Dear Anthony,
Once more my apologies for such a hiatus in writing. As I said before, the
change of internet provider caused a lot of connection problems, and then
traveling (a concert tour) didn't give me a chance to write longer messages.
I'll try to catch up now, so please excuse me if I write too long.
You touched a couple of related topics in your last email, so I will try to
address them separately.
ROTTEN GUT
Obviously the word "rotten" can have at least 2 meanings, however I am
afraid in this case Mace very clearly writes about decay of gut strings.
Just one example:
"for that colour is a general sign of rottenness, or of the DECAY of the
string"
The word "decay" reappears several times in the technical part of Music's
Monument, always in conjunction with the word "rottenness". This can't be
coincidental.
Now, one can consider why it is so difficult for us to accept that decay
process of a gut string could be real. I can see two reasons, namely: 1/
none of us saw a rotting gut 2/ Mace is viewed as a very eccentric man
thence unreliable source of historical information.
I would like to challenge both of these notions.
1/ Is this possible for a gut to decay? Gut is an organic substance so if
unprotected it would start to decay very fast. Modern gut strings are very
well chemically protected against such a possibility. In Mace times gut was
treated with Griepoli i.e. tartar and a small quantity of Roch Allum (as
Philip Skippon an English traveller who visited an Italian string
manufacture testifies in 1663). In general gut absorbs humidity very easily
during which process it swells putting on some weight and volume. The porous
structure of gut and the way strands are assembled into a string makes it
even more susceptible to decay. Now, if we try to recreate conditions that
people were used to live in an average English household in 17c. (maybe
excluding aristocracy), and Mace was not a wealthy man, it is not difficult
to imagine that walls of such a building that had never seen a central
heating system would be prone to keep constant humidity inside. In that
light Mace's advice to keep a lute in the room with fireplace and even his
amusing remark to wrap it in blankets seems to be quite practical. We don't
know what was the climate in 17c., but we can easily assume that in England
it would be definitely humid. Mace's remarks seem to confirm this: "for the
bed will dry up all the moisture and clamminess, which moist weather
constantly ocassions to any thing made of wood etc." I can only try to
imagine that clammy furniture and other wooden things. Therefore Mace says
that old lutes are better than new because: "if this
thick-strong-lusty-sturdy-oak will (in 100 years) decay, by such usage; how
much more easily then, must a lute (made of gentle wood, and so very thin)
with such like ill usage decay? Yet we see, that many lutes there are of a
great age and I myself have at this present a lute made of ayre, that is
above 100 years old, a very strong lute..." To complement this picture one
has to add the level of hygiene and knowledge of elementary microbiological
processes during that time. We don't even know under what conditions strings
were transported and stored before selling by merchants.
I am not surprised Mace writes a lot about rotting strings and even whole
instruments.
COLOURED STRINGS
Since I began to play lutes which was many years ago, the passage from
chapter VI p.65-66, was always interpreted one way, suggesting that the red
colour of Pistoys is something different than gut colours described further
under a heading of "coloured strings". I don't know who was the initial
source of this information, but it must have been suggested very long time
ago. Unfortunately, as usual in such cases, people repeat ideas without
considering another possibilities.
Mace writes: "There are several sorts of coloured strings, very good; But
the best (to my observation) was always the clear blue; the red, commonly
rotten, sometimes green very good."
Lets presume that as you suggest he is talking only about some shades of
clear gut strings. Now, I have to ask this question - have you ever seen a
clear gut string which would have a blue, green or red shade ? Hm, I haven't,
and I am afraid this is not the same type of question as - have you ever
seen decaying gut string. Why? Because decay of a gut is possible and it's
only a matter of some conditions that could trigger this process, whereas
such a palette of colours understood as a raw gut shading (without any
additional procedure like dyeing) is very unlikely, because we use very
similar if not identical processes to make HT or LT gut strings. I have seen
only gut strings that were either clear, yellowish or whitish. Besides the
heading of this paragraph would be something like "Minikins" if Mace had
thought of clear trebles. On the other hand the process of dyeing strings in
17-18c. seams to be proved at least for harps. If for harps, why not for
lutes? Mace clearly writes that bass strings were: "commonly dyed, with a
deep dark red colour". If basses were coloured then other strings could be
dyed too, as some iconography confirms like Van der Bilcius's painting.
Strings could have been dyed for several reasons: 1/ some manufactures could
want to stand out from a competition 2/ for ease of playing (finding a
proper string with a finger) especially for beginners (amateurs) 3/ for
aesthetic reasons etc.
