Seems that there is just a little bit more evidence for wound string use in the 18th century than there is for their supposed invention in the 1660s.
Shaun Ng On 30/11/2012, at 9:39, "Stephan Olbertz" <[email protected]> wrote: > How about Zedler? > The 64 volumes were published between 1732 and 1754, vol. 33 describing > interesting things on the topic of "saite", like the process of > manufacturing, different colours and materials. No loading, I'm afraid, but > overspuns, though they seem to serve as a kind of jewelery thread... > http://mdz10.bib-bvb.de/~zedler/zedler2007/index.html > Anyway, I seem to remember Tim Crawford citing in Bremen recently an article > in an encyclopedia for ladies, explaning a lute to be strung with gut strings > overspun with silver (Leipzig? first half of 18th cent.?). > > Regards > > Stephan > > Am 29.11.2012, 16:10 Uhr, schrieb R. Mattes <[email protected]>: > >> On Thu, 29 Nov 2012 12:04:48 +0100, Markus Lutz wrote >>> Hi Shaun, Hi Martyn, >>> unfortunately I cannot say too much on this topic, at least for the >>> 17th century. >>> >>> [...] >>> Another important source, though late, on all topics of life is >>> Krünitz, Oeconomische Encyclopädie. Probably it also depends on the >>> encyclopedy of Diderot and on other encyclopedys, for sure at least >>> some things will have been copied. >>> >>> It has 242 volumes and describes many things very detailed. >>> He has big articles on the lute and on strings >>> >>> Krünitz, >>> Artikel Laute (lute, vol. 66, p. 380ff, 1795) >> >> But this is rather late as a source for information on 17th century >> lute practice (or even for the first half of the 18th century). >> There have been two changes in lute building during that time: >> first, the extension of the bass range by adding a second pegbox >> (swank neck lutes) and then the change to bass rider style lutes >> during the 18th century (the later could well be a in response >> to a wider availability of overspun bass strings). >> >>> [...] >> >>> Artikel Saiten (strings, Vol. 130, p. 1822) >>> Man färbt die Saiten auch blau und roth; blau, indem man sie durch >>> eine kalte Brühe von Lackmus mit Potasche, roth, indem man sie durch >>> den Auszug der türkischen Schminklappen und Potasche durchzieht. >>> Sowohl die gefärbten, als die weißen Saiten werden nachher >>> geschleimt, weil der Schleim den Ton stumpf macht. Die blaugefärbten >>> Saiten nehmen im Schwefeln eine rothe Farbe an. >>> >>> (Here he describes in detail how strings are made, the short part >>> tells how the strings had been colored blue with litmus and potash, >>> and red with turkish paint cloth (?Schminklappen?) and potash). >> >> "Schminklappen" are coloured/dyed pieces of cloth that were used to give >> to give the skin a redish teint. The cloth (or paper -> "Schmikpaier") was >> made wet (humid) and rubbed over the face. >> Turkish might give a hint at the colour used: probaly turkish "Krapplack" >> (Rubia tinctorum, eng. dyer's madder), a widely used colour until the >> 19th century. >> >>> Krünitz is very late, but he sums up everything from the 16th to the >>> 18th century. In his article on the lute he mentions beside others >>> Besard, Baron, Weiss etc. >> >> Yes, so utterly unuseable as a source for when things fist show up ;-) >> >> Cheers, Ralf Mattes >> >> -- >> R. Mattes - >> Hochschule fuer Musik Freiburg >> [email protected] >> >> >> >> To get on or off this list see list information at >> http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > > > -- > Viele Grüße > Best regards > > Stephan Olbertz > >
