[LUTE] A shared thought about lute music performance.
I was just playing a favored piece, and a familiar thought came to mind. Slow down, and savor, and be faithful to every note. These composers were wrestling with an instrument that could only *just* muster the counterpoint and harmony they had in mind, and was then only realized when in the hands of an accomplished player who understood those aspects just the same. One bass note missed, or a botched note of a sparsely expressed melody can ruin the otherwise perceived beauty of expression that was the intent of the composer. It's wonderful to play and hear lute music at a rapid tempo, so that we can better witness the expression of the composer where his master craft actually lay: in the macro parts of the composition. A balance must be struck however while we as players develop, so that our desire to master the intent of the composition does not suffer from inattention to the fragments that make the mosaic. In lute music, if a trill, or a beat or a note is lost, the phrase can be lost, and so an entire section of the piece, and in accordance, the attention of the listener, that so often gets lost to the competing chambers of her mind. My advice is to be mindful of both scales (of time): the magnified finger change between two awkward positions, balanced with the patient understanding of the passage between phrases and sections. There was a more concise quote by a composer of who's name I'm sure I will soon be reminded. It said in more impressive language, or simpler, which might also be more impressive, that one might practice slowly, and progress quickly. Tobiah To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: Retirement
On 03/04/2016 03:41 PM, Braig, Eugene wrote: I plan to turn on my television and never feel obliged to cover my boxer shorts again. P... You're going to wear boxers? :) To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Converting tablature to grand staff
I'm able to do this with Finale to some extent, but it feels as though I'm expending too much effort in the process. Are there any other favorite computer tools for doing this, or do people just sort of convert on the fly with their eye? Thanks, Tobiah To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: how to amplify lute?
On 01/27/2015 01:49 PM, Arto Wikla wrote: Hi all Just an innocent(?) question: If you need amplification, why to use the lute? Electric guitars are made for that purpose, loud music. ;-) Oh right, and we can just use a Rhodes electric piano instead of those bulky awkward concert grands! To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: how to amplify lute?
On 01/27/2015 01:06 PM, Omer Katzir wrote: Not permanently, just for one night. Which option do you think will be the best? Using a mic didn't worked out with my guitar (performing in the same place, same setting, only with lute this time) I predict that the pickup that you linked to is going to sound 'tinny', emphasizing the midrange and sounding something like playing over the telephone. What was it about the microphone that didn't work out for you in the past? Was it feedback problems? You will want to use a decent cardioid condenser rather close to the instrument. I can't imagine an omni or dynamic mic doing the job, but a good condenser is the best I've found for classical guitar where natural sound is the goal. If feedback is the problem you could try mixing the mic with a contact pickup for some of the best of both worlds. Tobiah I have an option to buy those pickups with a clip, but I'm not sure they'll work. (link attached) Ideas are recommendations are welcome. http://www.music-center.co.il/p/1125/%D7%A4%D7%99%D7%A7-%D7%90%D7%A4-%D7%9C%D7%A7%D7%9C%D7%90%D7%A1%D7%99%D7%AA-power-beat-pu-35 To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: 16th century tuning and stringing
My guess is that advances in the state of string making over the 16th cen. made it possible to do away with octaves on 4-6. It is just a guess of course. --- Hehe. I get it. Tobiah To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: those Pignoses! - especially the Hog 30!
I have this guy: http://www.crateamps.com/products/pindex.php?prodID=25 It has one of those brick-sized lead-acid batteries so it has plenty of amps to burn. There is a 'clean' input with a 4-channel eq section. I tried two other battery powered solutions before this one and sent them back. They couldn't handle the bass at high volume. I stuck with this one. My model must actually be different than the one I linked to, because mine has an effects loop where this one has the CD input. On 08/07/2014 10:05 AM, Nancy Carlin wrote: I think Wayne is reight that the Mouse amps are no longer available. I had one for a long time and it worked well, although there were not many ways to adjust the sound, like there are now in newer amps. The Mouse had a battery and it could also be plugged in, so it was quite versatile. Now I have a Mackie SRM150, which is about the size of a car battery and it has 2 inputs, which can be useful. It's just the thing when you only need to be a little bit louder and the listeners will be put off by seeing lots of cords and wires. If you need a bit louder amplification you can send a line out to a another powered speaker. Nancy So I have the Hog 30, which is very clean with good bass, though nowhere near as loud as a cranked 30 watt tube amp. I have a Sennheiser 441 mic (which is kind of expensive these days) on a nice boom stand which can be adjusted to be about 2.5 feet high, with a cable and a low to high impedance line transformer (by Shure or Hosa). I set the mic up on its stand in front of me and put the Pignose off to the side. My wife uses a Mini-Mouse which is a very nice amp, but with its smaller speaker the bass isn't as good, and I think it is not made anymore. There is a picture with me playing the g**tar at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/me/opening5.jpg Wayne Begin forwarded message: From It is over a foot tall, so not as portable as the little one, but has big rechargeable batteries that last a long time, and if what goes in sounds like a lute, what comes out sounds like a lute. This is of interest to me, since I sometimes need amplification for outdoor gigs. From your reference to Sennheiser, I take it you use a microphone for the lute, rather than having some sort of pickup installed. Could you say more about how this works? A picture might help. Geoff To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: those Pignoses!
