Yes, I think Mark has summed up the usual reason for a lute going out of tune. The ambient temperature of a room changes from overnight when it is at its coolest, to daytime when the temperature rises.
I find this with nylguts here in the UK, so I guess many other parts of the world do too. The wound basses tighten in a warm temperature so they become sharp and need a tweak to tune them down. If you then choose to play when it is cooler, you will find the basses are flat (after the previous tuning) and now need to be tweaked up. The trebles on my 10-course seem relatively stable and if I practice at the same time every day, the instrument seems to be completely in tune for a few weeks. According to my son living in Sydney it has recently been 29C at night! Best Wishes Ron (UK) -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Mark Probert Sent: Sunday, January 17, 2010 1:46 AM To: Herbert Ward; [email protected] Subject: [LUTE] Re: What makes a lute stay in tune? At the risk of speaking out of turn here (I am not a maker)... HW> HW> Ignoring for a moment the tuning instability of gut strings, what HW> construction details make a lute stay in tune better? Is staying HW> in tune a sign of a good lute? HW> Wood, by its nature, will absorb moisture. As it does so, it expands. Different woods expand at different rates. Glues also do the same, though to a less extent. So, the ambient temperature and humidity will influence each wood in its own way, until some sort of stability is reached. Given that lutes are made from a variety of woods, in a stable environment a well made lute will stay pretty much in tune. In a not so kind environment, such as the sub-tropical summer here in Sydney, tuning each time becomes an issue. Not because of the well-madeness of my instrument (it was perfectly stable in Victoria BC) but due to the swings in temperature and humidity (up to a daily 10C and 35%). As the wood acclimatises to Sydney (along with me!), it might get a little more stable. And, for reference, I am using Nylgut. Hope this helps a little. . mark To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
