[LUTE] Re: Gypsies Lilt - video
Thanks to Kerry and for all the other positive comments I've received. Performance is everything, whether you are a beginner or a long-standing professional. What I like about the technology we have now is the ability to see the lute being played. I love watching beginners perform, and hope that more of you set aside your worries about making mistakes (all my videos have mistakes in them) and hopefully some more experienced players will offer words of advice, if needed. Making mistakes is perfectly 'authentic', and so are amateur performances among amateurs. I don't think I'm alone in enjoying a beginner trying to play, more than a virtuoso running through something without really being 'involved'. Of course, I get great pleasure out of watching 'real' lute players like Nigel North, Paul O'Dette, etc. I'll never ever be on their level, but I feel everyone has something to share, no matter what level. So, get those cameras rolling! Rob 2008/6/21 [EMAIL PROTECTED]: Beautiful, Rob. All of this discussion of tuning and strings is all well and good, (and interesting) but you cut to the chase with your sensitive playing and show us what it's all about. Kerry Rob MacKillop [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Two pieces from the Rowallan ms, the weird Gypsies Lilt, and the beautiful I Long For Thy Virginitie. Looks like I need my eighth fret tightened... http://www.vimeo.com/1204178 Rob -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html --
[LUTE] Re: New piece of the month for June
Fuenllana has a few moments where the third finger has to cover two courses, four strings. I could get it right about 90 per cent of the time by using one finger, as the courses on my vihuela were very close. But it is a case of swings and roundabouts. Sometimes we want the courses close, sometimes we want them further apart. Are we ever truly happy?! One luthier told me that thumb-in players preferred wider spacing at the bridge than thumb-out players, and this led to wider spacing at the nut, and when these thumb-in players commissioned instruments set up this way, they made some of the repertoire more difficult for themselves. Fuenllana was a thumb-out player... Rob 2008/6/20 Stewart McCoy [EMAIL PROTECTED]: Dear David, It may be that your finger tip really is too narrow, but there might be some mileage in turning the angle of your hand, as violinists do, so that there is a wider surface area to hold down both courses. Pointing the left-hand fingers toward the bridge, is something we try to prevent pupils doing, but this bad habit can have its uses. I have a small vihuela discante, with a fairly tight spacing, and I often find it useful to cover two courses with a single un-barred finger. My fingertips are podgy enough for that, but then I struggle to stop a single course while playing the two open courses either side. Sometimes I use my little finger, when really I should use one of the other fingers, but my little finger is thinner than the others, and causes less damage snagging up adjacent strings. Holding down two courses with one unflattened finger can present problems. At first one should aim to be satisfied with getting just two strings to ring - the lower of the upper course, and the upper of the lower course - and simply dampen the outside strings of each pair. Eventually, with time and practice, one finds one is covering all four strings, and they all ring on. I think it is important not to try too hard, but be content at first with just an approximation. If you don't think about it too much, your fingers will find a way to do it on their own. Another possible use of two courses stopped by a single finger is in this common example: _1c___3d___4f___1c___ _2d|_ _2d|_ __a|_ ___|_ ___|_ I wouldn't always finger those notes that way, but I have it up my sleeve for when it seems the best option. Best wishes, Stewart McCoy. -Original Message- From: David Tayler [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: 20 June 2008 22:50 To: lute-cs.dartmouth.edu Subject: [LUTE] Re: New piece of the month for June Gee what an annoying chord that is. I have seen people play all four strings, that is two courses, with the tip of one finger. My finger is not wide enough. I accept this as more or less unchangeable, unless I go to a really narrow spacing. Thanks for the lovely edition. dt To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html --
[LUTE] Re: French Style
Dear Jean-Marie, I was rather thinking of villages as far remote as Austria, Poland, German speaking countries, where booklets abounded with French lute music, yet teachers were far. Mathias Jean-Marie Poirier [EMAIL PROTECTED] schrieb: Well, Mathias, in those days like now Paris was just one town in France and even if the court resided there most of the time, they were also itinerant and the Provinces had a cultural life of their own. Thee were maîtres de luth in all or most cathedral cities and the Gallot, for instance, were originally from Angers, and the de Gallot who played barosque guitar in Ireland was from Nantes, and Moulinié was from the south of France, and Julien Belin, in mid-16th century, came from my home town of Le Mans, where he was musically educated in the local cathedral school (Psalette)... If you want to grasp how lots of musicians were constantly on the move, read the book by Annibal Gantez, L'entretien des musiciens, Auxerre, 1643 ( download it there : http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k57979f ). It is an essential account of musical life in the early 17th-century. People who wanted to study the lute could very well do so with one of thoses lute teachers who flourished for a while in provincial towns, far fom Paris indeed. Not everybody was to become a professional musician. Even if the capital worked like a sort of magnet, it did not attract, and chiefly did not keep, everybody, thank God !!! The so-called French style is, in my opinion, much more a matter of