It seems excessively harsh to state that "We need to be wary of
statements in Lundbergâs book, inasmuch as he died without finishing
it...". My reference to Lundberg's comments were gleaned personal
conversation with Lundberg. Yes, he was working hard on completing the
book before he passed, and he very likely would have made further
refinements, but the book was really a distillation of lengthy series
of highly detailed articles previously published in American Lutherie,
the quarterly journal of the Guild of American Luthiers. It is unkind
to call into question an entire important body of work due to a
sentence that was likely misplaced by a hasty editor. Apply your
standard to other publications out there and we are compelled to
discount the value of many works that have been given monumental status
despite being rife with errors. Francesco.
RA
__________________________________________________________________
From: lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu <lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu> on behalf
of howard posner <howardpos...@ca.rr.com>
Sent: Monday, July 1, 2019 2:06 AM
To: lutelist Net
Subject: [LUTE] Re: Plucking Room
We need to be wary of statements in Lundbergâs book, inasmuch as he
died without finishing it and the publisher(s) chose to present it as
is, although there are some things in it that he could not possibly
have meant, such as âThe one lute-family instrument being built during
this period is the theorbo.â (p. 12) He seems to have been referring
to the 1600-1680, but there was never a time for which that statement
would be true. I donât know he was trying to say.
> On Jun 30, 2019, at 2:07 PM, ron.ba...@rwbanks.com wrote:
>
> While I'm a big fan of Lundberg's body of work, we'll need to agree
to
> disagree which camp the belly/soundboard it fits into. For what it's
worth,
> violin makers commonly refer to their tops as bellies as
well...taxonomy
> among luthiers can be very generic.
>
> Let's also not forget that Lundberg made the comment on the banjo and
the
> importance of sustain, when discussing the early development of the
lute.
> He also said the following on page 30 of Historical Lute
Construction:
> "However, the need to sustain some notes, thereby adding a new
dimension to
> changes in rhythm and phrasing, became more and more important; so
much so
> that the main direction of tonal development through the Renaissance
periods
> and into the Baroque period was towards increasing sustain."
(Lundberg,
> Robert. Historical Lute Construction. Tacoma Washington: Guild of
American
> Luthiers, 2002)
>
> Sustain with lutes is at best a relative term. I've played some
lutes that
> were as efficient as a Quaker Oats box, and some that would easily
sustain
> for 3-4 seconds. What I was driving at was that unlike membrane
tops, a
> conscious effort was made to match the energy driven into the
soundboard
> (belly) with a system that provided a proper match to keep that
energy from
> dissipating too quickly. Plate tuning, bar shape, bar location, and
> possibly even belly scooping contribute to final outcome...which
might be a
> much more complex set of subsystems than a tensioned membrane.
>
> Let's also consider that like guitars, and unlike banjo's,
Renaissance and
> later lute bellies are structural and act both in tension and
compression.
> Membrane tops on the other hand, require a self-supporting structure,
and
> function using tension. Unless turned into cuir bouilli, membranes
really
> can't act in compression.
>
> I'll not hazard a guess regarding the violin comments, as YMMV. The
violin
> community does that instrument enough damage seeking pseudoscience
answers
> to shortcut time and good craftsmanship.
>
> Seriously though, I appreciate your comments, and am glad to be a
part of
> this community. I certainly don't hold the source of all truth
regarding
> the lute, so I'll gladly call myself out when my ideas go into attic
Strad
> territory.
>
> Ron Banks
> Fort Worth, TX
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