Dear lutenetters, Here is a reply from a series of questions which I (privately) put to Arto about converting a lute into a theorbo. Since it is on a subject which should be of general interest, we have decided to open it to you all. I will be most interested in any contributions that you may have... :-)
Miles Dempster ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------- Dear Miles, on Sunday 11 January 2004 20:51, you wrote: > I am writing to you since you have lots of practical experience with > theorbos. PS, I enjoy your postings to the lute group! Thanks! :-) > Now to the main issue: I have an old 7 course bass lute (large body) > which was built to be tuned in C (string length of 80 cm approx). It > has been out of commission for a long time, and now I would like to > resurrect it. It occurs to me that this is my chance to have something > closer to a " real" theorbo. Actually it is thought that the first "chitarroni" (singular "chitarrone", early name fotr theorbo) were big bass lutes tuned high and with 2 top courses down an octave! So in the beginning you could try the a tuning with your big instrument: the lowest (7th) would be g, and the top two should be in e and a, lower than the highest 3rd course. That would be very authentic theorbo of the Medici wedding in 1589, where "the baroque was invented"... I have myself thought that this kind of instrument would be very interesting to try. > 1. What is the minimum string length over the fingerboard? Is is really > necessary to go to 80cm and above? Is it possible or feasible to have a > shorter length? I suppose that there is a tradeoff between clarity and > volume and playability. My older theorbo (the "French" theorbo by Barber) has string lengths 76/140, and also it works well in a (a'=415Hz). I have also stringed and tuned it also to the "high French solo theorbo" in d. And it works also in that role! So there is lots of room for different lengths from >70cm <100cm. I think nowadays about 80cm is most popular. The volume, sound and also playability depends also on many other factors... > 2. String length for the diapasons? My shorter theorbo has only 140cm, larger about 160cm. Both sound nice. I think over 160cm starts to cause troubles in trasportation... ;-) > 2. Single or double stringing? I tried doubles in my new big theorbo. I could not make them sound well. And when I talked with lutenist Lynda Sayce about the double strings in (big) theorboes, she told that also she had problems with them. > 3. How many courses 13 or 14 14! Otherwise you would miss the low G! :-) > 4. Should it be tuned in A, or might there be advantages to tuning it > in G? I strongly prefer A! Much more often used (baroque) keys are nice to play. > 5. What is the best stringing material? I use gut on my lutes fo > courses 1-4 but don't really have any experience with gut for the lower > courses. Nowadays I use nylgut, but I have tried a theorbo with gut basses. They sound and feel VERY nice! And many players use them. I do not use them, because normally when you play continuo, there are (many) other players involved, and I like to stay in tune, and not let them wait for me tuning between every other movement or piece... ;-) > I hope that you don't mind me asking you these questions. Let me know > if you think it more appropriate that I put these questions to the lute > group. Actually, I am starting by avoiding creating another thread > unnecessarily for these practical questions. It was nice to try to answer those questions! But I think there are many different opinions and experiences on these things, and it could be interesting to talk about this also in the List! If you wish, you may also publish our private conversation (this mail) in the List. So I need not re-write my answers... Best regards, Arto
