Val- Thank you for sharing this with us; I have been very interested in the new nylgut, but last time I tried to purchase them, they were unavailable in the USA. First impression- I like the sound very much on all courses except the chanterelle- that one string sounds too bright, and out of character with all the rest. Your playing seems fine; comfortable, relaxed- full, but not pushing too hard. Maybe that lute wants a different string on the 1st course?
The instrument for which I need the new nylgut is my Harris-Barber Chambure copy vihuela; it has a very rich but subdued sound (Compared to my lutes). Old white nylgut brings out its potential sound more aggressively than gut, but with enough richness and subtlety still part of the tone picture. However, the chanterelle seems to "sing" better with nylon. Comparing this instrument to your lute is probably inappropriate; an apples to oranges comparison- not only because it's vihuela vs. lute, but also mine has a doubled chanterelle. That one course was fabulous in gut, but for overall projection the instrument as a whole is better in the right synthetics- old Nylgut 2 - 4, KFG 5 & 6 w/ng octave on 6. Could you tell us your string length, string diameters & tension, pitch standard? Thank you, Dan > As an alternative to gut, I try new nylgut and basses Savarez KF on 5-6-7th >courses, (for the basses, as Carlos Gonzales told us on the french lute >list.) >So the only wounded string left here is the 8th course bass (not used on >this recording) I keep the old string, as it is now not to bright. > >Here for a try on two short pieces : >http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRmYvxgMMvg > >Val -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