On 08/04/2014 06:12 PM, howard posner wrote: On Aug 4, 2014, at 1:54 PM, Tobiah wrote: I'm interested in how they played, but I like what Jimmy Hendrix did with Francis Scott Key You mean John Stafford Smith, unless you’re admiring the way Hendrix recited poetry. I knew I should have looked that up! Ever since grade school, I've heard that Francis Scott Key wrote the national anthem. I guess I always assumed that he wrote the music. What's funny is that there are a lot of people in the US that could hum the entire tune but probably not make it through all of the lyrics. Very few could recite any of the other verses. at the same time. Maybe a little light chorus effect will spice up a Francesco recording. I don't know, but I'm willing to try it. I'd like to study all of the old methods of course, perhaps to better know the soul of the music. So little was put into the written music to tell us about tempo, strictness of tempo, dynamic range, tone color variation, and general emotional intention, that it almost supports the idea that things are open to interpretation even if common practice at the time had an understood narrow accepted practice regarding these things. Of course it supports the idea. The different interpretations are most of what we discuss here. It's interesting that you would say that, because I've read this list for many years, and I can't think of a thread off hand that had to do with the interpretation of the music. Once someone asked for help with the fingering of a particular passage, but that was about it. Our ears are in tune with a different set of practices now (at least the general public). Perhaps if we looked up from anthropology It’s not anthropology. It’s the instruction manual. If you pay thousands of dollars for an instrument (and millions of dollars for strings), you should at least read it. and viewed the old scribbles on parchment as a worthwhile resource for music for our time, We all view it that way. We fall so in love with the music that we are willing to put up with an instrument that is, logistically and practically, a royal pain in the ass, because we can make the music come alive with it. A task you could avoid if you played it on the lute. At least you could explain it specifically instead of generally. To hear you talk about the experience, I'll stick with the guitar, thanks! $10 pack of strings every few months and I'm good. Tobiah To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: those Pegheadz!
That was fun Sean thanks. You have a great ability to express yourself keeping the reader int mind. Tobiah On 8/4/2014 5:11 PM, Sean Smith wrote: Hi Tobias, Despite holding it upside down, Hendrix did adhere to a lot of standard techniques of electric guitar playing. His rendition of a certain repurposed English glee song was more an experiment in melody and feedback (and propriety) than technique in my opinion. Be that as it may - let's not get into a Hendrix loop if we can help it. It's a shame he never recorded Suzanne un jour, tho. It would have been glorious! I'd click on that and crank it up - because I can. But, Tobiah, I did like this line of yours: Our ears are in tune with a different set of practices now (at least the general public). ...with which I must agree. To start at random, those of us who have been brain-trained to accept the modern major-minor scales have been hard-wired to certain emotional effects. It's very difficult to untrain our ears to hear the modes as Josquin, Francesco, Dowland and all the composers who used them. They had certain emotional flavors that evolved from Dufay to Josquin to Lasso to the Gaultiers to Rameau, etc. Very few of us have the chance to hear a Phrygian or Lydian composition with the same ears as it was meant to be heard. "Oooh, that's kind of minor, isn't it?" And volume - we've been trained to accept music at volumes never conceived of before (ok, outside the rare Brumel and multi-chorus extraveganza). Today's choices of volume, tone colors, sustain, rhythms, 'fixing it in post' - as we commonly accept them today - would be completely foreign to the Old Ones. Can we unlearn these terms in order to hear what might have been imagined when they saw or wrote music on paper then? And the power to instantly change it: Crank those Ramones up! ... till the phone rings! How do we unhear what we know is possible from Beethoven, Stravinsky, Cage and Eno to hear the cutting modern edge of Kapsberger? There were probably those who thought it was horrible and were aghast at what music had become in the hands of these lutenist upstarts. Now we're amused and impressed by his daring. How do we get that back? (Maybe a whammy bar and holding the lute upside down! Graphite!) Should we? And the occasion of music: Now we hear canned symphonies and "easy listening" in the supermarket, buildings spaces, alarm clocks and telephones in any grade of ability, volume, tone color and expectancy of attention - for various purposes. And we accept it! This is normal! These, indeed, are not the ears that heard the early music we discuss here. Can we even compare whistling L'homme armee while taking your pig to the market to having an iPhone with 10 gigs of mp3s in the car on the way to Costco? We have access to the entire corpus of surviving music for any given period (as well as what it had been and would evolve to) to play from. And that's a lot more than many amateurs or pros had then. Then you would have been at the mercy of what you had in your notebook/memory or what the present performers wanted to play. The restriction changes how you see the opportunity to hear it. And those niggling performance questions: should I wear tails (19th century)? A tie and jacket (mid-20th century)? Birkenstocks/Tevas/barefoot (last 30 years, California centric)? or ... You-tube? A lot of this, of course, is carryover from HIP discussions but we should remember that it's not just a _performance_ question but a listener situation. It's the ears that Tobias brings up. For me, the ultimate creativity is to try and hear it in the way it was purposed. I've got plenty of modern, thank you, even before I consider modern stringing on a better/more modern instrument. It takes a lot more 'work' to ditch the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries than to work the "modern" into my lute music. No, I will never be successful in eliminating this world (and the tinnitis-tinged ears they've created) but I finally have a somewhat historical lute, a handful of music and some rudimentary ideas to approximate what might have been. I don't want to back down what few ladder steps I've ascended. Now imagine getting an early edition of Don Quixote and slicing open each page as you read it. My two groats, three buttons and a bit of lint. Sean ps. The subject line references Peg-Heads. I respect them but prefer well-fitted pegs and a well-lubricated nut. The latter is often the sticking point [ahem] in ease of tuning. On Aug 4, 2014, at 1:54 PM, Tobiah wrote: On 08/04/2014 01:16 PM, David van Ooijen wrote: Jam the gears and dope the pegheads. ;-) Re extended/modern techniques on early instruments: When you see the Buddha on the road, kill him. (But it takes Buddha to do so.) Iaw, when you want to make your own school of lute playing, find your own voice, write your own music
[LUTE] Re: those Pegheadz!
On 08/04/2014 01:16 PM, David van Ooijen wrote: Jam the gears and dope the pegheads. ;-) Re extended/modern techniques on early instruments: When you see the Buddha on the road, kill him. (But it takes Buddha to do so.) Iaw, when you want to make your own school of lute playing, find your own voice, write your own music and generally are not interested in finding out about how to play Francesco, Dowland or Weiss, please go ahead. I'm interested in how they played, but I like what Jimmy Hendrix did with Francis Scott Key at the same time. Maybe a little light chorus effect will spice up a Francesco recording. I don't know, but I'm willing to try it. I'd like to study all of the old methods of course, perhaps to better know the soul of the music. So little was put into the written music to tell us about tempo, strictness of tempo, dynamic range, tone color variation, and general emotional intention, that it almost supports the idea that things are open to interpretation even if common practice at the time had an understood narrow accepted practice regarding these things. Our ears are in tune with a different set of practices now (at least the general public). Perhaps if we looked up from anthropology and viewed the old scribbles on parchment as a worthwhile resource for music for our time, lute music might have a greater following. When I explain that I play lute music on the guitar, I generally have to explain what a lute is. I'm at work, so I apologize for the hurried, disorganized thoughts. But if If you want to play Weiss et al, try and figure out how Weiss played. If Weiss would have had a guitar/guitar-lute/used another technique on his B-lute, played with nails, no-pinky, above the rose, whatever, he would have written different music. Same argument with 'if Bach would have a Steinway he would have loved it'. Sure he would have loved it, who knows? But he certainly would have written different music. The instrument you have, its shortcomings and strong point, and the way you play it, what kind of tone production you favour, will influence the music you write for it. This is not an argument about what way is the best, but about what your goal in playing lute is. No argument there. David - loves it all *** David van Ooijen [1]davidvanooi...@gmail.com [2]www.davidvanooijen.nl *** On 4 August 2014 20:56, Dan Winheld <[3]dwinh...@lmi.net> wrote: I hate them on my own instrument because it came with them & I'm stuck with them. Dan Larson installed them. It was a prototype; not a built-to-order instrument, and I was damned lucky to get it. Everything south of the pegbox is the best Renaissance lute I've ever played or owned- but those abominable, Satanic Frankenpeg things slip a lot & need to be jammed in with great force to hold (while taking care not tear off the pegbox). Since this first lute was built, the pegs themselves- as well as Dan's skill at installing- them have improved exponentially. I would not consider getting an Orpharion or Bandora without them, but I still wouldn't order them for any kind of lute. A I have a couple of the guitar cranky things, they do work on the lute pegs as well as on my guitars tuners, but it's still much, much more troublesome to change a string compared popping out a regular peg. Not a big deal except for the 1st course, even synthetics are the ones that go the most frequently. I may change over just that one peg to a traditional, real peg if I can get someone to redo the holes to accommodate a normal peg. Dan On 8/4/2014 11:06 AM, Tobiah wrote: On 08/04/2014 10:56 AM, Dan Winheld wrote: I only hate them on my own instrument. On all the others I've tried, including one of my Baroque lute student's new Larson Burkholtzer copy, I grudgingly admit that they are fabulous. Until you have to change a string. :-D Right. A I have a little crank designed to help with changing strings on a guitar. A You slide it over the little tuning handle and crank away. A It goes pretty quickly. A Are you saying you hate them on your own instrument and so you don't install them, or that you have them and hate them, but only on your instrument? On 8/4/2014 10:44 AM, Edward Martin wrote: aYes, Nancy is correct. A I do use pegheds on my 11-course baroque lute, and my vihuela as well. A They are absolutely marvelous, a new revelation in tuning. A One can tune easily, more accurately than before, and much quicker. A a On Mon, Aug 4, 2014 at 12:25 PM, Nancy Carlin <[1][4]na...@nancycarli
[LUTE] Re: those Pegheadz!
