Dear Howard,
> This sort of hyperbolic generalization is very common --Jaroslaw has done it
> repeatedly with my comments about Mace, turning them into a statement that I
> don't believe anything Mace said because he was eccentric. I do the same
> thing all the time (though I try to avoid doing it in writing) and so did
> Mace.
>
Then, lets examine your own words without any additions. Here are your words
copied and pasted:
"Obviously, I'm less inclined to take Mace seriously than you are.
I'm writing about what an oddball who may have been an
inaccurate observer or someone quick to jump to odd conclusions may
have meant. A And remember, when he wrote the book he was so deaf he
had to put his teeth on a lute to hear any sound from it, so the
details of strings' A actual sounds may have been a different
memory. A If you're inclined to take everything Mace says as
practical and workable, try building his dyphone, and then try
playing it."
Now, please take any good dictionary and check every word with me. "Oddball" -
a strange or eccentric person. "Inaccurate observer" - a person who's sense of
observation is inadequate resulting in false view of reality, false assesments
of situations etc. "Someone quick to jump to odd conclusions" - here we have
the whole set of your favorite words, ambiguously suggesting that Mace could
make generalizations instantly without any thought, and obviously his
conclusions had to be odd (different from what is usual or expected; strange).
Then you're implying that because his hearing was impaired he couldn't asses
string quality adequately. In the end you're saying that if I dare to believe
in what Mace wrote I should build and play his dyphone first to prove his
book's reliability. I won't comment anymore on it. It is self explanatory.
One thing more. I never said that I believe in every word Mace wrote. I never
said I understand precisely what kind of red strings Mace meant and why he
mentioned rotten strings. Possibilities are numerous. One of them could be that
the quality of gut in 17c was much worse than now. Mace mentioned rotten
strings in several places of his book. Just another example: "There is a small
sort of Lyons, which many use for the octaves; But I care not for them, they
being CONSTANTLY ROTTEN, and good for little, but to make frets of". If you
have a difficulty with understanding why he had used the word "constantly"
which seems to be illogical because nobody would buy them, I can only suggest
that you better apply colloquial language to decipher Music's Monument (in this
case meaning "often").
And finally it would be so nice if everyone observed netiquette. We have names,
and it is very kind to greet one another in spite of our differences.
Best regards
Jaroslaw
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