Dear Anthony,
I'm still using the Zoom. This latest recording was done in a room with
a livelier acoustic, at a distance of about 90cm or so. Of course, the
louder the lute, the greater the distance can be, though I have to say I
play quieter for recording purposes than I ever would in a live
performance. I don't use any EQ or compression, just add a little
reverb. The background noise is still quite high, but for
internet-worthy MP3s I think it's bearable. If I were making a CD
obviously I would have to use professional equipment.
Best wishes,
Martin
On 01/02/2011 12:37, Anthony Hind wrote:
Dear Martin and All
I agree with all said, here. Although moving back and forth from a 70cm
Baroque lute to a 60cm Renaissance lute is rather different; nevertheless, some
of the impressions are those described, here: when coming back to this 60cm
Renaissance lute, I find the space "pinched" with a need for far more precision,
and this gets worse as I go up the sound board.
I now feel that at least a 64cm lute would make swapping back and forth easier;
although the 60cm Gerle does have some bouncy dynamic qualities that I enjoy.
Martin, your superb playing is bringing out the evident qualities of your C36
lute and its gut stringing; and your recording is a good whitness to this. It
seems, therefore, that you have solved some of the sound issues that you had
originally with the Zoom H2, which you discussed with the list (the need to have
the mics very close because of the noisy preamps, etc).
I wonder whether you are still using this machine, and if so how you are now
managing to better cope with these problems?
Regards
Anthony
________________________________
De : Martin Shepherd<[email protected]>
À : Daniel Winheld<[email protected]>
Cc : [email protected]
Envoyé le : Mar 1 février 2011, 11h 01min 11s
Objet : [LUTE] Re: new piece of the month
Thanks for your comments, Dan. Just a few random thoughts of my own:
The business of different sizes of lute is interesting. One thing is clear -
you get used to whatever you are playing at the moment, and when you change to a
different lute (shorter or longer) it seems strange at first.
Just for the record (Ed), guitar fingerboards are not narrower - a standard size
classical guitar has about the same string band (across six single strings) as
an 8c lute. The spacing of courses on the lute is much the same as on steel
string or electric guitars, quite narrow.
People often say they couldn't possibly play a lute bigger than about 60cm
because of the stretches. People's hands differ, maybe I'm lucky but I have
quite small hands and can still play that Ab chord (f1-b2-d4-b6) on a 67cm
lute. A few years ago I made a 76cm lute for Mark Wheeler and apart from the
amazing power of it, I was delighted to find that playing most solos on it was
no problem for me (or for him).
Smaller lutes might make some stretches easier but they have some problems of
their own - as Thomas says, the "sweet spot" is quite narrow and in general I
always feel more precision is required. Some time ago Sean Smith reminded me of
another factor, that as you go higher up the fingerboard and frets can get
uncomfortably close together - a problem which disappears on a bigger lute. I
have a 53.5cm lute which I have always loved, but I have to get in training to
play it.
The 67cm lutes are excellent for accompanying singers as well - more depth of
sound, power and flexibility.
Dan, there are two of my C36 9c lutes for sale at the moment - one being
advertised by Gordon Gregory, the other not yet advertised because I'm going to
lower the action slightly (this is the striped yew one on my website).
Best to All,
Martin
On 01/02/2011 00:44, Daniel Winheld wrote:
Awesome indeed- Martin's got the best one-stop operation for
everything lute anywhere.
67 cm. for a Renaissance lute ought to be a fine size. I owned a
72cm. 8 course "Division Bass" lute in E (A fluctuating between 415
and 430) for years- the acid test for my left hand was the F chord (A
flat on a "G" lute), first fret barre, little finger stopping "a",
first course 5th fret. I could manage it; but a physically tiresome
size in the long run, and really the pitch level was just about 1/2
step too low for many pieces to sound their best. Not the best first
choice for one's primary, work horse Renaissance lute.
But the sound itself was wonderful- full, sonorous, plenty of sustain
with all gut stringing, a narrow Maler-sh body, from the
Barber-Harris workshop. Wish I could have afforded to keep it, but my
present lute, a serendipitous blessing from Dan Larson, is an 8
course Venere style body at 64 cm. - nicely threading the middle
ground between the twitchy, short-sustain alto/small tenor lutes and
the bigger, more forgiving but tiresome stretchy low tenor/bass lutes.
I would love to have a copy of Martin's C36 lute in 9 courses, with a
10 fret neck.
Yes Martin, I think we all like your new lute, and the fine style
with which you manage it. Keep up the great work; I've already
printed out the piece. Lots of fun.
best,
Dan
I enjoyed it all; the music, the playing, and the instrument.
Thanks for posting.
-Ned
On Jan 30, 2011, at 11:18 AM, Martin Shepherd wrote:
Dear All,
With one day to go, here is January's piece of the month:
www.luteshop.co.uk/month/pieceofthemonth.htm
- played on a new all-gut strung 7c lute (67cm, after Venere C36).
I hope you like it.
Best wishes,
Martin
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