I agree with David that string span and spacing are extremely important,
and, as one about to have a lute built, I am wondering whether it would help
to send the luthier a tracing of my right and left hands to help him
calculate span and spacing correctly. I also agree with Ned that instrument
size is very important. I have a 13-course that has a wonderfully warm tone
when tuned to A=392, but it is too large for me, and the neck is too heavy,
and I can't play it very long without developing neck, shoulder, and back
problems. The shoe analogy is an excellent one. Perhaps when there was a
luthier in every town, it was much easier to get a good fit, but I live in
Texas, and the luthier who will build my next lute (Cezar Mateus) lives in
New Jersey.
-----Original Message-----
From: David Tayler
Sent: Monday, April 09, 2012 4:27 PM
To: lute
Subject: [LUTE] Re: What makes a good lute?
Ninety percent of the lutes I see are set up wrong and are also the
wrong size for the person playing. I doubt that this will change
anytime soon: once someone buys the wrong size instrument, they either
keep it or trade it in for another one that is the wrong size.
So I would rate size and setup as the number one issue, based on my
experience that the player will have to go through a very long
retraining period
after learning on a lute that is the wrong size. Why pedal backwards?
Of the setup issues, the number one issue is the span and spacing.
Without the right span and spacing, which reconciles two numbers, the
size of the hand (and fingers) and the rules which govern the span and
spacing of strings. Without these two numbers in balance, it is
impossible, or very difficult to make a good sound.
When these numbers are in balance, it is easy to make a good sound; in
fact, it is difficult to make a bad sound. No one would wear size 4 or
size 11 shoes if they are a size 9, and yet, that is precisely what
happens. Sadly, people are rarely fitted to the lute, even though the
lute is from the age of "custom made". Equally sadly, most people do
not understand the basic physics of twang, thwack and pluck, which
involves some simple experiments with a special bridge and nut that are
universally adjustable. Generally speaking, and I mean VERY generally,
the plucking-point spacing is wrong, that is, the place where you
actually pluck the string, and it is almost always too narrow. However,
it is the ratio of the bridge to nut, factoring the string length, and
figured at YOUR plucking point that gives numbers for the "thou shalt
not buzz" dimensions. Empirically, anyone can see that the spacing is
different at any point on the string.
A player with years of experience can give you some advice, after
watching you play, about the setup. You may have to compromise somewhat
on the overall span, or use a sliding scale so that the treble has more
room.
After these two biggies, there is a seemingly endless list of features,
all of which are important. And here you will need some experience to
guide you.
However, I would add that most lutes made nowadays are not copies of
originals. They are rescaled, resized, rebarred, rebridged, reglued,
revarnished.
Available is everything: everything-except-original.
Now, you may want that. Personally, I think everyone needs a reality
check instrument that is a copy of an original. Otherwise, it is just a
guitar, basically, with wonky pegs.
Since you asked about sound in your list, it is no fun playing a
monochromatic instrument of any kind, but that is just a personal
preference. I would say most lutes made today lean towards
monochromatic.
Main thing is to make a good sound. If you aren't making a beautiful
sound, it isn't you: your lute is set up wrong, is the wrong size, or
both.
Lute players may think that their feet are the wrong size, but when you
think about it, this cannot be the case. Everyone is different, and the
instrument must fit.
My teacher told me that you don't choose a lute, it chooses you. Maybe
that is true.
dt
__________________________________________________________________
From: William Samson <willsam...@yahoo.co.uk>
To: Lute List <lute@cs.dartmouth.edu>
Sent: Sat, April 7, 2012 6:25:47 AM
Subject: [LUTE] What makes a good lute?
I haven't really got much to add to the subject line. I've been
chatting with Rob about this and various points have emerged I'd be
interested in hearing what priorities you might put on the various
characteristics of a lute in deciding if it's 'good' or otherwise.
The kinds of things that have come up are (in no particular order):
* playability (action, string spacing etc)
* sound (which I can't easily define)
* authenticity of design/construction
* materials used
* quality of craftsmanship
* reputation of maker
Of course these are rather broad headings and might easily be
refined,
clarified or broken down.
Thoughts, please?
Bill
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