Hi Taco,
We have very little evidence for any of this, of course. But it seems
extremely probable that the single 2nd came into being when people
converted 10c lutes into 11c lutes, because it involved only the
addition of a treble rider, a bass extension to the bridge, and an
overhanging nut - no major rebuild of pegbox, no need to open the lute.
There are plenty of 11c lutes with double 2nd in paintings and surviving
lutes, perhaps they were new-built rather than conversions. Unusually,
Thomas Mace seems to have used a double first as well as a double 2nd.
Mary Burwell's author has it that the single 2nd is used because it is
difficult to find two strings "to agree", but I suspect that the real
reason is the ease of conversion from 10c to 11c.
So I think it is very unlikely that 10c lutes ever had a single 2nd, in
fact one might ask whether or not they had a double 1st, since double
firsts were common in 7 and 8c lutes, and used also by Dowland on 9c
lutes (1610).
I'm not convinced that playing technique has anything to do with it,
except that to a modern player used to the single strings of the guitar
(and then the usual single top string of the modern lute), double
strings can require some adjustment of technique.
Best wishes,
Martin
Taco Walstra wrote:
Does anybody know when the single second course came into use on
baroque
lutes? During a relative short period several new, transitional tunings
came into use before everybody settled on Dm tuning on 10 course lutes.
But did these lutes have a single 2nd course? If a typical baroque
technique was already used it's perhaps yes.
Ballard is still renaissance tuning with -I assume- a double 2nd string,
or do we still play this music on totally wrong instruments and wrong
technique? Was change in playing technique the only reason for the
change?
Are there any historical facts about this in literature, old
instruments?
Taco - who just turned his 10 course into a french baroque lute.
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