What an amazing project! You get a great sound from the lute. Is it
gut-strung throughout? Just listening now to a few pieces I don't hear
problems with balance of treble and bass.
I'm sure many of us will have tried some of these pieces. I was
interested to hear your versions of the (I think) rather strange Fin de
Gaillarde and the slightly intense final Courante. There are some really
tricky pieces in Le Tresor. Again - an amazing project.
Stuart
Dear Friends,
I wanted to let you know that I have now finished recording all 71
pieces of Antoine Francisque's Le trA(c)sor d'OrphA(c)e, which is
available for you to listen to here, if you would like:
[1]http://www.verseandsong.com/song/renaissance-lute/1293-2/ . You have
the option of clicking on a particular piece and listening to it
individually or of scrolling down to the bottom of the page and using
the playlist to listen to the pieces successively. Please feel free to
leave a comment and to visit the other pages of my website.
One problem (among many!) that I have had in playing the lute has been
to strike a good balance between the treble and the bass. To my ears at
least it seemed that I tended to play the bass too loudly and the
treble too softly. When I tried to increase the volume of the treble,
it seemed that I involuntarily increased the volume of the bass as
well.
As I was working through this manuscript I was asked to begin playing
lute at my wife's church, which I have now been doing once a month. The
space is a little too large for the instrument, which was difficult to
hear, so the choir director asked me to play more loudly. Although I
did not like the request because I found it difficult to maintain a
good tone at a greater volume, I began practicing playing more loudly.
Somehowahow exactly I don't knowaI think I learned to bring out the
treble more with respect to the bass and achieve a better balance
between the two.
I did not record this manuscript straight through from beginning to
end. Instead I started with the pieces most familiar to me and recorded
numbers 17 through 34. On those pieces I think that you can hear that
the treble is a bit weak. Then I went back to number 16 and recorded
the pieces in reverse order until I reached the first, and then finally
picked up with number 35 and recorded to the end. On pieces 1a16 and
35a71 I think that the treble comes out much more clearly.
It was often not clear to me what was a section marker and what was a
repeat sign. So, I consulted with Sarge Gerbode, who told me that the
same sign could indicate both depending on context and urged me to use
my good judgment. I followed at leas half of his advice and used my
judgment, though it may not always have been good.
I found the piA"ces A cordes avalA(c)es (numbers 59a71) particularly
interesting. If anyone knows of other collections in that tuning, I
would appreciate a reference.
Those of you who know me know that I am just an amateur. Those who do
not should not expect professional quality either in playing or
recording quality. Nevertheless, I hope that if you listen, you will
find something to enjoy.
Best regards,
Stephen Arndt
--
References
1. http://www.verseandsong.com/song/renaissance-lute/1293-2/
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