Lots of great points there, Ted. Personally, I find the double-blind (or even just listener-blind) listening tests very reassuring as they help to strip off these 'Emperor's New Clothes' of which we cynics are only too aware when we hear rather precious discussions between makers/players - especially about bowl materials - "a darker tone", "a nuttier sound", "bell-like" and so on are descriptions I'm sure many of us have heard.
One great sadness for makers today is the virtual impossibility of obtaining straight-grained shaded yew - one of the most popular materials in the old days as we can see from surviving instruments and iconography. Few of today's players have the privilege of playing on such a lute and I certainly don't doubt the 'feel-right' factor that comes from playing a lute that looks just right. But it's easy to confuse pleasing appearance with great tonal and playing properties and that's what I suspect some people do. I'd be the last to try and pour cold water over examples of wonderful craftsmanship in wonderful materials, and they're great things to own, but I think the point is that you don't HAVE to have them to get a lute that sounds and plays extremely well. I have tried so-called 'student lutes' (I hate that term!) that played and sounded just as well as instruments costing several times as much. Bill From: Ted Woodford <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Monday, 14 May 2012, 18:41 Subject: [LUTE-BUILDER] Re: Confession I think there may be a correlation between the working properties of a given timber and the perceived sonic possibilities it has to offer. When I think of European beech, the interesting shimmer of a freshly planed surface comes to mind, whereas North American beech has a certain ropiness to its fibres. Pearwood is silky. It's buttery under a knife blade, almost waxy. The subject of "alternative" woods is almost a moot point when it comes to lute construction. Given the amount of time and effort it takes to construct an instrument, as makers we tend to stick with the tried and true. A conservative clientele has something to do with this as well. It's difficult to find a player interested in funding an experiment with unknown outcome. Carbon-fibre bowls might be sonically superior but it's my guess that they wouldn't be readily accepted. In fact, there are any number of ways to make a lute louder, brighter, more "playable" but by adopting them we move away from what it is a lute is meant to be in the context of historical music perspective. Just what a lute is constructed from might have less impact on tone than we can reliably demonstrate. It's almost depressing to be part of a double-blind listening experiment involving classical guitars using different body woods. One realizes quickly that musicians and builders alike have almost no ability to pick out their own instrument from the field, let alone the difference between Brazilian rosewood and mahogany. The playing experience involves more than the sum of an instrument's parts. The use of ----- Original Message ----- From: "James Jackson" <[1][email protected]> To: <[2][email protected]> Sent: Monday, May 14, 2012 11:19 AM Subject: [LUTE-BUILDER] Re: Confession > I love beech! > > I made a beech pegbox - it's perfect to withstand the twisting and side > to side motions, particularly on a bass or treble rider. I think beech > would be fantastic for a bowl too, sound should have a nice quick > attack with some warmth too. > > As for pearwood - Believe it or not, I have an acoustic guitar with > pear back and sides. > > On 14 May 2012 14:55, Alexandros Tzimeros <[1][3][email protected]> > wrote: > > So, it's not so "out of the question" as I thought. I never see > beech wood listed among the woods > for lute bowls and I always wondered why. I have an Oud made of > beech wood and the sound is beautiful. > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mark Day" > <[2][4][email protected]> > To: "Yaron Naor" <[3][5][email protected]> > Cc: "Alexandros Tzimeros" <[4][6][email protected]>; > <[5][7][email protected]> > Sent: Monday, May 14, 2012 2:41 PM > Subject: [LUTE-BUILDER] Re: Confession > > I just bought some beech for making pegboxes from a local sawyer > and I > have to say I also love it. I bet it would perform like maple but I > think it is nicer to work with. The only problem is availability. > It > isn't on the US lumber market anymore since it was pretty well > logged > out a century ago, but fortunately trees still exist and are > occasionally logged by small operations. If it is available