I don't know why dyed strings for lutes are so rare nowadays. As far as I
know Dan sells some red gut strings, but no other colours (anyone ells?).
Why aren't they more popular? They would sell easily IMO. Maybe that's an
idea for some string manufactures?
PISTOYS
"There is another sort of strings, which they call Pistoy basses, which I
conceive are none other than thick Venice-Catlines, which are commonly dyed,
with a deep dark red colour. They are indeed the very best for the basses,
being smooth and well-twisted strings, but are hard to come by;" MM p.66
This passage is often quoted in the context of loaded strings. Mace calls
this another sort of strings Pistoy basses and suggests that they are (and
this part draws my attention) "none other than thick Venice-Catlines". Why
"none other than"? Maybe because they were imported and people didn't know
how they were produced so they speculated about it. However for Mace they
looked and worked exactly like thick Venice-Catlines. Normaly
Venice-Catlines were manufactured in Bologna, but then transported to Venice
(that's why the name Venice). The "Catline" part of the name comes from
naval terminology. Catline on a ship was a very elastic rope used to lash an
anchor to a "cathead" which was a special beam. The rope had to be extremely
flexible. Therefore they were twisted from several ropes in opposite
directions. Very similar construction was later used for production of
middle register lute strings. Not much was written about their use for
basses though, however Mace's statement could correspond well with George
Stoppani's idea of rope strings. Ephraim Segerman suggested once that to
make a proper Venice-Catline bass string one would have to use a special
Catline twisting process. Only this could produce an extremely elastic
Catline rope-like string. Normally I use Venice-Catlines for middle
register, but haven't tried Stoppani's or Gamut's Pistoys for basses yet.
However some reports are very promising.
How about a deep dark red colour? Mace claims they were commonly dyed. He
hadn't noticed anything unusual about them like rare thickness,
construction, weight etc.
Then, how about loading?
LOADED STRINGS
Nothing can be excluded just by reading MM, but there are no traces that
could point to loading in Mace's text. Personally I don't think the sentence
about Pistoys can be used as an argument in favour of loaded gut theory.
Pistoy (thick Venice-Catline) roped string is good enough to cope with a
problem of dull sounding basses, and loading is not necessary in this case.
It could however have been loaded during light saturation process which was
to protect against decay, but this is only a guess as Mace says nothing
about it. The historical evidence on string manufacturing doesn't help
either.
There is a very detailed description of gut string manufacturing in 18c.
France in "Encyclopedie ou dictionnaire raisonne de sciences, des arts et
des metiers" by Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond D'Alembert from 1751-65,
under an entry of Boyaudier or Corde. It describes even over-spinning of gut
with a wire. All stages from a raw material to a ready string are covered
including such details as clothes used by workers during production and all
needed accessories. Unfortunately there is no mention of a "loading" stage.
It would be quite difficult to keep away such a messy business as loading
from an inquisitive eye of Diderot. It is possible that after 1750 loaded
strings were already out of use as overwound basses were manufactured as he
describes their production in detail. However he also says that the best
strings come from Rome, and later that Italians have their secrets, which
they do not communicate to strangers. On the other hand neither Barbieri's
(as you rightly pointed out) nor Philip Skippon's description of gut
production in Italy confirms this. This could indicate that in Italy it
would be rather a speciality treatment kept in secret but not a common
procedure.
All in all, coming back to my question concerning a connection between red
colour of strings Mace described, loading and decay, I'd say that the
strings he described weren't loaded, or if they were it was rather
non-invasive process which didn't change the string properties in a way it
would be visible to an eye (like unusual diameter). At least Mace haven't
noticed it. One could say that he didn't mention it because it was obvious
that all basses would be loaded. This is exactly the point were my question
originated from. If bridge holes on his lute were so tiny that he could use
only heavily loaded bass strings, then how was it possible that he used
Lyons which were ordinary thick gut strings often rotten (according to Mace
, not loaded) interchangeably with Pistoys (which are suggested to be
loaded) ? Moreover Diderot's description coincide with Lady Susi Jeans's in
"Manufacture of strings in England". Again, no sign of loading. I am not
trying to say that the loaded gut theory can't be true. On the contrary,
modern loaded gut strings are good alternative for basses in case of
stringing some 17c. lutes, no matter how they will prove to be historical in
future. We discuss only Mace's remarks, and these are only some of my
impressions after reading chapter VI of MM once more.