On 08/04/2014 10:56 AM, Dan Winheld wrote: I only hate them on my own instrument. On all the others I've tried, including one of my Baroque lute student's new Larson Burkholtzer copy, I grudgingly admit that they are fabulous. Until you have to change a string. :-D Right. I have a little crank designed to help with changing strings on a guitar. You slide it over the little tuning handle and crank away. It goes pretty quickly. Are you saying you hate them on your own instrument and so you don't install them, or that you have them and hate them, but only on your instrument? On 8/4/2014 10:44 AM, Edward Martin wrote: aYes, Nancy is correct. A I do use pegheds on my 11-course baroque lute, and my vihuela as well. A They are absolutely marvelous, a new revelation in tuning. A One can tune easily, more accurately than before, and much quicker. A a On Mon, Aug 4, 2014 at 12:25 PM, Nancy Carlin <[1]na...@nancycarlinassociates.com> wrote: About the pegs - guitar tuning pegs would be so heavy that the instruments would be listing toward the left in our laps. Fortunately the Peghead people have pegs that works well on lutes, vihuelas and orpharions. [2]http://www.pegheds.com/ I have peg heads on one of my orpharions and love them. They look like regular lute pegs and the tuning is a dream. A They are especially nice with my wire strings - now I spend more time playing and less time tuning. A The tiny gears inside the peg are configured so that you turn the peg something like 3 times more than a wooden peg. There are a couple of other people with Pegheads on the luts list - Dan Winheld is not a fan of them, but Ed Martin has them on a baroque lute and he likes them. I sometimes get a sense however that there is some taboo in searching out new adaptations of lute music or lutes themselves. A I've long lamented the apparent resistance of using modern tuning machines on a lute for example. A Had they been available at the time, I'm rather certain that the old masters would have joyously adopted them. A I guess it's like asking what Bach would have done if he had a pedal. I'm more interested in what I will do now that I have one. Tobiah To get on or off this list see list information at [3]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html -- Nancy Carlin Administrator THE LUTE SOCIETY OF AMERICA [4]http://LuteSocietyofAmerica.org PO Box 6499 Concord, CA 94524 USA [5]925 / 686-5800 [6]www.groundsanddivisions.info [7]www.nancycarlinassociates.com -- References 1. mailto:na...@nancycarlinassociates.com 2. http://www.pegheds.com/ 3. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html 4. http://LuteSocietyofAmerica.org/ 5. tel:925%20%2F%20686-5800 6. http://www.groundsanddivisions.info/ 7. http://www.nancycarlinassociates.com/
[LUTE] Re: Bare spot on soundboard.
If we aim to recapture the sound the Old Ones made then it is surely right to adopt the same technique they used. As a fringe exercise, rather like a reenactment of the civil war, I can see having some interest in duplicating as close as possible, what was done with the music and instruments during the time that they were created. I sometimes get a sense however that there is some taboo in searching out new adaptations of lute music or lutes themselves. I've long lamented the apparent resistance of using modern tuning machines on a lute for example. Had they been available at the time, I'm rather certain that the old masters would have joyously adopted them. I guess it's like asking what Bach would have done if he had a pedal. I'm more interested in what I will do now that I have one. As for the technique, and what oil paintings depict, and what people wrote about at the time, I'd have to wonder what might have developed had the internet been available and instantaneous sharing of modified techniques and their results was possible. There must have been a rather dogmatic "do as I say" passing of knowledge from teacher to student in the likely small world of the masters. Of this I know little however as I'm sure the scholars here will soon point out. I understand the interest in duplicating old practices, but see a disproportionately small push to further evolve and modify aspects of performance and instruments taking advantage of the modern availability of technologies and knowledge that we now have. Perhaps I will now be flooded by videos of people who do just that. I'll welcome it. I'm just a fringe lurker on the world of the lute player, so be gentle in correcting my assertions please. Tobiah To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: Bare spot on soundboard.
