Hi all medieval pickers, You'll find a picture of ostrich feather plectrum from my page in http://lutegroup.ning.com/profile/TimoPeedu <http://lutegroup.ning.com/profile/TimoPeedu> The tip and the shaft of the feather must be sanded to make it smooth. The feather's 'hair' has to be cutted along the shaft with razor sharp knife as close to the shaft as possible. Then comes the sanding of the remaining stubble. This takes some time and patience. You have to be sure to leave no stubble because it causes the feather to move between the fingers while playing.
I've been trying all kinds of plectums during last 25 years and found the ostrich feather absolutely best. It's very flexible and also durable. I also use guitar string when prectising to save the real things. It pays to keep your eyes sharp in flea markets and second hand shops for those oldtime feather dusters. I found one about 20 years ago and I still have some feathers to go. Happy picking, Timo ________________________________ Lähettäjä: Ed Durbrow [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Lähetetty: la 28.6.2008 9:59 Vastaanottaja: Stuart Walsh; LuteNet list Aihe: [LUTE] Re: medieval plectrum, how to make? On Jun 8, 2008, at 7:01 AM, Stuart Walsh wrote: > Ed Durbrow wrote: >> Crawford Young uses a guitar string as a plectrum. > Any more details on this? > Stuart Not too much to add. You just take the feathers off of the part on the end that hits the strings. He leaves a little bit of feather on the other end so that he can find it if it drops on the floor. The important point is that he uses the opposite end of the feather from what most folks do and he doesn't split it. I forget if he sands it or not to make it perfectly round. I tried gluing or taping a bit of guitar G string to the side of a guitar pick so it protudes past the tip. This works well. It gives you a round bit that sounds well from any angle and something to hold on to that is wider than a string. You can adjust the flexibility by how close to the end you hold it. Ed Durbrow Saitama, Japan [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www9.plala.or.jp/edurbrow/ To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