ECCENTRIC MACE
This a very difficult subject. There is a little bit of psychology and
philosophy in it ,so probably someone that is a professional could say much
more (and better) than me, but I have a feeling that it's very relative.
Reading a book such as Music's Monument is like time-traveling. You go back
in time, and the same time you enter absolutely unknown reality. You try to
project your experiences into the past, but unfortunately it doesn't work.
Well, you may think it does, but it doesn't.
Eccentricity is usually measured by a comparison to the general public's
standards. If you compared Mace to our modern society he would be terribly
eccentric. We are used to reading of old texts, and in spite they feel very
old-fashioned there is some level of universalism that one can relate to. In
most books from that time there are things that a modern reader would most
probably skip. When Burwell writes on many pages about Angels, the most
usual reaction would be that she is a little bit potty in this matter, but
in general it's easier to accept some unusual believes as most people know
something about basic concepts of spiritual life in old ages. However Music's
Monument is more unique as it is more personal. It shows Mace's most
personal views and ideas. One of the reasons for that is that Music's
Monument wasn't written just for one rich sponsor (which would be a normal
way to go) like a king/queen, prince/princesse etc. He wrote it encouraged
by some of his pupils, and printed using his own means and those collected
from subscribers, however he says: "It cannot well be afforded at that price
(12s.), to return me any tollerable, or reasonable requital."
On the subscription list there are around 300 names among which there are
only 2 barons, 4 baronets, 2 bishops, 4 knights - the rest being scholars,
clergyman and ordinary gentleman. Not writing for a court he took a
different attitude: "But if I had only to have spoke to those of experience
and to show the elegancy of my tongue, I should have contriv'd my discourse
into another shape; But in that I intend it chiefly for learners, I conceive
I have not spoke much too much." If he was to write for a king he would be
afraid of saying much too much, and eccentricity of his book would be
comparable to some French tutors written for a court.
Therefore, when reading Music's Monument one has to remember that if we were
allowed to spend just an hour in the reality people in 17c. lived in, we
would be extremely surprised by some standards they were used to. It is in
fact like traveling to another planet, and we can not do justice to this
kind of sources without making some necessary adjustments.
It was a pleasure to talk to you again Anthony.
Best regards
Jaroslaw
----- Original Message ----- From: "Anthony Hind" <[email protected]>
To: "Jarosław Lipski" <[email protected]>
Cc: <[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, October 20, 2012 1:19 PM
Subject: [LUTE] Are Pistoys prone to rot according to Mace?
Dear Jaroslaw
    As promised, back now in Paris, I will try to
respond, with a few new thoughts on Mace's string remarks, along with
the old, as when we talked last at
http://tinyurl.com/cugfph2
Maceâs remarks can be found at
http://www.luteshop.co.uk/stringsmace.htm
But the CNRS facsimile is such a bargain, every lutenist should surely have
one; unless, like a lute maker I know, you are lucky enough to be given
an original edition for your birthday ...
%
First, I must say that my previous message, about loaded strings being fairly
immune to humidity, only concerned modern loaded strings, which are
coated with copper in a sort of glue. If historic "deep dark red"
Pistoys had been loaded through saturation, with say a solution of red
mercury oxide (akin to a dyeing procin to a dyeing process), I donât know if
they would
have been quite so immune to water absorption. But probably oxide
loading (rather like salting hams) might have prevented them rotting, or
at least slowed the process down (are there any chemists among you who
could say if this is likely?).
%
I will reply to your messages, but breaking up my responses to lighten the load:
I) Why Maceâs Pistoy Basses dyed Deep dark red are quite different from
his omnipurpose plain red coloured strings, and are not therefore
particularly prone to rotting according to Mace.
II) How reliable, and not just excentric, is Mace, a few arguments in his
favour?
A) Meanes used for octaves? B) Why were the Lyons Burwell thought so good,
now so bad, according to Mace? (some data on out sourcing from
Barbieri)
%
I) Are Pistoys prone to rot according to Mace?
In relation to the rotting tendency of red strings, you ask me,
              "how will you explain a quote from Mace p.66:
  "I have sometimes seen strings of a yellowish color very good; yet but
  seldom; for that color is a general sign of rottenness, or of the decay
  of the string. There are several sorts of colored strings, very good;
  but the best was always the clear blue; the red commonly rotten."