On 07/28/2014 10:33 AM, Tobiah wrote: On 07/28/2014 10:23 AM, David Rastall wrote: We-ell, not exactly. The pinkie-on-the-soundboard thing is legitimate renaissance lute technique. It's described in treatises dating all the way back to the 16th century. I once had an opportunity to play Jakob Lindberg’s Rauolf lute that dates back to 1590, and sure enough, there was the mark on the soundboard that bears the imprint of 400 years worth of pinkies! You’ll also notice that some early 19th-century guitars have a resting place glued on to the top for the player’s pinkie. Plus, I certainly wouldn’t say that Merle Travis finger style playing was developed by players with inadequate right hand techniques. Not to mention bluegrass banjo players… Fair enough. I retract my comment! I still want to retain my evaluation of this usage of the pinky as a crutch, however popular it may have been throughout the centuries. I used it as a youth and outgrew it, and having been on both sides of the fence, and experiencing the benefits and freedoms of having shed it, in that way I stand behind my original statement. Tobiah To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: Bare spot on soundboard.
On 07/28/2014 10:23 AM, David Rastall wrote: We-ell, not exactly. The pinkie-on-the-soundboard thing is legitimate renaissance lute technique. It's described in treatises dating all the way back to the 16th century. I once had an opportunity to play Jakob Lindberg’s Rauolf lute that dates back to 1590, and sure enough, there was the mark on the soundboard that bears the imprint of 400 years worth of pinkies! You’ll also notice that some early 19th-century guitars have a resting place glued on to the top for the player’s pinkie. Plus, I certainly wouldn’t say that Merle Travis finger style playing was developed by players with inadequate right hand techniques. Not to mention bluegrass banjo players… Fair enough. I retract my comment! Tobiah On Jul 28, 2014, at 12:57 PM, Tobiah wrote: On 07/27/2014 01:51 PM, Herbert Ward wrote: I've worn a spot on the soundboard with my RH pinkie. The bare wood is starting to show through the finish. Should I do anything? I'm more of a guitar player, but I would suggest that this is a symptom of an undeveloped right-hand technique. I'd go as far as to say that you are witnessing the impression made by an appendage that has been long used as a crutch. Tobiah To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: Bare spot on soundboard.
On 07/27/2014 01:51 PM, Herbert Ward wrote: I've worn a spot on the soundboard with my RH pinkie. The bare wood is starting to show through the finish. Should I do anything? I'm more of a guitar player, but I would suggest that this is a symptom of an undeveloped right-hand technique. I'd go as far as to say that you are witnessing the impression made by an appendage that has been long used as a crutch. Tobiah To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: Ebay lutes.
In case your email client got the URL wrong: http://tinyurl.com/lpb9j2b I bought a $300 lute on ebay. I haven't brought it out in many years, but as I remember, it was generally playable. The overall construction was rough, and I the back and top were made of thicker wood I expected. The sound was like that of a bottom of the line classical guitar. The frets were placed in tune however, and none buzzed. The neck was flat. The peg box and other details were rough. It was clear to see that these were the product of some fast assembly line. I'd say that aside from asthetics however, and probably sound (not that I've ever heard another lute in person) they put some effort into the aspects of construction that made the thing playable. I noticed that the book pictured in the auction was the same one I received with my lute 10 or 15 years ago. It was an experience. I had been playing lute music on the guitar for a long time and wanted to try it on an actual lute. It took a while to adjust because the courses were farther apart then on a guitar. When I started to get the feel of it I found it difficult to go back to the guitar. That scared me, so I discontinued use. Toby On 05/14/2014 11:54 AM, Christopher Stetson wrote: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lute-8-Course-Lute-Renaissance-BRAND-NEW/251 411233241?_trksid=p2050601.c100085.m2372&_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo% 3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20140211132617%26meid%3D6899832282504624204 %26pid%3D100085%26prg%3D20140211132617%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D4%26sd%3D251411 233241%26clkid%3D6899833778235424226&_qi=RTM1562569 To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: Luciano Faria CITES documentation
On 03/24/2014 12:53 PM, William Brohinsky wrote: What a world, where government officials will destroy a musical instrument of beauty and quality sound because they think, somehow, this will stop people from cutting down the same variety of tree in another country... Has anyone noticed how much good the confiscation and heavens-only-knows-what-disposition of undocumented but legal ivory has curtailed the ivory poaching rate? Yeah, although I understand the desire to protect the trees and the elephants etc., these efforts probably have the side effect of making the material more valuable which much tickle the poachers. To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: Luciano Faria CITES documentation
On 03/24/2014 12:29 PM, Dmitry Medvedev wrote: Well, I can use it as much as I like, as long as I don't take it across the border. As far as I understood, CITES is concerned only with international import/export... Interesting. How do they determine that the wood is actually one of the regulated species? Do they have a test, or are there agents that are trained in wood identification? Toby To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: Luciano Faria CITES documentation
On 03/24/2014 11:57 AM, Dmitry Medvedev wrote: Hello, I own a vihuela made by Luciano Faria in 2006. Unfortunately, its back and sides are made from Brazilian Rosewood, and the previous owner had lost the accompanying documentation, and I was not aware of CITES regulations at the time I bought it. Wow. I understand the reason for the regulations, but this is certainly unfortunate. If you believe that the wood was obtained legally, what sort of risk are you exposing yourself to if you never get the CITES certificate but use the lute anyway? To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: Lute publications
On 03/19/2014 05:45 AM, Anthony Hart wrote: Following my previous posts I am in the final stages of preparing the lute sonatas of Antonino Reggio. The delema is should I include the tablature in the samr volume as the staff edition of would it be better to publish two separate volumes. I intend to publish 4 volumes of 6 sonatas each. As a exclusive reader of staff, I greatly appreciate having it printed alone. I see little benefit to the usual practice of interlacing the staff and tablature together; it seems to me that this practice serves only to inconvenience the reader of either version, doubling the number of page turns. Toby To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: Segovia and Pujol (was Bream Collection…) and now what?
