I think making the body bigger doesn't automatically make the guitar louder. It mostly emphasizes the lower harmonics/fundamentals and the bass side of the guitar. I think they were after a different (darker, more homogenous) timbre rather than a louder sound, in the late 19th and early 20th century. Is a very interesting question, but also hard because there are so many different styles of guitar making in that time.
Early 19th century guitars work as well in halls as modern classical guitars, I find, but by different means: they (most of them) seem to be more treble-like, and more 'piercing' compared to (most) modern classical guitars. Hartelijke groeten, Jelma van Amersfoort On Sun, Oct 31, 2010 at 5:24 PM, Suzanne Angevine <[email protected]> wrote: > In that same excellent concert the second half was played on a replica of a > 19th century guitar, the kind with a smaller body and simple lute-like > barring. I'm struck by how beautiful, bright, and clear the sound of these > instruments is, especially when playing music from that period. (I heard a > fine Carulli sonata.) > > So what were builders and players after that they made the body bigger and > the barring stronger on modern classical guitars? > > Suzanne > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html >