taste and culture (a much much wider subject to deal with) than technique... Best wishes, Jean-Marie === 20-06-2008 15:03:00 === [EMAIL PROTECTED] schrieb: Its very easy to trick oneself into believing that if you play French-style elements A, B and C the way that writers X, Y, and Z have described them that you're actually playing the style. The old ones didn't learn French style from books, afterall. Well, they did, in a way. Not everyone lived in Paris, nor did everybody employ French teachers--except people like the Robarts, perhaps. Tablature was a means to convey tradition which is why almost everyone had their booklets ready and copied from one another. That's how French style reached even remote villages like Ebenthal (to name but one). Their situation isn't _that_ different from ours, I'd say. We'll never know if Monsieur Vieux Gaultier had raised his brows about the practical results someone in Carinthia would realize from a copy of La Belle Homicide. OTOH how do you know what Miles David would have said about youngsters playing his music in an attempt to path their own ways? -- Mathias To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html --- Orange vous informe que cet e-mail a ete controle par l'anti-virus mail. Aucun virus connu a ce jour par nos services n'a ete detecte. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://poirierjm.free.fr 20-06-2008 N ¶è®ß¶¬+-±ç¥Ëbú+«b¢vÛiÿü0ÁË j»f¢ëayÛ¿Á·?ë^iÙ¢ø§uìa
[LUTE] Re: Response to the Silk Strings questions
Hi, all, I received this from Alexander Vokaria, and he asked me to share. Hope it's useful. Best, Chris. voka [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6/19/2008 11:17 AM Please share: In response to the silk strings questions. I started making silk strings about ten years ago, as a process to discover rather then commercial enterprise. The initial push was a request from the Moscow University baroque orchestra director, looking for alternatives to gut violin strings, especially the top one. I suggested to him that Yasha Heifez always used the silk e string, and that may be the source for such strings could be found. On research, it turned out that the silk string industry in the West died out as recently as 1950s, with the advance of nylon substituting for silk in all areas of fiber needs. This did not leave much choice, but to start making the strings on my own. After a few years stumbling, i figured out the process the best i could. Since then i used the silk strings exclusively on my gambas, and yes, being a lute player, on my lutes, and as strange as it may sound, on clasical guitar, for performance of the 19th century music. The last one was extremely satisfying, i should say. In 2002 i made a few suggestions for discussion at the FoMRHI. From the beginning it was clear to me that to recover a reliable string making industry, there had to be other makers involved. The only one who contacted me, and actually applied his hands to the silk, was Peter Rea. As he was spending long periods of time in the field (Peter is a geologist to begin with), and then i had a serious health issues, i lost a track of his progress, but do hope the progress is very good. WIth the idea of spreading the word, i created a web site ( http://www.globalissuesgroup.com/silkStrings/ ). Now, to the lute strings. As i was extremely unhappy with the plastic lute strings, and really could not afford gut strings, making my own silk strings was a clear alternative. I have strung my own lutes and a few of my students and colleagues, that i have access to and can see the results. I did mail out some strings to european and asian lutanists, from whom i have little detailed information. I use on the daily basis an old ten course Laurence Brown lute (62 cm). There is a picture of the neck and the bridge on my web site. I continue using about the same arrangement. The top string is not practical above F sharp (a=415 pitch tuning). At least with the silk i have. (I know there are stronger silks, for example someone in Siberia apparently succeeded with the wild oak moth silk strings (they have written to me), which indicates it is possible.) But i play at the English consort pitch (a=392), which makes the top string nominal F. This strings last, depending on the amount of playing, from two to six weeks. I manage to put a new top string the day of the concert and have it stay in tune for the concert, but the knot has to be perfect (the silk is more slippery in the knots then gut), and a good stretching strategy applied. Right now the 2nd, 3rd and 4th strings are twisted of 6 strands, not smooth gut like twisting. They are fine under fingers, on this particular lute absolutely fine, but on the light 69 cm Lundberg lute there was a perception of the finger noise (curtesy of Ron Andrico). The strand design increases the sustain of the strings. Smoothly twisted strings have less noise, obviuosly. Still the strings grab the fingers very nicely, a sensation absolutely missing when you play on plastIc. I do not use an octave on the 4th string. The fifth string is made from 2 to 6 strands. If there are fewer strands, there is some more bumpiness in the string (the silk string can not be rectified like gut or nylon), which does not affect the string balance, as to begin with there are continuos filaments from beginning to the end of the string, not like in the gut, which requires rectifying for this reason. But the 2 strand twist will create the longest sustain, which shortens with the added number of strands. The octave for 5th is smooth. The sixth is similar to the 5th. Starting from 7th i use twisted silk core, wound with a twisted silk wrapping, on the manner of the wire winding, except there is no metal involved. These string have a nice fluffy well sustained sound. One of the advantages is, with a proper octave string, they are perceived in tune in rather wide variation of off pitch. These basses however are very sensitive to the temperature - humidity changes, as the tension is very low (it is difficult for any string tostay in tune under some optimal tension), plus my experience is that the closer in desity are the core and the winding, the more string micro shape is changed with the athmosphere. Personally i have no problem keeping the lute in tune after it is settled, and when the temperature and humidity are stable, you do get a factory tuned instrument right out of the case, but in a cold hall for example, the basses start drifting a bit from the warmth
