David, We've had honey and tar, and thoughts from afar, We've had staff, tabulation and forms of notation, The R&B bass hasn't yet shown its face, And thats well as it has no relation.
Hell's bells, the specific continuo for a specific piece, to be performed HIP might require a specific instrument. But the sense of the continuo should more probably be the sense of the music. I suggest that any instrument that either matches, or compliments, the lute part could be used as continuo. My complaint with the specifics (call it the HIP if you want) is that it denigrates those old musicians whom we so worship. It suggests that they wouldn't have liked to experiment with their own sound, and ensemble. It is we moderns who have fixed the music to a period, the players of the time didn't know they were in a period - they just played music as they heard it - and some of them innovated within the structure, and some made major innovations. That is called the evolution of music, but like the evolution of species there is a lot of overlap. Best, Jon To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
