Bill, I only have 6c lutes (D, E, G and d) and a renaissance guitar and they are all strung w/ octaves on 4th through 6th courses. The case could be made that the descant would comfortably survive unisons on the 4th but I like the consistancy to my ear of the same architecture on all of them. I like that I have nearly the same gauge strings on all the courses especially when ordering strings.
I play from c15oo through to c1600 English and rationalize that this is more than enough repertory for my lifetime. That said, I realize that my stable of lutes isn't quite acceptable for the guilty pleasures of accompanying English lutesong (fudging a few 7th course notes where nec, and consciously downplaying the 4th 8ve twang; I'm just too parsimonious of time and string to swap em out) but I do it anyway when the opportunity comes and then try to introduce my singer to earlier voice-lute repertory --agenda? moi? Bwahahaha. Outside the English rep, I consider most of the repertory lute-interchangable and playing pieces on different sizes and timbres helps in many subtle ways such as teaching little fingers to play and teaching little eardrums to listen. I've found that if one makes the 4th c 8ve decision it's absolutely necessary to control how the fingers strike the string in runs. I realized a long time ago that if I couldn't control that then the octave system falls apart. Later, I found I could control the amount of twang in thumbstrikes, too. Using the same gauge as the first course automatically renders it a little less bright and a gut string lasts a long time. (Incidentally, it supports a pet theory that all 6 courses can be strung with only 3 string gauges. A few years ago a friend experimented in making roped basses and found that 2 or 3 treble-side strings roped could make quite acceptable bass strings. The E lute was comfortably strung for a long time that way.) Intonation-wise, a 4th fundamental can last a long time although its initial brightness may wane and a solid gut is less bright than the roped. Having an 8ve retains the brightness I hear on the higher courses and helps the transition from the bass to the treble. Generally I don't think of the polyphonic use of the octave so much as the overall course color but it is there when I want it for that. 6th, 5th: Roped gut fundamental, gut 8ve. 4th: Roped or solid fundamental, gut or nylgut 8ve. 3rd: Gut. 2nd: Gut or "new" nylgut. 1st: "New" nylgut usually and gut for special occasions. Probably more than you were asking for but simply why I came to my choices. Sean On Jan 20, 2013, at 7:21 AM, William Samson wrote: Dear Collective Wisdom, I believe that 6c lutes are often strung with octaves on the 6th, 5th and 4th courses. Would you use that stringing for all parts of the lute repertoire that needs only six courses, or would other arrangements be appropriate for parts of the repertoire? I'm particularly fond of the 6c English music that is found in many mid-late 16th century sources. Playing with an octave on the 4th sounds intrusive to my ear, but maybe I need to train my ear to accept it? Bill -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