  As far as I understand red color is a most popular color of loaded
  string. If this is so, how then they could be commonly rotten?" Jaroslaw
Perhaps the "underlying" question, here (please tell me if I am wrong), is
whether, when Mace describes Red coloured strings as "commonly rotten"
(your quote above), he is including in this description, all red strings
without exception (dyed or coloured), even those from Pistoy, which are
dyed "deep dark red". In other words, is he saying Pistoys are
commonly rotten? and if so, would this rule them out as being loaded
strings?
%
Here, is my reasoning: Mace had a very strong preoccupation with rotten gut,
clearly from personal experience (althoughxperience (although I have never
encountered this
problem), and he therefore gives detailed advice on how to store
strings to make sure they don't "take any wet, or moist air." Further,
whenever he mentions a string liable to rot, he immediately states this
within the next few sentences, as in all these cases :
"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."
(...)
"I have sometimes seen strings of a yellowish colour, very good; yet, but
seldom; for that colour is a general sign of rottenness, or of the decay
of the string."
(...)
"There are several sorts of coloured strings, very good; But the best (to my
observation) was always the clear Blue; the Red, commonly rotten,
sometimes green, very good."
%
It would therefore be very surprising if he had not done the same for
Pistoy Basses, if he had really thought they were often rotten,
especially as they were rare. Why allow a student to waste time
searching them out, if they are both rare, and often rotten ? But he
only speaks of their excellent quality (next to the heading, "And what
sort of strings are best?"), and clearly contrasts them with the
inferior Lyons, "They are indeed the very best, for the basses, being
smooth and well twisted strings, but are hard to come by; however out of
a good parcel of Lyons strings, you may (with care) pick those which
serve very well." Wouldn't he have immediately (within the next few
sentences) warned the reader about this danger, if there had been any;
but follows a number of paragraphs, in which he explains "How to chuse
your strings", giving rules for choosing Minikins, Venice Catlins, and
Lyons, but not for Pistoys, presumably either because they are too rare,
or because they are always good, in which case just the "deep dark
red", is sign enough to vouch for this stringâs quality. During these
explanations, he again insists that Lyons basses are inferior ey are much more
inferior strings than the other", but he does
not extend this criticism to Pistoys, which seem therefore to be
unparalleled in quality (indeed "the other" may actually be referring
back to "Pistoys", the other type of bass string).
%
Finally, under the completely new heading "Coloured strings", he talks of
yellowish, clear blue, red, and green strings, without giving any
indication of their use (while for all strings with a name which at
least originally implied a provenance, Minikin, Venices, Lyons, and
Pistoys, he took great care to discuss their uses. In this he does
exactly the same as Dowland, who mentions the same colours., but gives
no indication of their use (while he does for other string types)Â :
"Some strings there are which are coloured, out of which choose the lightest
colours, viz. among the Greene choose the Sea- water, of Red the
Carnation, and of Blew the Watchet." Dowland (VLL, 1610, sig.Dv.)
http://www.luteshop.co.uk/stringsdowland.htm
%
I suppose there are three possible interpretations for this, : 1) the
colours discussed could be a natural coloration that can effect ANY
string type, except possibly Pistoys which are dyed dark red already
(indeed there are naturally coloured yellow, and brown strings, I have
yellow and brown Venices, there are also red and black, but perhaps not
green and blue ?); 2) they could be omnipurpose strings coloured simply
for decorative use, for making an interesting pattern; 3) they could be
general purpose strings that were coloured to work as position markers,
just as with the synthetic harp strings shown here:
Position marking coloured synthetic harp strings:
http://tinyurl.com/cdgsm5l
as indeed, Dan Larson can do for Lyons; here is an example of coloured theorbo
strings.
Position marking coloured gut theorbo strings:
http://tinyurl.com/9gcf9z6
In all these cases above the red strings are not restricted to basses, as they
are in this one below:
Loaded basses, a modern lute strung in loaded Venices:
http://www.luthiste.com/images/rosace.jpg
A mixed case: before I had all loaded basses, I did tend to use my Gimped
7c as a position marker, while the colour from 8c down to 11c were just
loaded basses :
http://tinyurl.com/czf8oy7
%
Does the iconography show similar patterns for historic lutes?
See http://www.aquilacorde.com/images/pdf/9e.pdf
There is a possible example of case 2, decorative use on P. 62/102 (of text
above) Bilcius (?), 2nd half of the 17th C. detail of the bridge of a 12
course (but I have no modern example of this decorative use).
