Hi Franz,
Looks like nobody else is going to jump in here, so I'm about to do so
- with both feet . . .
Why do people want to tune their lutes in something other than equal
temperament? Answer - so they sound better, with no clashing intervals
leading to rapid beats.
Does this necessarily involve moving frets around? In my opinion you
can get a pretty good tuning without necessarily moving your (already
loose!) frets around.
The important thing is to make sure that the notes that are played in
the chords of a piece sound good together. The main culprit is the
major third interval, which, around middle C, beats at about 10 beats
per second when the tuning is in equal temperament. The solution is to
flatten the thirds of commonly used chords a fraction, to reduce the
beat rate. For many pieces of music this can be achieved by playing
the important chords of that piece and adjusting the tuning so they
sound right.
Other intervals produce beats, too, in equal temperament, but the major
third is the most obvious and potentially unpleasant.
The problem with shifting frets around is that although you might get a
very pure scale in a particular key, intervals in more remote keys can
sound dreadful. For example, if you pull the fourth fret back towards
the nut to give a pure major third interval with the fifth fret on the
second string and fourth fret on the first string, you can play a
dreadful sounding major third with the fourth fret on the second
string and the third fret on the first string. Of course this is an
unlikely chord to find in a piece in vieil ton tuning. All I'm saying
is that one set of fret placements won't work for all intervals.
More important than temperament in tuning a lute is to make sure the
two strings of each course agree perfectly and that there are no beats
when they are plucked together. So pure unisons and octaves are of the
first importance. Any disagreement leads to an unattractive sound.
Knowing the intricacies of the various kinds of meantone and other
tunings is not necessary - Just be aware of them and let your ear be
your guide.
Bill ( ducking behind his desk to avoid the flak . . .)
From: Franz Mechsner <franz.mechs...@northumbria.ac.uk>
To: lute list <lute@cs.dartmouth.edu>
Sent: Saturday, 25 February 2012, 12:33
Subject: [LUTE] Re: free willing frets
oooops, many apologies - I just realize that there was a discussion
on
loosened frets quite recently which I missed due to being busy...
I'll
have a look. But my second question still stands.
Best
Franz
__________________________________________________________________
Von: [1]lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu im Auftrag von Franz Mechsner
Gesendet: Sa 25.02.2012 13:13
An: lute list
Betreff: [LUTE] free willing frets
Dear Wisdom,
My frets are getting loose (late wintertime? too much
playing?...).
In
spite of much care from my part not to touch them they slip
around
with
a dedicated sense of free will during playing, reducing the joy
of it. So obviously I have some loosening-frets-beginner's
questions,
such as: (1) Why might this happen? Is this usual as time goes
by?
(2)
What can one do best to tighten them.
In connection, I dare to pose an age-old question of mine, which
is
also a beginner's question: There has been much discussion in the
list
about tuning systems, adjusting the frets according to the tuning
system and the particular piece at hand etc. It seemed to me that
lutenists should be familiar with all this and the better of them
are,
but things also seemed utterly complicated and practice-demanding
thus
I did not get a good start with it. Or to put it more precisely:
I
collected quite some stuff from internet, even bought a book but,
as
said, it all frigthened me as it looked like so much work.
Therefore
my
question: Is there a primer around for lutenists which allows
understanding and getting practical as well, i.e., being able to
set
the frets etc. according to one's informed best idea how the
piece
should sound??? Or is there advice how to proceed best? And: How
much
time does one need to invest to acquire this skill at an
elementary
workable level?
Best regards
Franz
----------------------------------------------------
Dr. Franz Mechsner
Reader
Northumbria University, Dept. of Psychology
Northumberland Building
Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8ST (UK)
Tel: +44(0) 191 243 7479
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