Martin- If Dowland didn't have body frets on his instruments, does that mean he had upward of 10 or 11 frets on the neck - even 12? Does this mean very long necks? And would that mean a small body, or a larger body and perhaps a long string length? How long a string length would be practical, in your opinion, for him to have been able to play his more complex works (ones involving chords requiring long stretches between fingers) ?
Many questions, I know, but other than the information that he went from 7 course instruments to 10 or more courses later in life, I've not seen any detailed description of his instruments. Thank you, -Ned On Dec 17, 2010, at 1:12 PM, Martin Shepherd wrote: > Dear All, > > Sorry - another thought, perhaps less helpful than the first. The last > several of Dowland's frets were made from first-course material (.40-.45mm > gut?), so if he had had body frets (and it seems he didn't) they couldn't > have been exactly tree-trunk sized. > > Best, > > Martin > > On 17/12/2010 16:17, Edward Mast wrote: >> Stuart, I was thinking about your comments today as I worked on a Dowland >> piece that has passages in the i,k,l fret area. On my lute these frets >> don't have the resonance that the lower frets do, either. What I do find, >> though, is that I get a better sound from the body frets when I play them >> with the fingers - no matter where they fall in the measure - than with the >> thumb. Perhaps you've noticed this, or perhaps your right hand technique is >> different from mine. . . >> -Ned >> On Dec 14, 2010, at 6:16 AM, Stuart Walsh wrote: >> >>> On 14/12/2010 00:02, sterling price wrote: >>>> Most lutes have way too small body frets as they come from the maker. I >>>> always >>>> make bigger more suitable frets on my lutes. This often means that they get >>>> -taller- as they go up from fret K, especially if there is 14 frets. Of >>>> course >>>> this all depends on the action of the lute. >>>> >>>> --Sterling >>>> >>>> >>> 14 frets? Is there music that calls for 14 frets? >>> >>> On my lute the high g, fret n, sounds weak, very plinky an unfocused. I >>> can't imagine what a fourteenth fret would sound like! >>> >>> >>> Stuart >>> >>> >>> >>> To get on or off this list see list information at >>> http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html >> >> > >
