I've just made the switch from a 7c to a 10c in the last 6 months. It took a while to get the low D as the 9th course instead of the 7th, especially with some of the Dowland stuff. Now it feels natural but I have pretty big hands and a long thumb (yes, my knuckles drag on the ground!). I've also switched to thumb-out due to having more courses, especially in the bass. Some do play thumb under on a 10c though. I'd say go for the 10c and then get a vihuela at some point to play its repertoire along with the more standard 6c rep. A good compromise?
- Chris --- Carl Donsbach <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Depending on what kind of string you choose for the deep basses, unwanted > sympathetic resonance may or may not be so much a problem. Overwound > strings might tend to vibrate more insistently than loaded gut. (I notice > it sometimes on my baroque lute on which I'm using wound basses, but not on > my 10 course, which has gut bass strings.) > > On the other hand the wound strings can be substantially cheaper. > > In any case it is easier to play 6 course music on a 10 course instrument > than to play 10 course music on a smaller instrument, though an 8 course > instrument is, as they say, a good workable compromise. > > In the end I think the quality of the instrument will matter more than the > number of strings. > > -Carl Donsbach > > > --On Thursday, October 20, 2005 10:29 AM -0400 Miles Dempster > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > For playing 6c music on a 10c lute, how about putting a small damper > > under the 7-10th courses? This would remove the " unwanted" sympathetic > > resonance. > > > > Any thoughts about this as a solution? > > > > > > Miles Dempster > > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: "Charles Browne" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > To: "Alexandre Bonatto" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <lute@cs.dartmouth.edu> > > Sent: Wednesday, October 19, 2005 18:51 > > Subject: [LUTE] Re: Playing renaissance (7, 8 courses) repertoire in a > > 10c lute > > > > > >> Dear alexandre, > >> the 10c lute is a beautiful instrument and the later repertoire for 9/10 > >> courses is well worth exploring. There are a number of arrangements of > >> both > >> french and german baroque music for 10c lute and these often sit as well > >> on the > >> 10c renaissance-tuned lute as on the d minor tuned baroque lutes. The 13c > >> baroque instrument didnt appear until the early 18c. There are some > >> luthiers > >> who make a 10c lute that can be easily adapted to a 11 c french baroque > >> lute > >> and this might be worth exploring. The 'downside' of a 10c lute is that, > >> unless > >> the string length is short it will be tuned with the top course at f# or > >> f (a==440) and this will make it difficult to play in ensemble with > >> other 'g' > >> lutes. It can be done -either by re-arranging the music or by using a > >> capo. The > >> width of the finger-board will be wider and this can be more problematic > >> if you > >> have small hands. 6c music may not sound so 'clean' as there will be some > >> element of sympathetic vibration from the diapasons. It is worth looking > >> around > >> before you buy and if possible borrow a 10c lute, as well as an 8c, and > >> see how > >> it suits. > >> Best of luck! > >> Charles > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > ------------------------------------- Christopher Schaub Lute & Voice web: http://www.christopherschaub.com email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