 An example of case 3 position marker, could be Rubensâ Lute player:
http://tinyurl.com/9sjtjuf
Ambiguous situation (case 2 or 3?), see P64/102 âDyed strings for aesthetical
purposesâ MP
http://www.aquilacorde.com/images/pdf/9e.pdf
It would be difficult to differentiate use (2) and (3) with iconography,
and nothing could prevent a luthenist just using any colour he happened
to have for any position, with no aesthetic or other intention what ever.
Contrast these with the red basses, presumably Pistoys, shown here:
http://tinyurl.com/9ry3r7b
%
Now all I can conclude from Mace, is that Pistoys dyed deep dark red were
the very best basses of his time. We can not directly conclude from this
that they were loaded, but it is highly likely they underwent some sort
of special dyeing process, which, if loading with mercury salts was
involved, would be an integral part of their bass string quality; but
conceivably it could also be the result of a curing preservation process
involving these same oxides, or the same chemicals used just to
distinguish them from any other bass string types (as a sort of seal of
quality), but possibly all three purposes came together.
They were probably rare compared to Lyons (see IInd part) and therefore
appear only on some of the best or most wealthy playerâs lutes (Charles
Mouton for example).
We can not expect to be able to recognize loading (over other purposes) in a
painting (indeed it is hard to distinguish in the photos above); even
if, in the hand, they might look and feel very different from the simple
red coloured strings.
We only have indirect evidence for loading: the small bridge holes, descriptions
of bass strings having been quite loud, and yet the French lutes being
quite small (Charles Mouton), all this, including the colour, makes
loading a plausible hypothesis, but that has not been entirely proved,
there are just strong indications.
To go further than this, we would need to discover a list of chemicals
including mercury salts, etc, in the atelier of a string maker, or
similar chemical deposits. To my knowledge this has not been found, as
yet (Barbieri did not find such data in Roman ateliers).
%
This is just my non-specialist musings around the data, Jaroslaw, but I have
very much enjoyed thinking about all this again.
%
Regards
Anthony
Â
    De : JarosĹaw Lipski <[email protected]>
ĂÂ : Anthony Hind <[email protected]>
EnvoyĂŠ le : Samedi 6 octobre 2012 23h49
Objet : Re: [LUTE] Re: the point of synthetics - Rather the movement of the
whole lute
Dear Anthony,
I understood from MP's website that one of the strong arguments for
loaded basses is iconography which quite consistently shows red or
brown-red bass strings, which are supposed to had been loaded using
oxides of lead, copper, iron etc. We know from pictures that mainly
basses were red or reddish and if they were only dyed (as Mace
described), how can one discern them from loaded strings, and how one
can take iconography as an evidence of loading if there is no difference
between 2 types of strings on paintings? From Mace's description I get
an impression that he talks about ordinary red dyed guts:
"There
is another sort of strings, which they call Pistoy basses, which I
conceive are none other then thick Venice-catlines, which are commonly
dyed, with a deep dark red color"
The same person
writes
on the same page that red colored strings are commonly rotten. For me
it signifies that they were rather normally dyed, but not loaded.
Obviously there is an argument about bridge holes etc, but I wouldn't
like to return to our old discussion which in my opinion is quite
difficult to solve at the moment without any new data.
Meanwhile
(returning to our topic), I don't think one needs to prove superiority
of one string material over another. Everything has its advantages and
disadvantages.
Nice to hear from you too.
Best wishes
Jaroslaw
P.S. I am not against loaded bass theory, I'm just trying to asses all
information objectively.
WiadomoĹÄ napisana przez Anthony Hind w dniu 6 paĹş 2012, o godz. 22:13:
  Oh I was only speaking about modern loaded strings, that at present are
  covered in the copper loading.
  I don't know what would happen with loading by saturation of
an oxide,
  although presumably that
  should also prevent rotting. Oxide loading, however, could result in
  various colours.
  But according to Charles Besnainou thick untreated gut can also be
  reddish or yellowish in hue.
  I don't think colour is necessarilly always a sign of loading. Aren't
  Georges Stoppani's strings rather red.
  I am not of course suggesting tht they are prone to rot, but nor are
  they loaded (although he may have made a few in experiments).