On 12/16/2013 08:55 AM, Sean Smith wrote: What? No love for Frederick Noad's, The Renaissance Guitar? That book and others put me off of the Renaissance because I found that most of the pieces, though simple enough looking, were full of awkward fingerings that took more effort to master then was worth the underlying music. Later, perusing Ness' Frank book, and working out the tuning, I found that I could go back to the Noad with the 3rd down a half-step and have a much better time of it. It also caused me to lament that the grand staff had not originally been chosen for the guitar. Someone had a fetish for ledger lines, I suppose. Toby To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: Segovia whatever
On 12/15/2013 10:31 AM, howard posner wrote: On Dec 15, 2013, at 9:26 AM, Tobiah wrote: I find his tone anemic, his rhythm unmusically erratic, I certainly agree about his rhythm (and unless you've heard his recordings from around 1930 you don't know the half of it), but he pulled a lot of sound out of the guitar. As I have a volume control on my amplifier, I can speak little of the volume that he was able to coax from the otherwise often rather quiet instrument. It was of the consistency and sweetness of the tone and perhaps the ratio between resonance of the instrument and the sound that was produced through the mechanical means of disturbing the strings. Toby To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: Bream Collection... I just noticed
On 12/15/2013 10:52 AM, Chris Barker wrote: Sir, Respectfully I must remind you that Segovia's early 20th Century work made the classical guitar and related plucked instruments the popular things that they have become today. We all owe him reverence for that. Andres Segovia has been at rest for twenty six years. Please help to make that rest peaceful. I did admit at the outset, that I little knowledge of what influence he had on the direction of the music that he played. As for him resting peacefully, I seem to have pricked your previously expressed overwhelming admiration for the man, which was not my intention. It would be however in my estimation a pity, if the discussion of the efforts of musicians that have passed was limited only to praise. I wonder too about other recent comments that suggest that he may have played in public longer into his years than he had ought. My cursory perusal of the available YouTube videos show mostly an aging man. I'll make an effort to expose myself to more of his recordings. Toby Chris Barker -Original Message- From: lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu [mailto:lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu] On Behalf Of Tobiah Sent: Sunday, December 15, 2013 11:27 AM To: 'lutelist' Subject: [LUTE] Re: Bream Collection... I just noticed On 12/14/2013 5:45 AM, Chris Barker wrote: Re: Gary's comments on Segovia... If it were not for Segovia's efforts, the guitar, lute, and kindred instruments would not occupy the places they have today. I was at a dinner put on by the old Dallas Classical Guitar society almost a decade ago when the young guitarist seated to my left referred to Andres Segovia "as just an uninformed old man with poor performance practice who could be only be heard on a bunch of scratchy LP"s. I took my first guitar lessons in 1958. We all considered Andres Segovia a saint. And now, much older and wiser, are still of the same opinion, and we hold his critics in great disdain. Are you referring to what his contributions to, and passion for the music did for its advancement? I know little of that - only what I see on YouTube of his performances. Allowing for possibly lesser recording engineering capability at the time, I find his tone anemic, his rhythm unmusically erratic, and his redeemable heart and passion as though it may be, fails to reach my heart through my admittedly unpolished ear. *Cringes and braces for the inevitable and surgically incisive dissection of his point of view* Tobiah To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: Bream Collection... I just noticed
On 12/14/2013 5:45 AM, Chris Barker wrote: Re: Gary's comments on Segovia... If it were not for Segovia's efforts, the guitar, lute, and kindred instruments would not occupy the places they have today. I was at a dinner put on by the old Dallas Classical Guitar society almost a decade ago when the young guitarist seated to my left referred to Andres Segovia "as just an uninformed old man with poor performance practice who could be only be heard on a bunch of scratchy LP"s. I took my first guitar lessons in 1958. We all considered Andres Segovia a saint. And now, much older and wiser, are still of the same opinion, and we hold his critics in great disdain. Are you referring to what his contributions to, and passion for the music did for its advancement? I know little of that - only what I see on YouTube of his performances. Allowing for possibly lesser recording engineering capability at the time, I find his tone anemic, his rhythm unmusically erratic, and his redeemable heart and passion as though it may be, fails to reach my heart through my admittedly unpolished ear. *Cringes and braces for the inevitable and surgically incisive dissection of his point of view* Tobiah To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: Tablature for publication
