Jurek _______________
On 2008-01-31, at 17:25, LGS-Europe wrote:
I've already very clearly explained how small theorboes (ie up to low 80s) were tuned (and even given sources for tablature) and generally really can't be bothered to continually repeat myself. However, in case you personally missed it, I'll do it one more time:EITHER nominal A or G tuned but with only the first course tuned an octave down ie highest course is the second at e for an A theorbo or d for a G theorbo;OR with first two courses an octave down but at a higher nominal pitch eg in D like Talbot MS French lesser theorboe for lessons; note that in this case the highest pitched course is the third at e'.Interestingly, the fingered string length of this instrument which belonged to a M. Crevecoeur(s) and made by 'Sellier' (Sellas?) works out at 76cm - squarely in the range that some modern players persist in using for a nominal A or G tuned theorbo with top two courses an octave down!<<Yes, I've missed it, sorry about that, so thank you for repeating yourself. So 76cm works with first two strings down. I think so too. We agree. Both French and Italians would have come to the same conclusion: first two strings down works on 76cm. Your issue is French theorbe de piece was in d, and some modern players use the same string lengths with two first courses down at a or g. Given a low French pitch (presumably somewhere near 392Hz) and a high Italian (440/466Hz at places), I see not much difference. If it works with the strings and your instrument, it works with your strings and your instrument. There will be a working range of tunings, d and a included. Anyway, nominal tunings are just naming conventions in a transposing world, with a floating pitch on top of that!DavidMH LGS-Europe <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:To the benefit of those not interested in a peeing contest but in theories on theorbo stringing, as I am, and not in the happy possesion of a list of historical theorbos stating string length and setup, here's what the guys are talking about (info taken from one of the Pohlmanns lying around here):Atton 1x1, 5x2 = 77,5cm 6x1 = 147cm Ecco 1x1, 5x2 = 75,5cm 6x1 = 161,5cm Hoess 6x2 = 80cm 9x1 = 158cm Kaiser 1x1, 6x2 = 73,1cm 6x1 = 157,6cm Aman 1x1, 5x2 = 80,9cm 5x2 = 150,4cm Koch 7x2 = 82,7cm 7x1 = 167,5cm Langenwalder 6x1 = 76,4cm 8x1 = 141,5cm Attore 1x1, 5x2 = 73cm 3x2 = 156cm Attore 6x2 = 65,7cm 8x1 = 152cm Mascotto 1x3, 4x2 = 74,5cm (original 1x1, 5x2) 6x1 = 158cmThe point here is, as I understand it from the discussion so far, not their setup (6+8; 7+7; 8+6) or double versus single strung, but their relative short stopped strings. Granted that some/many/all instruments are modified over the years not all figures above are to be taken at face value. Perhaps some instruments can be argued not to be therobos. Fine, but I'd say there are instruments left we would call theorbos that have a stopped string length of somewhere around 75 to 80cm. And I think enough of these to assume there have been more around in the old days. I'm curious too, how were theytuned according to you, Martyn? David **************************** David van Ooijen [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.davidvanooijen.nl **************************** To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html --------------------------------- Sent from Yahoo! - a smarter inbox.
