Dear Martin, I agree. You are most correct, in that the sources never mention roped gut. I can imagine that roping gut is a modern invention, rather than a historical fact. I have found the same results with roping, that it gives a rather dull sound. The lower tension solution seems to be logical.
ed At 11:26 AM 11/27/2004 +0000, Martin Shepherd wrote: >Dear Ed, > >A very interesting thread, this. I'm sticking my head a bit above the >parapet this time just on a point of information. A roped gut string will >always be a bigger diameter than a loaded string because it is less dense. >In fact it will also be bigger and more difficult to finger than a >smooth-surfaced gut string of the same density and mass. > >Recently I unearthed some roped gut strings which I made and used some years >ago. They were flexible and true (and not very "knobbly"), but compared to >a plain gut string they have a duller, softer sound. I think it must be >because the strands of the rope are free to slide against each other to some >extent, or there are small gaps so they are not fully in contact. But it >convinced me that the "final solution" to the problem of gut bass strings is >not going to involve roping. Incidentally a pretty strong argument against >roping is that none of the people who could have mentioned it did (Capirola, >Dowland, Mace, Burwell) - in fact thay all say the signs of goodness are the >same for bass strings as they are for treble strings: clear against the >light, smooth, stiff to the finger. (for sources see my sit >www.luteshop.co.uk under "Lute strings ancient and modern". > >It seems we have little alternative but to experiment with lower tensions. > >Best wishes, > >Martin > >----- Original Message ----- >From: "Ed Durbrow" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: "Stephan Olbertz" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "lute list" ><[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Sent: Saturday, November 27, 2004 9:44 AM >Subject: Re: thoughts on low tension on Baroque lutes > > > > > > Stephan Olbertz wrote: > >>this thread led me to re-read Segerman's article on his > >>website at > >>http://www.nrinstruments.demon.co.uk/LuSt.html > > > > Thanks for this. There is a lot of food for thought in that article. > > He says: > >>It is possible to approach the original type of sound balance with > >>modern materials. We can twist nylon and PVF and make ropes out of > >>them. We have been showing this stringing on a vihuela at the London > >>Early Music Exhibition for some years now... > > > > This is exactly what I was wondering about the other day when I > > listened again to a cassette lecture (available from the LSA) about > > gut stringing by Damien Dlugolecki. Has anyone tried twisting NylGut > > into Catlines or rope strings? > > > > I am definitely not satisfied with wound basses. My lute came with > > loaded gut basses when I got it, which sounded great but were > > useless, as far as I was concerned, because they were out of tune > > with the octaves when fretted. One other problem with playing > > technique is the difference in size between strings within a course. > > If the difference is too great, it causes problems with the angle one > > can use with the finger when fretting and bar chords. I would like to > > know if roped strings are thinner than loaded gut strings with an > > equivalent tension. > > cheers, > > -- > > Ed Durbrow > > Saitama, Japan > > http://www9.plala.or.jp/edurbrow/ > > -- > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > > Edward Martin 2817 East 2nd Street Duluth, Minnesota 55812 e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] voice: (218) 728-1202