Getting very interesting- I now remember (it was so long ago) when I got my first lute from the builder (Hugh Gough, NYC, 1973 approx.) he instructed me in the double fret method, not super thin but certainly thinner than today's typical singles- he also advised wetting them for a minute in warm water to make them more flexible, and then they additionally tighten a bit upon drying. Of course, that would be unnecessary if the gut was already naturally flexible.
The aesthetics of sound is interesting- I posted a thought about that, (forgot to copy it to the list) relating it to the Capirola reference to low action set deliberately for a little buzz. Different sound world back then- and of course, Ron Andrico's points on tempo may be very well taken; I know in my own case there has often been far too much hurry, sometimes literally the pace of life- I have 20 minutes to play/practice, then run off to work- staying on top of too many instruments and styles in one lifetime also adds confusion and hurry. And when do my wife and I ever go out to dance pavans, galliards, voltas? Weiss never worried about maintaining his "Renaissance" lutes & techniques, Francesco never had to keep up his 11 course lute, and his archlute, and also get the Volvo to the mechanic by 7:30 Tuesday morning, Dan >Well! As the jumping into hot water already started... The double >frets that we know of, came into use at the same period as the bray >harp, and the "bray" attachments in virginals. Again, aesthetics of >the sound, it was considered that a hard object slightly touching >the string near its' cut-off point makes sustain longer, and the >sound, well, more beautiful. When this effect is taken into >consideration and the frets tied with this idea, and the string >tension light enough for it to work, the results can be quite nice. >It is certainly an important mantra: THEY WERE NOT CRAZY, they were >not crazy... alexander r. > > > >> Martyn, > >> >> > The continuing, if strange, >> > fascination single loops seems to >> > defy historical evidence and practical >> > experience. >> >> >> Time to wake up that sleeping dog! Once again I'll jump into hot >>water and point out that the old gut material had quite different >>physical properties than our modern reconstructions. This probably >>explains Mace's emphasis on stretching frets before putting them on. >> >> Perhaps modern gut is hard/stiff enough to maintain its shape and >>allow for single frets. On the other hand, if period gut was sort >>of "rubbery," it would therefore need to be doubled up in order to >>provide enough of a substantial bump on the neck to effectively >>stop a string. This would in turn account for the tiny, tiny >>double frets seen in paintings. >> >> Chris - has experience with both double and single frets. >> > > > >To get on or off this list see list information at >http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html -- Rachel Winheld 820 Colusa Avenue Berkeley, CA 94707 [email protected] Tel 510.526.0242 Cell 510.915.4276
