3D"" "danyel" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]><= /B>=20
10/29/2005 03:42 AM ZE2 <= /TD> 3D"" To 3D"" "Lute = List" <lute@cs.dartmouth.edu> 3D"" cc 3D"" 3D"" bcc 3D"" 3D"" Subject = ; 3D"" [LUTE]= student lutes (Re: Who wants to sell "New Boy" a lute?) 3D"" 3D"" Really, this is getting to be too much. Why should playing lute be= an elite club? I am certainly not glad that more young people don't = play lute, and I dream of a world in which I could take a theorbo on the su= bway without being asked about it a million times. As probably the youngest person on this list, maybe I can offer a differ= ent perspective. When I was a guitarist in conservatory I happened to= go see Orfeo, and fell in love with the music. I didn't care what ma= terial the theorbo was strung with (it was gut basses and nylgut stopped st= rings). I had to get a lute. Being just a student, there's no way I could have afforded anything in t= he price range you are suggesting. I eventually (after borrowing for = several months) got a fifteen year old eight-course by Larry Brown for $800= . It was strung all in "plastic" with wound basses. That's all = you need to play renaissance music. It only took a little time for me= to give up guitar and play lute full-time. I have since been able to play other lutes thanks to some very generous = loans of instruments, but I know my story is the usual one. Young pro= fessional musicians often are in no position to buy and string lutes of the= quality you claim is necessary for enjoyment. Would you deny them th= e opportunity of taking up the lute because of financial concerns? Ju= st think of the debt they accrue just by attending a conservatory in the St= ates; and unlike pre-meds, they often have no assurance they will be able t= o pay the money back. Why do they do it? Because like all of yo= u (presumably) they have discovered something in early music that they coul= d not live without. That's all that really matters; whether it be on = a cheap old ahistorical lute or an ultra-correct all-gut one, lute music is= great music which still does not have enough people playing it. Any = concern about equipment, though it is important, is secondary (being extram= usical) to the fundamental concern about and love for the music. The function of this list should be to disseminate information about lut= e music, not to insult other readers. Did anyone ever answer Humphrey= 's question? If you want a cheap, decent lute, get in touch with Ed G= reenhood of Baltimore. I think his email is [EMAIL PROTECTED] Charlie Right; But do you really want a student lute comparable = to the "student" or "band" instruments made of plastic and sold= at Wal-Mart? Or even the basic models of brands like Buffet or= Selmer, carelessly assembled and made of terrible materials in= China? Shouldn't we rather be glad to play an instrument that = is not heard everywhere and strummed in bands and school orchestras? Eventhe exposure to the lute-class at the local conservatory with th= eir revolting plastic-strung East German fake-lutes is so devas= tating that it would probably spoil my fondness for the lute if= I couldn't avoid it. Best wishes, danyel To get on or off this list see list information at <= A href=3D"http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html";>http://ww= w.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html = References 1. 3D"mailto:grunhut=
