You can ALWAYS change the strings on a theorbo, shortening the neck, etc big problem. Make sure you have enough pegs and holes and grooves to string it and tune it anyway you want!
Guidelines (highly subjective, of course) It should fall between these very general guidelines String length 77-82 cm, 80 is very safe if you change your mind Holes & grooves 6+8, 7+7, 8+6 ( I use 15c but 14 is enough if you don't play a lot of Bach & Handel) Weight 1.3 KG (2.9 lbs) for my 82cm Holst Don't go over 1.5 kg unless you need the exercise. Balance point at the seventh fret. It should balance. You have to decide, are you going to play this thing for hours at a time? Caude if so, you don't want a Cricket Bat or a Louisville Slugger, believe me. If it weighs more than 1.5 kg, where is the extra weight coming from? Perhaps the neck has a music desk inside :) The balance point gives you a good idea of where the xtra weight is, if any, as well as the overall experience of crafting a design. DECIDING BETWEEN G AND A There are several ways to look at this, but for me it boils down to mileage. Remember you need to learn both tunings anyaway. 1. Ask two people who have played 5,000 pieces and 50 operas. You might not get the same answer, but it will give you enough to go on. For me, it is 65/35 g/a, but I use the G 80 percent of the time. But not all the time. OR 2. Play the 50 operas, half on one, half on the other. NB Don't get an 84 cm instrument unless you have some smaller ones as well. You can't tune it in single reentrant, which is a huge negative. Anything over 82 is a specialty instrument, for people with huge hands, or for people who only play in very high positions (which of course creates other problems). If you have doubts, borrow a 72cm Laux Maler, play lute solos on it, then tape two fingers together and try it again. Other notes: 1. it isn't the key as much as the excursions. It isn't where it starts; it's where it goes. It isn't the key, it's the range. If the bass note is F above middle C, how do you play the A and C above it? 2. If you play in A, double reentrant, you are MUCH more likely to make more voice leading mistakes. The two biggies are bass crossings and parallels. Some people will notice this; some people won't. Most conductors will. Caccini: you are looking at a small sample, but the thing to remember is that you are using a fixed pitch reference instead of a moveable one. Lute songs are different. You can look at the A minor and play it in G minor on a lute a tone higher and it will come out the same pitch. And so on. But even in that small sample, I would start with a G instrument, and the picture is similar for other composers as well. If you are playing a Handel opera it is a different picture--you might be limited in how often you can change instruments, although for recording purposes, people do just that. If you are still unsure, take an piece you wan't to learn, and write it out in BOTH tunings. Really look at voice crossings, parallels, and so no. If you don't have a theorbo just restring a guitar. Put it into tab, have a few people play it for and listen to the effect. Play it again and see how it feels. dt At 07:29 PM 1/26/2008, you wrote: >But look at how many pieces are in the key of F for a nominal G >Renaissance lute. I would expect something close to the same >proportions transposed up a tone for a theorbo in A. >cheers, > >On Jan 16, 2008, at 2:07 AM, Rob wrote: > >>I have a theorbo being made now by Malcolm Prior for delivery by >>the end of >>February. Very much looking forward to it as I haven't played a >>theorbo in >>ten years or more. It is an 84cms Koch model, Italian tuning. >> >> >> >>Now, I've been looking at the song repertoire by Giulio and Francesca >>Caccini, a repertoire ideally suited to theorbo accompaniment. >>Giulio played >>it, and his daughter possibly played it - she was respected as a lute >>player, although the type of lute was never specified. At least in >>Giulio's >>music one might expect 'theorbo keys' - Am, Dm, A, D. Here are the >>keys from >>his 1614 edition (the only one I have to hand): >> >> >> >>G or Gm ///// ///// ///// ///// / >> >>D or Dm //// >> >>A or Am /// >> >>F ///// // >> >>E / >> >> >> >>And Francesca's (from 'Il primo libro delle musiche' 1618 - Indiana >>University Press) >> >> >> >>G or Gm ///// ///// >> >>Am // >> >>F /// >> >>Bb / >> >>C / >> >> >> >>So, a very high percentage based on G. All the keys are obviously >>possible >>on a theorbo in A, but I wonder if their theorbo was in G. I >>imagine someone >>(or more than one) has done research into this, and it would be >>interesting >>to read their findings. >> >> >> >>I've also noticed that a few theorbo recordings are on a theorbo in >>G, both >>solo and continuo. Is it common among modern players? I imagine G >>would be >>an easier transition for Renaissance players who think in G more >>easily than >>A. I'm planning on having it tuned in A, with A=440, but I'm >>interested in >>what others are doing, and general thoughts pro and contra any >>particular >>tuning. >> >> >> >>Rob >> >> >> >>www.rmguitar.info >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >>-- >> >>To get on or off this list see list information at >>http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > >Ed Durbrow >Saitama, Japan >[EMAIL PROTECTED] >http://www9.plala.or.jp/edurbrow/ > >
