Hi All,
The Tieffenbrucker ("WE" = Wendelin Eberle?) lute which everyone makes a
version of is actually 44cm. I agree with Sean, it is possible to tune
it to d'' at modern pitch with nylon strings, but it is the equivalent
of tuning your 59cm "G lute" up to a', so not recommended. Last year I
finally did the experiment - low tension, all gut strings in c'', and it
suddenly sounded right. Sometimes we need to trust the historical evidence!
Best wishes,
Martin
P.S. By the way, the "correct" way to play Pacoloni (no half measures)
is bass in C, tenor in D, treble in G. But a tone higher than that is
good (easier to find suitable instruments), and even F, G, C is good.
Anything which involves regarding a G lute as a "bass" is a bit of a joke.
On 02/06/2011 15:10, Sean Smith wrote:
Short answer, Anton: There are plenty of duos for 4th apart. and there
are plenty of duos for 5th apart. There has been little to no
information about how to pitch the smaller instrument --or even the
larger. Specify which and your playing audience will find the
instruments. I find 4th apart to be very useful.
In the 1990's there was an American builder who built quite a few
Tieffenbrucker descant copies at a 43cm mensur. There don't seem to be
any other models to build from. Unfortunately that length is just a
little long for a D instrument and although it will reach with a nylon
topstring it sounds shrill to my ears. With few people having an F
lute this has been the defacto descant in D for the Pacaloni trios.
The Vallet quartets demand two instruments an octave apart so the
descant must be a D.
When we found a shorter descant (40cm) the shrill factor decreased
considerably and we use the "Tieffenbrucker" in C where it is
considerably happier. F-tenor and C-descant make a very good 5th apart
pair, too.
Ed Martin has a collection of vihuelas including a descant. I'd be
curious as to its length, tuning and topstring. Ed?
Best wishes and thanks for all the music!
Sean
On Jun 2, 2011, at 3:07 AM, Anton Höger wrote:
hi,
is the tuning for the Sopran lute in "c" or "d"?
I mean the open highest string of the sopran lute?
Thanks
Aton
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