Peedu Timo wrote:
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>
Peedu,
Unless you have a ning password, this page is not available. I think
Daniel has put a block on anything but the lutegroup home page. The
cittern and early guitar ning groups are all available to all, though.
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
I'm just an occasional dabbler in plectrum technique and I'm getting
really confused! Two related things are bothering me - which end of the
damned feather to use, and (difficult to phrase this one), wobbly or stiff?
A guitar string (or presumably a lute string) or the thin end of a
feather is very wobbly indeed. Just out of interest I've tried both and
I can sort of see how they may work. Wouldn't you get a very tinny,
'rebec' like sound.
On the other hand, surely a horn or bone (or modern plastic) plectrum or
even the thick end of a feather would be wholly different.
Stuart
________________________________
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/
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