Paul Pleijsier wrote: ---?? I find that these players are mostly modern players, doubling on early-romantic guitar, using modern technique and strings. Thus a false impression of early guitar sound is rapidly spreading. A cold sound, lacking in warmth, with nasal overtones. The ear is overloaded with HighFrequency information. Making you want to hear a modern guitar. PP---
If that's what you've been hearing, then I would say that the players you were listening to were not doing the best job possible. The touch on one of those 19th-century guitars is very much lighter than that of a modern CG, the stringing is lower-tension and the music can be played with or without nails, and with or without the little finger resting on the soundboard. The modern classical nail-driven technique is not appropriate to ERG playing, any more than thumb- under renaissance lute technique would be. I've found in talking to other classical guitarists about ERG playing that they are not interested in the HIP aspects of Mertz, Giuliani, Sor etc. at all; in fact: most of them I've ever spoken to seem to feel that ERG is a pretentious waste of time. Maybe that's just the way they thought of me!!!!! I don't know. ;-) But I know this for sure: I've shown my Lacote copy to a lot of CG'ers who have put it in their laps it, raked their nails down *cruelly* across the strings, and then proclaimed the guitar to be unplayable. Exactly as they would do if you gave them a lute. Have you ever listened to recordings of Pavel Steidl, Niccola Jappelli and/or Jose Miguel Moreno? I find that their playing gives satisfactory results, at least to my ears. Regards, David Rastall [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.rastallmusic.com To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