I would > use > it. No confession necessary! > On Mon, May 14, 2012 at 7:20 AM, Yaron Naor > <[1][6][8][email protected]> > wrote: > Congatulations! > Maybe you will discover that the beech wood is better for bowl > making > and you will get a better sound... > Take care > Yaron Naor > On Mon, May 14, 2012 at 1:11 PM, Alexandros Tzimeros > <[1][2][7][9][email protected]> wrote: > A Hi dear all, > A After discussing about pear wood in lute making, I'd like > to > confess > A something... > A - I love beech wood and I'm seriously thinking to use it > for > a > bowl. > A Phew! I said it. > A Any comments please? > A -- > To get on or off this list see list information at > > [2][3][8][10]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > -- > [Email%20Footer%20alone.jpg] > [3]* *(TM) *` *(TM) *!A *(TM) *" * o *Y * * * o *"A A > 054-7655797 > *` * *(TM) *(TM) *-a *> *oe *(TM) * *' *(TM) * *", *oe *(TM) > *z > * o > *" *` * *(TM) *(TM) *" * o *-a *(TM) *S: * o * *(TM) * > [4]My Musical Instrument Portfolio > -- > References > 1. mailto:[4][9][11][email protected] > 2. > [5][10][12]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/%7Ewbc/lute-admin/index.html > 3. [6][11][13]http://picasaweb.google.com/ibisyn > 4. [7][12][14]http://picasaweb.google.com/ibisyn > -- > Mark Day > [8][13][15]http://neowalla.smugmug.com/ > -- > References > 1. mailto:[14][16][email protected] > 2. mailto:[15][17][email protected] > 3. [16][18]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/%7Ewbc/lute-admin/index.html > 4. mailto:[17][19][email protected] > 5. [18][20]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/%7Ewbc/lute-admin/index.html > 6. [19][21]http://picasaweb.google.com/ibisyn > 7. [20][22]http://picasaweb.google.com/ibisyn > 8. [21][23]http://neowalla.smugmug.com/ > > -- > > References > > 1. mailto:[24][email protected] > 2. mailto:[25][email protected] > 3. mailto:[26][email protected] > 4. mailto:[27][email protected] > 5. mailto:[28][email protected] > 6. mailto:[29][email protected] > 7. mailto:[30][email protected] > 8. [31]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > 9. mailto:[32][email protected] > 10. [33]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/%7Ewbc/lute-admin/index.html > 11. [34]http://picasaweb.google.com/ibisyn > 12. [35]http://picasaweb.google.com/ibisyn > 13. [36]http://neowalla.smugmug.com/ > 14. mailto:[37][email protected] > 15. mailto:[38][email protected] > 16. [39]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/%7Ewbc/lute-admin/index.html > 17. mailto:[40][email protected] > 18. [41]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/%7Ewbc/lute-admin/index.html > 19. [42]http://picasaweb.google.com/ibisyn > 20. [43]http://picasaweb.google.com/ibisyn > 21. [44]http://neowalla.smugmug.com/ > -- References 1. mailto:[email protected] 2. mailto:[email protected] 3. mailto:[email protected] 4. mailto:[email protected] 5. mailto:[email protected] 6. mailto:[email protected] 7. mailto:[email protected] 8. mailto:[email protected] 9. mailto:[email protected] 10. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html 11. mailto:[email protected] 12. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/%7Ewbc/lute-admin/index.html 13. http://picasaweb.google.com/ibisyn 14. http://picasaweb.google.com/ibisyn 15. http://neowalla.smugmug.com/ 16. mailto:[email protected] 17. mailto:[email protected] 18. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/%7Ewbc/lute-admin/index.html 19. mailto:[email protected] 20. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/%7Ewbc/lute-admin/index.html 21. http://picasaweb.google.com/ibisyn 22. http://picasaweb.google.com/ibisyn 23. http://neowalla.smugmug.com/ 24. mailto:[email protected] 25. mailto:[email protected] 26. mailto:[email protected] 27. mailto:[email protected] 28. mailto:[email protected] 29. mailto:[email protected] 30. mailto:[email protected] 31. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html 32. mailto:[email protected] 33. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/%7Ewbc/lute-admin/index.html 34. http://picasaweb.google.com/ibisyn 35. http://picasaweb.google.com/ibisyn 36. http://neowalla.smugmug.com/ 37. mailto:[email protected] 38. mailto:[email protected] 39. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/%7Ewbc/lute-admin/index.html 40. mailto:[email protected] 41. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/%7Ewbc/lute-admin/index.html 42. http://picasaweb.google.com/ibisyn 43. http://picasaweb.google.com/ibisyn 44. http://neowalla.smugmug.com/
