This is interesting to me as I have an unreconstructed baroque violin from
about 1820 which is currently strung with Larsen strings and playing in "G",
wheras we also have a c.1900 czech violin strung with I know not what which
is tuned down to F'n'abit for playing with nsp. Seems it might be better to
have them the other way round. Am I right in thinking that before 1920ish
and the current standardised concert pitch at "G" that many instruments' G
was lower anyway, which would have led to lower tension anyway.
Also is pitch purely dependent on tension, does the same tension in gut and
metal and composite automatically produce the same pitch? and if not, were
non gut strings made to emulate the pitch/tension combination of gut strings
so as not to upset the structural tensions of a strung fiddle?
Trouble is, if I tune down the baroque, which i prefer to play, I'll play
the pipes less. Please don't let that affect the response of anyone who has
heard me play, fiddle or pipes!
Tim
----- Original Message -----
From: <christopher.bi...@ec.europa.eu>
To: <phi...@gruar.clara.net>; <nsp@cs.dartmouth.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, February 10, 2010 9:14 AM
Subject: [NSP] Re: NSP duet with other instruments
Stringing of "baroque" violins is another can of worms since tension varied
widely according to local conventions and personal preferences. There is
also the question of equal tension versus progressive tension and whether
wound strings should be used for the G and/or D. It is, or at least used to
be, widely believed that baroque string tension was lower than modern. As
Philip points out, this is not true - even though playing was "generally
less
high-tension than modern violin playing."
A good starting point for anyone interested is here:
http://www.nrinstruments.demon.co.uk/hstvnst.html (I have no vested
interests).
It is interesting that "modern baroque" is an approximation of common 19th
century practise.
I have personally found that very slightly progressive tension using rows
CDEF (all gut) for the ascending strings of a violin at A = 415 gives good
results (strictly equal tension gives a very thick G string and a very thin
E, which may be historically correct (cf. Leopold Mozart's treatise), but
feels uncomfortable to my modern fingers). Some argue that "equal tension"
really means "equal feel" anyway. DEFG would give similar results a semitone
lower.
I have also tried tuning a modern violin fitted with Dominant Heavy strings
down to concert F and the results were good.
I think the heavy versions of a lot of strings on the market today could
give satisfactory tensions at lower pitch (especially the steel one, if you
like that sort of thing).
c
-----Original Message-----
From: lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu
[mailto:lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu] On Behalf Of Philip Gruar
Sent: Tuesday, February 09, 2010 1:37 PM
To: nsp@cs.dartmouth.edu
Subject: [NSP] NSP duet with other instruments
Margaret's comment:
When I'm playing duets with Andy's nsp, I always tune down.
For me, I've
spent a long time trying to find the right fiddle and strings so it
doesn't
sound like a kipper-box (or I hope it doesn't) when tuned lower.
made me think, what about baroque violinists? Specialist
baroque orchestras
and soloists play at A=415 or a semitone lower than modern
standard pitch
and very occasionally even lower. This is getting on for low
enough to play
with standard-pitch Northumbrian pipes. Proper baroque violins
have the neck
set at a flatter angle than ordinary modern violins/fiddles
(neck angle was
increased in the 19th cent. among other things to enable higher string
tension - louder tone). 18th century classical technique had a
lot more in
common with the playing styles of traditional music than
modern classical
technique does e.g. bow-hold, sometimes playing with fiddle
held lower,
using first position and open strings more etc. - and
generally it was less
high-tension than modern violin playing. This doesn't mean it
lacks life,
and good baroque violinists certainly don't sound as if
they're playing on a
kipper-box strung with knicker elastic.
Would using specialist baroque-violin gut strings on a
standard fiddle make
for better results at the lower pitch?
Just some thoughts from a non-string player, so excuse any
ignorance shown!
Philip
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