[LUTE] Re: Alain Veylitt
The most recent one I have for him is [EMAIL PROTECTED] but the last time I contacted him I had not reply. Monica - Original Message - From: Stewart McCoy [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Lute Net lute@cs.dartmouth.edu Sent: Friday, June 20, 2008 11:20 PM Subject: [LUTE] Alain Veylitt I need to contact Alain Veylitt. Please could someone provide his email address. Many thanks, Stewart McCoy -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: Response to the Silk Strings questions
Perhaps, in the near future, I might talk about the toroidal strings made by Charles Besnainou. He has succeeded in making both silk and even cotton strings for bowed instruments with this method, and he claims they both work well in this use; but I don't think he has tried this for lutes. Anthony Le 21 juin 08 à 15:06, Christopher Stetson a écrit : Hi, all, I received this from Alexander Vokaria, and he asked me to share. Hope it's useful. Best, Chris. voka [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6/19/2008 11:17 AM Please share: In response to the silk strings questions. I started making silk strings about ten years ago, as a process to discover rather then commercial enterprise. The initial push was a request from the Moscow University baroque orchestra director, looking for alternatives to gut violin strings, especially the top one. I suggested to him that Yasha Heifez always used the silk e string, and that may be the source for such strings could be found. On research, it turned out that the silk string industry in the West died out as recently as 1950s, with the advance of nylon substituting for silk in all areas of fiber needs. This did not leave much choice, but to start making the strings on my own. After a few years stumbling, i figured out the process the best i could. Since then i used the silk strings exclusively on my gambas, and yes, being a lute player, on my lutes, and as strange as it may sound, on clasical guitar, for performance of the 19th century music. The last one was extremely satisfying, i should say. In 2002 i made a few suggestions for discussion at the FoMRHI. From the beginning it was clear to me that to recover a reliable string making industry, there had to be other makers involved. The only one who contacted me, and actually applied his hands to the silk, was Peter Rea. As he was spending long periods of time in the field (Peter is a geologist to begin with), and then i had a serious health issues, i lost a track of his progress, but do hope the progress is very good. WIth the idea of spreading the word, i created a web site ( http://www.globalissuesgroup.com/silkStrings/ ). Now, to the lute strings. As i was extremely unhappy with the plastic lute strings, and really could not afford gut strings, making my own silk strings was a clear alternative. I have strung my own lutes and a few of my students and colleagues, that i have access to and can see the results. I did mail out some strings to european and asian lutanists, from whom i have little detailed information. I use on the daily basis an old ten course Laurence Brown lute (62 cm). There is a picture of the neck and the bridge on my web site. I continue using about the same arrangement. The top string is not practical above F sharp (a=415 pitch tuning). At least with the silk i have. (I know there are stronger silks, for example someone in Siberia apparently succeeded with the wild oak moth silk strings (they have written to me), which indicates it is possible.) But i play at the English consort pitch (a=392), which makes the top string nominal F. This strings last, depending on the amount of playing, from two to six weeks. I manage to put a new top string the day of the concert and have it stay in tune for the concert, but the knot has to be perfect (the silk is more slippery in the knots then gut), and a good stretching strategy applied. Right now the 2nd, 3rd and 4th strings are twisted of 6 strands, not smooth gut like twisting. They are fine under fingers, on this particular lute absolutely fine, but on the light 69 cm Lundberg lute there was a perception of the finger noise (curtesy of Ron Andrico). The strand design increases the sustain of the strings. Smoothly twisted strings have less noise, obviuosly. Still the strings grab the fingers very nicely, a sensation absolutely missing when you play on plastIc. I do not use an octave on the 4th string. The fifth string is made from 2 to 6 strands. If there are fewer strands, there is some more bumpiness in the string (the silk string can not be rectified like gut or nylon), which does not affect the string balance, as to begin with there are continuos filaments from beginning to the end of the string, not like in the gut, which requires rectifying for this reason. But the 2 strand twist will create the longest sustain, which shortens with the added number of strands. The octave for 5th is smooth. The sixth is similar to the 5th. Starting from 7th i use twisted silk core, wound with a twisted silk wrapping, on the manner of the wire winding, except there is no metal involved. These string have a nice fluffy well sustained sound. One of the advantages is, with a proper octave string, they are perceived in tune in rather wide variation of off pitch. These basses however are very sensitive to the temperature - humidity changes, as the tension is very low (it is difficult for any string tostay in tune under some optimal tension),
