Dear Dan
I think stringing should be considered "holistically". I
achieved best success with the new generation Venice loaded strings
when I used Venice octaves and Venice Meanes. All these strings are
twines and so have a sympathetic upper harmonic pattern.
They are more supple than a tress, like a Pistoy, which would show a
greater difference in upper harmonic pattern. In that case, it seems
quite possible that a first generation, stiffer loaded string might
show a closer harmonic pattern and blend better with the Pistoy.
$
Playing technique also evolves in relation to a particular string type
and tension, so a change from an old generation loaded to a new one
might not bring an intrinsic improvement, without adapting the
stringing, the playing, and possibly also tweaking the nut or the
bridge.
$
On my 7C lute, I intitially had as basses, a D7 Gimped, a G6 Pistoy,
and as Meanes C5 unisson "Lyons", and F4 High twist.
This stringing did work, all the strings were good in their own right,
but didn't quite come together tonally.
In particular, I was not happy about the tonal difference between the
Gimped Pistoy, which is bright, and the simple Pistoy tress which was
relatively dull (although that was a fairly normal stringing choice in
the UK about ten years ago).
$
I also felt there was too much of a tonal break between C5 and F4
Meanes. I changed both these to Venices, and felt I had less of a tonal
break there.
$
Later I replaced G6 also with a Venice, which was a little brighter
than the Pistoy, but I still felt it didn't quite go with the gimped
string.
$
Eventually, I changed the Gimped string for a Loaded Venice (which were
only just on the market), and the improvement was far greater than I
expected, in spite of the slight problem with the rattle.
I am sure that was because the loaded string was also a Venice, so now
I had Meanes and basses that all worked in sympathy.
$
Finally, I used a Venice Meanes Octave with the D7 loaded, and all was
well.
$
Now, I feel almost certain that the D7 Venice loaded would not have
sounded so good had I kept the G6 Pistoy.
The Pistoy is a tress, and so (as said above) quite a stiff string
compared to a Venice twine. Thus I would not be at all surprised if it
would go better with a stiffer first generation loaded string.
$
I well remember Jakob Lindberg's Dowland recording using the first
generation loaded strings, and it was very good, so they can be a fine
solution.
$
There was however, a difficulty in keeping up the quality.
Mimmo had not yet rediscovered some new antique ingredients, which
allowed a smoother spread of the loading. So many more of the first
generation strings were fairly false; so you are definitely lucky if
you have one that is very true. Dan Larson had the same problem when he
tried to make loaded strings. Mimmo had the courage to carry on the
search, and finally discovered some ingredients in some old recipe that
seem to do the trick.
$
I am not sure whether the Venice core plays a role in making the new
generation loaded strings more true, but they do theoretically make
them more in tune with their octaves, particularly if you use a Venice
octave; and
the flexibilty of the Venice core gives better harmonicity to the new
loaded string, giving them a better intrinsic singing quality over the
old string type; so I suppose the Venice core does help with the
overall impression of "in-tuneness"
$
Nevertheless, if the string next to it is a fairly stiff Pistoy, it is
possible that the qualities of the Venice loaded are not so
perceptible, and a good first generation loaded string might have a
harmonic pattern more in sympathety with your Pistoy.
$
"The proof of the pudding ...", as they say, so what is important is
that you have achieved a better balance.
$
Congratulations!
Anthony
---- Message d'origine ----
>De : "Daniel Winheld" <[email protected]>
>A : [email protected]
>Objet : [LUTE] [LUTE]loaded gut: low D 8th course update
>Date : 07/12/2010 00:51:15 CET
>
>To those of you following this neurotic obsessive probe down the
> rabbit hole: I just put on the ancient 1.53 mm (physical diameter)
> 1st generation loaded gut on the low "D" position on my new Larson
> lute. Perfect! -matches the tone color of the 1.38 pistoy unison
> 6th, and the 1.45 (approx) gimped F-7 makes a perfect transition, or
> match from the loaded gut D to the pistoys. The loaded gut does
> indeed feel stiffer than the pistoys (gimp 7 feels in between- good
> transition there too). While a higher tension 8ve course is
> recommended by Anthony for correct feel/tone balance in his
> applications, a lighter tension octave string on my lute balances the
> tension of the course as a whole better with the 6th, plus the
> quieter sound of a low tension octave makes less of a shock going to
> a unison 6th. The loaded gut provides just that degree more clarity
> needed for all the notes on this frequently fingered bass course than
> the gimp. No buzzing that I can detect yet. Pretty good intonation;
> in tune with its octave string.
>
> Anthony- would you say that the newer loaded gut strings are more
> alive, bright, and potentially more buzz inclined than the old ones?
> -I wonder if I have a unique string.
>
> Specs on the lute- string length 63 cm. pitched at a=415, 1/6 comma
> meantone frets & tuning.
>
> Dan
> --
>
>
>
>
> To get on or off this list see list information at
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>
--
References
1. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/%7Ewbc/lute-admin/index.html
