Good points, Tom. I recently listened to (on FM radio) a Spanish lute piece played by Hopkinson Smith. Had I not been familiar with the instrument, I would have guessed that it was about the size of a grand piano. I can understand recording engineers wanting to 'enhance' a sound that to their ears may appear too 'small', but I would hope that players would have some say in the ultimate sound of the recording. Very positive examples of players having input into the recorded sound are the recordings done by Ron Andrico and Donna Stewart. -Ned On Jul 11, 2011, at 4:01 PM, [email protected] wrote:
> Playing in churches or stone-built castles is fine, and I can see > why people like the reverberative acoustics. Lots of different kinds > of music sound very good in these spaces. > BUT - are we talking about HIP Renaissance lute, Baroque lute, or > Medeival music? Stone-built castles were largely a medieval thing, > and the residents heavily draped walls, etc. with tapestries and the > like to make the spaces warmer and more habitable. This would have > deadened the acoustics of those spaces. When we go to a place like > Warkworth we're not seeing the space as it was when it was lived in, > but a mere skeleton of that. > If we look at Jan Vermeer's "A lady at the virginals with a gentleman (`The > Music Lesson´)" > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jan_Vermeer_van_Delft_014.jpg > we see a typical upper middle class room environment from the mid 1660s. > I think a lot of lute music was heard in spaces like this. > Note the heavily draped table. The smaller dimensions of the room, > the beamed ceiling, plus the addition of furniture, paintings on the walls, > drapery, and even the way the walls were constructed (not stone), would > all have contributed to moderating the reverberation (echo) in the room, > with the end result being much less reverb than a church or castle. > Hence the point of my earlier comment: I'd like to hear some HIP recordings > done in a less-echoy, warmer setting ; ) > Tom >> Mathias wrote... >> Don't know why so many of us like to play in churches, but I for >> one won't hesitate to accept speakers if I'm offered. >> For my 2 pence, I suggest that the acoustics are better (more >> authentic) in a stone built church being the closest resemblance of >> castles and the homes of nobility. Churches fulfill this role, >> with the bonus of seating for an audience. Almost every town and >> village in the UK has one, so venues are common enough to set up >> for a recital. Castles are fewer and far between and, historic >> houses may not always be so accommodating for a recital with seated >> audience. >> >> >> Why historic sound? >> >> >> This is what every listener who enjoys the lute or simply wants to >> experience, comes to expect. If we `evolve' from this, as other >> more modern instruments seem to be doing, it will become `lost' >> again. >> >> >> Will some future generation research and try to recreate the >> `historic sound' as much as we have been trying to do, if we move >> on from tradition? >> >> >> Kind regards >> >> >> Ron (UK) >> >> >> >> >> >> -- >> >> >> To get on or off this list see list information at >> http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > > > Tom Draughon > Heartistry Music > http://www.heartistry.com/artists/tom.html > 714 9th Avenue West > Ashland, WI 54806 > 715-682-9362 > >
