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/ To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