On 11/19/2013 11:44 AM, Arto Wikla wrote: Dear all, I understand wholeheartedly the need for a good tool for tabulature publishing, but how beautiful are many of the original tabulatures! And they all - also those that are not so beautiful - are very personal! So why not write also nowadays by your own hand? No limitations in the available character set or markings of ornaments, ties, and what so ever extra information! In my case, if I go to the trouble of writing down musical information, I want to be able to easily get that information into a computer for various reasons. I want to hear a performance of the piece, and to easily change to the grand staff for instance. friendly, Arto To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: Recording the lute, Part 1, sample rate
I suggest you google ABX, get the software, and blindly compare sample rates above 44.1kHz. Then do the same for various bitrate .mp3's and FLAC. On 11/7/2013 4:04 PM, David Tayler wrote: snip 44.1kHz is fine for most things. 96k is great too, if you're one of the one's that think that that they can hear the difference. Try an ABX test before thinking that it's true for you. I agree however, that for very serious recording, a higher rate should be used. I don't think 44.1 is fine for lute as it removes too much high frequencies and is not optimum for internet. As for testing, I have tested . snip Mathematically, and in practice, 44.1 kHz is enough to accurately represent any frequency up to the Nyquist, or 220050, which is enough for most (all?) humans. Well, I think it is better to have more highs, Also the recommendation of AES, snip The analog to digital converter has a low-pass filter that prevents any frequencies from getting to it that would cause aliasing or artifacts. This is a place where a sample rate greater than 44100 is beneficial - the requirements for the filter are relaxed, and it doesn't have to be as steep, or have the possibility of affecting audible frequencies. I disagree. My test show 60 is optimum, and after that, it does not get better. snip 24 bit definitely has some advantages. The end result can be represented in 44.1kHz just fine, but recording in 24 bit allows one to be a little more sloppy setting levels, and grants more headroom during recording. We are talking about streaming the end product in 24 bits. snip I'm unclear as to how you would arrive at the 60kHz figure. By testing the different rates with a sample clock. snip FLAC is really great, but again, I challenge anyone to tell the difference between the much smaller 320kbps bit-rate .mp3 and FLAC or WAV. I like it! snip I totally agree. I use 96k/24-bit for this reason. Why not capture as much information as possible to archive for the future. 96/24 is OK, I prefer 48 24 but the differences are small. 96 has some marketing advantages. Can't go too far wrong with 96/24. dt To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: Recording the lute, Part 1, sample rate
Sample rate Why start with the sample rate? In a recording, you need to start at the end and work backwards. If you record at the CD sampling rate of 44.1Khz, that's not only not ideal, it is not ideal for the internet. So most recordings are recorded in the wrong container, and although you can resample the audio at the end of the process, you are better off setting the sample rate for the output. 44.1kHz is fine for most things. 96k is great too, if you're one of the one's that think that that they can hear the difference. Try an ABX test before thinking that it's true for you. I agree however, that for very serious recording, a higher rate should be used. What is the sample rate? Basically, the frequency response, the highs and lows. CDs cut off the highs. Mathematically, and in practice, 44.1 kHz is enough to accurately represent any frequency up to the Nyquist, or 220050, which is enough for most (all?) humans. > Too much highs, and you may get some artifacts in the audible range. The analog to digital converter has a low-pass filter that prevents any frequencies from getting to it that would cause aliasing or artifacts. This is a place where a sample rate greater than 44100 is beneficial - the requirements for the filter are relaxed, and it doesn't have to be as steep, or have the possibility of affecting audible frequencies. What is the bit depth? The bit depth is the resolution, like the megapixels in a camera. 