> (think of Altos and their Baroque plastic recorders, which can be > phenomenally good but they ain't wood).
Molds for plastic are capable of the precision needed to churn out instruments that are acousitcally similar, making post-mold tuning unnecessary. So long as the instrument is blown by a human being, there will be a need for the hygroscopic properties of cedar in the head joint. I think it was one of the aulos alto instruments, made with a plastic plug that could be removed and replaced by a wooden plug. That was a sweet instrument. Knock out the plug, give it a bath when it gets funky, play it outdoors if you like. Wooden instruments get soggy after a while and need resting, plastic ones play far longer, but dont have quite the same sound and are prone to burble when the RH is high. the look issue is important, there have been ebony lues, but dark bowled instruments are not commonplace, and some attempt at wood-graining or the like would be necessary IMHO. -- Dana Emery To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
