>Just recently I tuned up at the dress-rehearsal at noon, and I >didn't have to tune 7hrs later for the actual concert. >Long live carbon. >RT
Hear hear, here! I just had a gig that would have been lute tuning hell (St. Mark's Lutheran, San Francisco) if my archlute had been dressed in gut for the occasion. Worst type gig for solo playing; individual pieces played singly at approx. 10 - 15 minute intervals (no warm-up pieces & continuity) to add color/variety to an acappella motet concert. No place/time to tune or warm up before hand either; just bang jump up, and I'm on. Between my solos, the lute rested on two chairs directly in front of an air conditioning outlet only partially blocked. I did not have to touch a single peg. This is the instrument that in a previous thread I described as having nylon, carbon, and copper overspuns; and still sounds gorgeous. Another victory for Carbons in Combat was a concert a few years ago where Jacob Lindberg played continuo on a carbonated theorbo; the two gambists could barely get their viols in tune in that drafty venue; much less keep them tuned for more than 8 measures at a time. Jacob sat cool as a cucumber, patiently waiting for them as often as necessary. His pegs also could have been mere decoration as far as his need to adjust anything on this occasion. Rather than flammables & indoor weather balloons, a few pin feathers filched from the down comforter or pillow and attached to the end of your furthest pegbox will always show you which way the wind is blowing. And a small compass inlaid on the back of the neck at about the 8th fret should complete the set-up. A side benefit- you will not stay lost in even the largest cathedral. Is a combo tuner with GPS not far behind? Dan PS- we will be doing one more performance of this program: 3:30 p.m. Saturday June 12, St. Mark's Episcopal Church, 2300 Bancroft Way, Berkeley Ca. "Mostly Motets in Concert" - including works by Dufay, Josquin, Tallis, Byrd, Victoria, Marco dall'Aquila, Fuenllana, Palestrina, Francesco da Milano, Durufle among others. >>>I played a solo recital yesterday in a rather drafty medieval church >>>in Champagne on a lute with loaded gut basses. Tuning was difficult >>>but manageable, but nevertheless my experience got me wondering if >>>anyone out there may have any advice with regards to how one may >>>discern where the optimal performance place is with regards to drafts, >>>i.e., how does one check for drafts in a concert space? >>> >>>Any advice would be most welcome! >>> >>>As ever, >>>Benjamin -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