  Nice to hear from you again
  Best wishes
  Anthony
   __________________________________________________________________
  De : JarosAA'aw Lipski <[email protected]>
  AEUR : [email protected]
  EnvoyA(c) le : Samedi 6 octobre 2012 21h45
  Objet : [LUTE] Re: the point of synthetics - Rather the movement of the
  whole lute
  Maybe, but then how will you explain a quote from Mace p.66:
  "I have sometimes seen strings of a yellowish color very good; yet but
  seldom; for that color is a general sign of rottenness, or of the decay
  of the string. There are several sorts of colored strings, very good;
  but the best was always the clear blue; the red commonly rotten."
  As far as I understand red color is a most popular color of loaded
  string. If this is so, how then they could be commonly rotten?
  All best
  Jaroslaw
  WiadomoAA>Ae/= napisana przez Anthony Hind w dniu 6
paAA-o 2012, o
  godz. 21:12:
Loading, to a certain extent does protect against humidity changes.
Perhaps there may have been other treatments that we don't know
  about.
Anthony
  __________________________________________________________________
De : Sam Chapman <[1][email protected]>
A : alexander <[2][email protected]>
Cc : Mark Probert <[3][email protected]>; lute-cs. edu
<[4][email protected]>
Envoye le : Samedi 6 octobre 2012 18h03
Objet :
[LUTE] Re: the point of synthetics - Rather the movement of
  the
whole lute
  Interesting. Weren't strings sometimes also treated with certain
  oils
-
  almond oil I think? I hadn't realised that this could potentially
  protect against humidity changes.
  Sam
  On 6 October 2012 15:05, alexander <[1][1][5][email protected]>
  wrote:
   It needs to be understood, i think, that there are clearly two
   elements in the pitch (in)stability. The string material and
  design
   is, of course one. But for the light and breathing, as it is,
  lute,
   the movement of the whole structure, most likely influences
the
   tuning much, much more. So, in this case, chasing the string
  mole
   while disregarding the body movement monster, is not going to
  solve
   anything. Especially with the synthetics, - the differences
observed
   here are the result of a different stretch - flexibility of the
   materials, rather then some radical reaction from the material
  to
   the temperature - humidity change. (Of course the wound strings,
   consisting of two conflicting materials are a problem of its'
  own).
   Just one brief look at the size of a single string and comparing
  it
   with the size of the whole instrument should make one to realize
   something here,
right?
   I do not have an information on the early lutes in this regard,
  but
   early - baroque - bowed instruments as well as some later
  violins,
   especially those built and used in bad climes, had the inner
  wood
   surfaces treated with the mixture of hide glue and linseed oil.
   (There were actually some arguing this might have improved the
   instrument sound - to some tastes, that is, just off the top of
  my
   head - look up Frederick Castle's "Violin tone peculiarities").
Some
   other varnishes on the inner wood surface were observed as well.
  I
   have seen them on museum instruments. And some varnishes
  penetrated
 Â
the wood deeply enough to create more wood stability. Think
  Cremona
   here.
   Protecting the inner wood surface of the lute would do much more
  to
   stabilize its' tuning in the case of rapid weather changes. But
this
   will never happen, i would hazard to guess. Chasing a perfect
string
   - there is the solution, of course.
   alexander r.
   On Sat, 06 Oct 2012 12:17:41 +1000
   Mark Probert <[2][2][6][email protected]> wrote:
My $0.02, living in Sydney Australia, is that nylgut mitigates
   some
of he effect of fairly extreme weather changes. We can have
a
   thunder
storm roll in and have the temperature drop by 10+C in the space
   of as
many minutes. Gut just gives up in those circumstances.
Part B of this is the effect of the weather on the wood of the
instrument. One of my lutes is more stable than the other in the
pegbox department. When we are in a changing time, I am forced
   not to
play this instrument for days at a time (I really don't enjoy the
   tune,
tune, tune aspect).
Then, isn't there the old adage of lute players spending half
   their
time tuning and the other half playing out of tune? This is not
a
   new
problem, though
I do believe that synthetics help.
Kind regards
--
mark.
To get on or off this list see list information at
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  --
  Sam Chapman
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  (0041) 79 530 39 91
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References
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3. [13]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
4. mailto:[14][email protected]
5. mailto:[15][email protected]
6. [16]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
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References
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  2. mailto:[email protected]
  3. mailto:[email protected]
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  5. mailto:[email protected]
  6. mailto:[email protected]
  7. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
  8. mailto:[email protected]
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 10. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
 11. mailto:[email protected]
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 13. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
 14. mailto:[email protected]
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 16. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
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