mention? I am inclined to agree with you, scholars lacking solid evidence in either direction will argue all round the barn, but I see the practical side of it, b-flat is the first accidental needed, so would be the first provided. Keyboards, harp, hammered dulcimer; regular spacing between the courses is a major aspect in play, to violate it would not be done casually, there had to be some reason favoring the use of the 'two sisters', and having both b and b-flat available seems to me the only reason. -- Dana Emery To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
