On Friday 07 December 2007 12:01, LGS-Europe rattled on the keyboard: > Ivo and Lynda write that a regional instrument was invented from the > 1660 instead of the theorbo: the arciliuto romana in g (without re- > entrant tuning) with a string length on the "petit jeu" of 71-73 cm > (a'= around 380-386 Hz). > << > > That is interesting! > > A quick calculation for the first string comes to something close to 0.40 > gut (if I'm correct). That makes sense with today's knowledge/experience of > string making/using that 0.40 or a little thinner is about as thin as you > can get, within safety limits.
Or was the calculation the other way round? 71cm with a minimum string diameter of 0.40 gives an a of 380Hz? Question remains how somebody would play with other instruments tuned at 440 or 415, if not a horrible 466.... Perhaps by making a mental switch and think that your instrument is tuned in something else? > > Was this a newly invented instrument, or just a smallish theorbo, like many > of us have today, tuned in g instead of a, like many of us do today, and > with as few re-entrant strings as possible, like many of us have today? > What I mean to ask is, is it a different species of theorbo, or just a > smallish 'normal' one, strung to its possibilities? Philosophical question, > perhaps; what defines a new species of theorbo? Anyway, interesting to see > today's practises copied in the past. ;-) > > David - theorbo of 76cm tuned in a, with two re-entrant strings, 415 or 440 > as needed, but next week 466! (don't tell him yet) 466, ough. Why do they make such decisions... Violinplayers almost never choose different string diameters, so they will like it too. taco To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
