Thanks Anthony! Very interesting report on Mimmo's work and inventions! Best wishes,
Arto On Thu, 20 Jan 2011 15:13:51 +0000 (GMT), Anthony Hind <[email protected]> wrote: > Dear Lutenists > You probably all know by now, that Mimmo Peruffo of Aquila has > acquired an > > extrudor which has allowed him to develop his new NNG compound much closer > to > his own strong, fairly stiff, gut treble strings, which are themselves > based on > his understanding and research into how historic trebles might have felt > under > the finger. > Mimmo is thus in a position to plough some of his historic gut string > knowledge > back into his synthetic string making; and has now begun experimenting with > a > prototype loaded NNG string, close to his loaded Venice gut basses, and > also > preparing to research a more flexible synthetic Meanes closer to the > properties > of his Venices. > As Charles Besnainou, string specialist at the CNRS pointed out to me, this > is a > historic moment, as it may be the first time we have synthetic musical > string > types specifically designed and produced by a musical string maker who is > actually interested in musicians, rather than as a by-product of the > synthetic > string industry, which is more interested in fishermen and tennis players. > > Prototype Tungsten loaded NNG bass: > On returning to Paris, and my computer, I found the message from Mimmo > relating that he was experimenting with a new loaded NNG string that used > tungsten loading; but that this string type can work for 4th 5th and 6th > course > on a Renaissance lute. > Of course, I immediately wondered why MP was only talking of basses on a > six > course lute. Since Tungsten is twice as heavy as copper, I wondered why he > could > not simply "chuck" more Tungsten in to the mix and come up with a perfect > C-11 > loaded bass. > > > I communicated all this to Mimmo (showing my complete ignorance of plastics > and > extrudors), but he agreed to Skype me so that I could both see and hear the > > prototype string, and discuss these issues. > Hearing and seeing a string through Skype is not the ideal way of judging > its > qualities; nor is it ideal for communicating about such a complex topic. > The > line froze on several occasions, probably leading Mimmo to believe I was > not > understanding his English, wheras, in point of fact, he communicates his > enthusiasm and his string ideas rather well. > > The Protype Tungsten Loaded NNG's qualities: > Apparently, at present the protoype tungsten loaded string is graphite > coloured (the colour of Tungsten?), but this I could not tell from Skype. > Mimmo > would prefer to colour it slightly more red. > > > The loaded string was paired up with a wirewound on the 7th course of a > large > Baroque lute and tuned to Renaissance F-7 (I am not sure at what diapason). > So > Mimmo seems to have already achieved the equivalent of a Renaissance 7th > course. > > Through Skype, I was only in a position to compare the relative sound of > these > two strings, as they were both filtred by mics, computers and speakers. I > think > I can nevertheless come to a few conclusions. > The NNG loaded string has the typical sustain and singing quality of gut > loaded > strings, but with less sustain than the paired wirewound (and of course > this is > exactly what we would want). When Mmmo damped the neighbouring wirewound, I > > could hear that the loaded string was warmer and less metallic than the > wirewound (without the damping, some sympathetic resonance made it > brighter, but > that was only to be expected). > > > It was extremely interesting to hear that Mimmo's NNG Loaded string kept > its > tonal qualities and sustain when it was lowered to the frequency of a D-7 > (it > just lost a little in intensity). This would, I think, imply that the > string is > very true and the loading homogenous. > MP however, would like to make the string slightly stiffer, and to raise > the > loading percentage, so as to be able to achieve an easilly controllable > bass > string that can go down to C-11. He is fairly confident that he can achieve > > this, but he already had two very difficult problems to resolve when making > this > F-7 bass string (see below). > > Very surprising was the degree of flexibility of the new string. I would > say > that it is as flexible as Charles Besnainou's spring strings, which have > 20% > stretch. The difference is that Charles achieves this by the spring > structure of > a complex string, while Mimmo has achieved it directly through the plastic > compound's structure. > This could lead to an ultra low impedance string, having both the > elasticity of > ChB's spring strings, and the thinness of Mimmo's gut loaded strings, thus > having lower impedance, and better harmonicity than either, but not at the > expense of the other voices (as with wirewounds) as they would also be able > to > better resonate in this low impedance environment, giving better sustain to > all > the vocies. > > > Could this ultra low impedence string achieve the French Luthenists ideal > sound? > > An NNG Loaded bass may have more sustain than ever achieved by a historic > (non-demifilé) gut string, but we should, perhaps, remember the ideal the > French > luthenists were attempting to achieve, when, according to Anthony Bailes, > they > sought out antique Italian lutes: > "The last, and most important point is that notes on such instruments have > more > sustain coupled with a more gradual and even decay to the sound. This is > particularly important as it can give the impression that a note sounds on > longer than it actually does." (Lute News 85, Avril 2008) > > Perhaps this new loaded bass will bring us closer to that ideal, without > resorting to removing antique lutes from our museums. > (of course we should be careful not to overgeneralize such arguments which > could > bring some to speculate that these same French luthenists, might have > adopted > modern wirewounds, had they been available. Demi-filé did exist, but it > does not > seem that they were generally adopted by French luthenists). > > Problems that needed to be resolved: > 1) Standard extrudors have not been developed to push heavy metal > laden > polymers through the eye of the extrudor nozzle, and Mimmo had breaking > bolts > and nozzles due to high pressures, with some risk entailed; > > 2) MP found that adding a loading agent to a plastic compound worked > rather > differently from loading gut. Gut keeps its basic qualities (flexibility > etc) > during the loading process; while the loading of plastic actually changes > its > elasticity and makes the resulting string stiffer. > > This of course is not what you want for a bass string, it should be more > flexible, if anything, to attain equivalent harmonicity to a thinner > string. > Furthermore, achieiving a homogenous mix was not so easy as expected. > > Solving (1) meant having alterations made to the nozzles and their bolts; > and I > hope that Mimmo has minimised any risks, when he further raises the loading > > compound. > Solving (2) is a more difficult issue, implying use of very recent theories > > about the complex flow of polymer systems, based on a new inter-discipline > using > "Rheology Principles" at the boundaries of Chemistry, Physics, Material > sciences, Mechanics and Mathematics. All which is quite beyond my > understanding, > but hopefully well understood by Mimmo (but see ChB's remarks below). > In fact, Mimmo found he needed to raise the flexibity of NNG by adding a > specific plastic ("flexing" agent) to the compound, so as to counteract the > > stiffening due to the loading process. He will now need to exactly control > the > ammount of the flexing agent added, so as to achieve a slightly stiffer > string, > while also needing to increase the percentage of the loading agent. In the > case > of the lower basses this loading agent will need to be copper, I think, > possibly, because of the high price of Tungsten, but perhaps copper is more > > suitable, anyway. > (ChB tells me that if clever dosing of ingredients can help achieve > particular > string qualities, the real art in extruding synthetic strings lies in the > drawing-techniques. Charles says the filament is amorphous (the mollecules > are > not structured) at the extrudor nozzle. It is the drawing technique that > aligns > mollecules and determines theier structure, giving the string's > flexibility, > elasticity, and resistence to charge. > > Charles says that if Mimmo has mastered this art, he takes off his hat to > him.) > > MP is hoping to be able to make more tests in March of this year, so we are > > still talking very much of a prototype bass string. Nevertheless, he does > hope > soon to be able to offer a replacement for synthetic wirewounds close to > his > ideal of the "historic" loaded bass strings. > > Developing the three Mace string types in NNG sythetics: > Those who know Mimmo will not be surprised that as soon as he had > discovered > a new "flexing" agent to add to the NNG compound to compensate for > stiffening > due to the loading agent, he immediately thought of using this to make a > synthetic NNG equivalent to his flexible Venice Meanes. > Thus he would have his interpretation of the three string types of which > Mace > speaks, but this time in synthetics: Stiff NNG for Trebles; Flexible NNG > with > specific "flexing" ingredient for Meanes; and Flexible NNG with specific > "flexing" ingredient + Tungsten or Copper loading agent for Basses. > > > For the first time then we should have a homogonous quality across voices > that > has only ever been attained by gut. Not only would this be due to the basic > NNG > composition present in all voices, but the different degree of flexing and > loading will compensate for the usual increase in harmonicity due to the > auto-damping of higher frequency components by thicker strings, so that all > > voices should sing together (with better sympathetic behaviour): while the > small > differences, may help to separate the voices, they should blend together > like > the voices of a choir. > > Higher tension Meane Octaves: > It will at last be possible to follow Mace's advice, and achieve an > even > better blend of Basses and Meanes, by using NNG Meanes strings for the > thicker > 7c to 11c octaves. > "Then out of your Venice-Catlins, for your 4ths, 5ths, and most of your > other > octaves." > http://www.luteshop.co.uk/stringsmace.htm > > Closer to the ideal (if not the letter) of historic strings? > I do not know whether it will be possible to achieve quite the "rich > and > alive" sound texture of gut, which comes, as D.v.O. rightly says, from its > natural irregularity (lute news No 96 p19-18), or the micro-dynamics of a > gut > string, which "will respond immediately when plucked", with "a quick > attack". > and a "smaller, but more refined dynamical range than modern strings." > So although all-NNG may give similar sustain to all-gut, it may not seduce > many > gut users who like David, consider gut, the material used by the old ones, > and > so fundamental to the understanding of their music: "These two factors, > attack > and sustain, will influence (..) musical tempo (... and) my articulation". > However, if NNG brings lutenists even a little closer to the ideal (if not > the > letter) of historic strings, it should bring them just "a litrtle closer to > the > sound and music of bygone ages". > > > Will we see POD once more go "wireless": > Personally, (just as David says) I am willing to sacrifice a little > trueness for the warmer, more interesting, texture, microdynamics, and > homogenous sound of all gut stringing; but how wonderful, if the likes of > POD > could once more be heard "wireless", as he was in some pieces, with all gut > > stringing, in his superb recording, "Tablatures de Levt" AS76. > > Yes, I might prefer him to play all-gut, but realistically, all-NNG is the > best > we can hope for. > > Pay back time for NG? > As you will know Mimmo has made deep historic research (see his web > pages) > along with thousands of experiments on historic gut stringing, and some of > this > must have been financed by sales of NG. > > Now, with his extrudor, Mimmo can use this knowledge to near his historic > ideals > with NNG synthetics. Of course they will not be historic strings, but they > should be closer in terms of sound colour and texture to Mimmo's gut ideal, > than > any previous synthetic. > In some ways, they may surpass gut strings: being more true, with better > sustain, and easier to use at lower tension > > Can we have the best of both worlds? > I feel almost certain that Mimmo will eventually plough this new knowledge, > > acquired working with synthetics, back into improved gut stringing. > > > Could these strings be temporary replacements for gut users, when in > particularly difficult playing conditions? > No, I don't think that is possible. The more flexible Meanes and Loaded > strings > would need quite a time to settle; but a player could either have a lute > specifically strung in synthetics for such conditions, or string a lute, > well in > advance, for a tour in which conditions are unpredictable. > > Gut users may be able to better mix these synthetics with gut from a tonal > point > of view; although, you should bear in mind that gut and synthetics do not > necessarilly behave similarly in humid conditions, which can lead to > strings > going out of tune in different directions. > I can see some gut users only using NNG trebles (to save on breakage), and > others only using NNG loaded basses (to save on the cost of expensive gut > loaded > basses). However, the ideal, is surely to use all synthetics or all gut; > and my > preference for now does remain all gut. > > Best time to make a new string? > Amusingly, the last time Mimmo Skyped me about the birth of a new a > loaded > string was around Christmas or the New Year a few years back. It was when > he had > developed his new Venice loaded gut basses; now it is almost the same time > of > year, and a new synthetics loaded string is born! This is of course a > romantic > view of things, but which I don't feel like completely dismissing. > Mimmo is a something of an alchemist (the Bernard Palissy of the string > making > world), yet I doubt that he waits for the Winter solstice before beginning, > and > then bringing his experiments to fruition, at the New Year. > > More mundanely, Mimmo uses his free time for research and experiments; and > the Christmas holiday period is simply one of his main chances for > experimentation in his rare spare time. > > I am personally grateful to Mimmo both for his continued research, and for > > letting me glimpse some of his reasoning and the purpose behind his > experiments. > > Please do be patient, however. My recent discussion of NNG caused some > frustration, as some impatient hopeful NG users were unhappy not to be > quickly > gratified with NNG. > > Please note this is the beginning of an experiment with a protoype string. > The > actual launch date depends on many factors, and could be some time off. > > I know this may be frustrating for someone, hoping to string a new lute, > who at > present may neither be able to find a Venice loaded gut bass, nor the new > loaded > NNG, for which the gut loaded string making has been temporarilly halted. > > Regards > Anthony > > > > > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
