Dear Martin
Thank you for the additional details. It is a very interesting
experience and I agree with you, the more timbral variety the better.
When we think how many lutes must have been lost, and how few of the
ones that have survived are now copied, it seems we are unnecessarily
reducing our tonal palette. Nevertheless, I admire those like
Sterling Price who have the courage to tackle a 76 cm Edlinger, and I
just stand in awe at the 82 cm model.
Your recording is very convincing. While all three lutes sound good
(and I do like the Gerle model), the longer string length seems to
have more expressive capability, as Jacob Heringman once told me. He
also added that the hand quickly becomes used to the longer stretch.
Having heard his Sienna recording, I was sorely tempted by a longer
string length lute, such as a 70c 6C Warwick, or a 67cm 7C Venere
C36; but in the end I played safe, and went for the ubiquitous (if
excellent) 60 cm 7c Gerle, which I also heard on that recording.
If you can only really afford one Renaissance lute it takes some
courage to go for one of those big models, and what I did as an
amateur does not really matter; but it would be excellent to see more
performers specializing sufficiently to investigate more tonal
variation, with differing string lengths and less well known models,
as Jacob Heringman did in the Sienna, and Martin has done, here.
I am really enjoying your postings, Martin.
Best regards
Anthony
Le 17 févr. 08 à 10:46, Martin Shepherd a écrit :
Dear Anthony and All,
Just to fill in the missing details:
The first lute (currently tuned in e', though it has been in f') is
my "no.2", made in 1982. It has a 13-rib yew back and a longish,
almost Maler shape - not based on any particular model. The rose
is quite small, which we would expect would favour the bass.
The 5th course is a pistoy, the 6th Stoppani. The 4th course in in
unison.
The second lute (in a') is my no.3, made in 1983 (it didn't take a
year to make, by the way, just nine days). Again it's a relatively
long thin shape (photos of it as no.1 in the 6c section of my
catalogue), 11 ribs of plum. The 5th and 6th courses are "Venice"
strings. Octaves on 4-6.
The third lute (in g') is my no.4, made in 1985. It's a Gerle,
with a plum back. String types as for the first lute, octaves on 4-6.
I think the main point of interest in this comparison is simply
that lutes of different sizes and pitches sound different (and feel
different, by the way) and it would be nice if there were more
variety in the sizes which people play - there's a whole world of
different sounds out there which could enrich our music if only we
weren't so wedded to the idea that lutes have to be 60cm, "in G" at
modern pitch.
It has been fashionable to use the smaller lutes for Dalza, etc,
but it can be revealing to try non-obvious combinations - solemn
fantasias on little lutes or fast dances on big lutes. I'm game to
take suggestions, by the way....
Best wishes,
Martin
Anthony Hind wrote:
Martin
Beautifully played as before, and the recordings are very
good. It is an excellent idea to make this systematic string
length comparison.
I am just wondering, however, whether the lutes are copies of the
same model, and whether there is much difference in stringing.
I know of course, that even if they were exactly the same string
length, model and with the same stringing there still could be a
variation.
Nevertheless, my question does not alter my feeling that this is
a very interesting way of doing things.
Can we look forward, now, to comparisons of different models with
identical string lengths?
Best regards
Anthony
Le 16 févr. 08 à 21:45, Martin Shepherd a écrit :
Dear All,
As previously threatened, a comparison of three different-sized
lutes (e' at 67.3cm, a' at 53.5cm and g' at 60cm) at:
http://www.luteshop.co.uk/02fm04lutecomprvb.mp3
Sorry the server doesn't seem to have updated the recordings
page yet, but if you click on this link you should get the
soundfile.
Best wishes,
Martin
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