Hi Sean, Actually, I do not have a 7-course lute at the moment, I use an 8-course for renaissance lute, as for the reasons cited. i did have a 7-course, which was converted to an 11-course, Frei. When I used it as a 7-course lute, I essentially had it strung with a string in-between the 2 tones... it was low tension for the D, high tension with the F. Using gimped strings on that, it worked OK, but i really like the 8 course, as one has access to both.
English music seems to favor the D, where continental music seems to favor the F. ed At 12:52 PM 5/2/2012, Sean Smith wrote: > If you haven't yet ordered a lute, I would consider an 8 course, >which > in my opinion is more versatile.A It even allows you to cheat and >play > 10 course music... > >Very true, Bruno, I loved exploring the Vallet and Ballard books for >years on my 8c, turning singers on to Airs de cours and knowing that >nearly all the English was, at least, doable w/out retuning something. > >That said, I've seen some lovely 7c instruments and they sound better >for resisting the extra course. Ed Martin's, for example, as well as >Jacob Herringman's 7c Gerle. The latter is interesting in that it >retains the earlier parabolic neck which, I think, would not support 8 >courses. If that is your route you're well set up to go to the 6c. > >Ed, I believe you have a gut bass w/ a metal filament on the 7th >course on that instrument. Could you weigh in on how it does re: >Joshua's question? I'm curious myself. > >Dalza expected lutes to accept a one-step scordatura and in one >'suite' on the 5th course also. Could the extra half step really be >too much? > >But truthfully, Joshua, a 7c is a fine place to start and I applaud >your resolution. You'll work out the D/F situation one way or another. > >Sean > > > > > >A > > A > > Bruno > > On Wed, May 2, 2012 at 11:48 AM, Braig, Eugene <[1]brai...@osu.edu> > wrote: > > It's beginning to sound like an 8-course might actually better suit > your needs. A While short lived in period, they seem pretty > ubiquitous today. > Best, > Eugene > > -----Original Message----- > From: [2]lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu > [mailto:[3]lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu] On Behalf Of Joshua Burkholder > Sent: Wednesday, May 02, 2012 11:40 AM > To: [4]lute@cs.dartmouth.edu > Subject: [LUTE] Re-tuning the diapason of a 7c > Dear lute-listers, > A question from a beginner: > First to introduce myself, my name is Joshua and I've been playing >the > lute for several months now; I have been on the list for a couple >weeks > and am really enjoying following your discussions. I have a rental > 7-course and I am now in the process of taking the plunge and >buying a > lute of my own. After much reading, pondering and agonizing over the > best number of courses to start with, I've come to the conclusion >that > a 7-course best suits my needs. So onto to my question: > I know that some people re-tune the 7th course from D to F as needed, > but on my rental lute this seems quite impossible. The diapason is > stung to F and if I drop it down to D it becomes far too wobbly and > flabby. From this I assume that if I were to restring it to D, which > I'd prefer on the whole, it would likewise be impossible to raise >it to > F. Currently the lute is strung with Pyramid strings so the basses >are > metal wound. Is it only possible to change from D to F on the same > string if one uses gut strings (Poulton remarks to this effect in her > tutor that if it's strung to be tuned at D "it will only be >possible to > raise it to F if gut strings are used")? Otherwise I have to re- string? > Or does someone use some other stringing solution, besides just >keeping > it D and fingering the third fret for F (or buying an 8-course > lute...)? I've read enough about stringing lutes to understand that >it > will be a while before I understand anything about stringing lutes... > Thank you for taking the time to help out a newcomer. > Best wishes, > Joshua > To get on or off this list see list information at > [5]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > > -- > > A > > Bruno Cognyl-Fournier > > A > > [6]www.estavel.org > > A > > -- > >References > > 1. mailto:brai...@osu.edu > 2. mailto:lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu > 3. mailto:lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu > 4. mailto:lute@cs.dartmouth.edu > 5. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > 6. http://www.estavel.org/ > > Edward Martin 2817 East 2nd Street Duluth, Minnesota 55812 e-mail: e...@gamutstrings.com voice: (218) 728-1202 http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1660298871&ref=name http://www.myspace.com/edslute http://magnatune.com/artists/edward_martin