24bit is the recording standard. CDs are in the 14 bit range, although officially 16 bit. 24 bit definitely has some advantages. The end result can be represented in 44.1kHz just fine, but recording in 24 bit allows one to be a little more sloppy setting levels, and grants more headroom during recording. What's the ideal sample rate for lute? 60Khz, 24 bit. I'm unclear as to how you would arrive at the 60kHz figure. Unfortunately, this sample rate is not available on most gear. That will probably change at some point, but for now, you want to get as close to that rate as possible. The three best options here are 96Khz, 88.2Khz and 48Khz, at 24 bit. Which if these three is best? I recommend 48/24. It compresses and plays well over the internet, and it is the video standard. If you ONLY are going to make CDs, 88.2 is good, and there are maybe It's a common misconception that 88.2 is somehow easier to re-sample down to 44.1. I suppose people think that the software can just throw away every other sample, but the algorithm even in this case is far more complex. There is no gain to be had starting out with a sample rate that is a multiple of the end product's rate. some marketing advantages to 96Khz. I use 48/24. It isn't as good as 60Khz, but you get the highs back in the harmonics of the lute. So then what? At the end of the recording, you can make great MP3s and MP4s, but there is something way, way better, and that is 24 bit, 48Khz FLAC files. FLAC is really great, but again, I challenge anyone to tell the difference between the much smaller 320kbps bit-rate .mp3 and FLAC or WAV. Anything else? After making a recording, you want to have a disc with the original, 24 bit masters. Years from now, you can convert these into whatever form is current. I totally agree. I use 96k/24-bit for this reason. Why not capture as much information as possible to archive for the future. To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: My tiny little Hendrix ...
Meh, I listened again, and think I have the wrong analysis as to why the timing seemed a little off to me in the beginning. On 11/04/2013 09:03 AM, Tobiah wrote: I couldn't find the OP to reply to. I noticed that the timing is a little off in the beginning. After the dissonant chords in the first measures, when the lead begins, you are sliding into the downbeat, whereas Hendrix puts the low note on the beat and then slides through to the end of the first eighth note arriving at the note that was slid to. I notice that Arto is putting the low part of the slide on the last eighth of the measure, and sliding to the high note landing on the beat. It then seems as though the rest of the measure is played correctly, resulting in the loss of an eighth note in each measure, resulting in a jarring effect that comes off as inaccurate timing. A worthwhile tongue in cheek endeavor. Do you do any Zepplin? Tobiah On 11/01/2013 09:47 PM, Dan Winheld wrote: Very cool, Arto! Keep exploring, do more- it keeps us alive. Dan On 11/1/2013 4:05 PM, Arto Wikla wrote: .. just in case there is any interest, my just a tiny little modest try in http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFN2nc9B0lc&feature=youtu.be best, Arto To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: My tiny little Hendrix ...
I couldn't find the OP to reply to. I noticed that the timing is a little off in the beginning. After the dissonant chords in the first measures, when the lead begins, you are sliding into the downbeat, whereas Hendrix puts the low note on the beat and then slides through to the end of the first eighth note arriving at the note that was slid to. I notice that Arto is putting the low part of the slide on the last eighth of the measure, and sliding to the high note landing on the beat. It then seems as though the rest of the measure is played correctly, resulting in the loss of an eighth note in each measure, resulting in a jarring effect that comes off as inaccurate timing. A worthwhile tongue in cheek endeavor. Do you do any Zepplin? Tobiah On 11/01/2013 09:47 PM, Dan Winheld wrote: Very cool, Arto! Keep exploring, do more- it keeps us alive. Dan On 11/1/2013 4:05 PM, Arto Wikla wrote: .. just in case there is any interest, my just a tiny little modest try in http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFN2nc9B0lc&feature=youtu.be best, Arto To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: Time to work on how we look?
On 08/20/2013 12:57 PM, erne...@aquila.mus.br wrote: It is easy to talk about what is not liked, any piece of art has some small detail which can be despised. Tell us what you do like, which art satisfies your soul, and we will know a lot about your taste, ideas and background. It's much more fun to complain, and takes less thought. I am partial to the electric guitar solo from Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb. It came to mind reading your message. I picked up lute music on the guitar around 25 years ago, and haven't used the electric since. I don't generally choose lute music for ambiance, but I love to inflict it on others. To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: Time to work on how we look?
On 08/20/2013 01:22 AM, William Samson wrote: Interesting new study showing that visual cues are more important that the sound of a performance in how people judge it: There must be some truth to it. For instance, I find it difficult to watch this performer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d44jKuw3Nlw The unwarranted and discomforting 'passion' in his face is enough to usurp any beauty I might have otherwise found in his music. To hell with practicing - Better to start working on your image and soulful gurning in front of a mirror! Or perhaps to make sure that you don't. Tobiah To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: Optical tuner.
On 08/17/2013 06:52 AM, Herbert Ward wrote: I bought a Planet-Waves optical tuner. It shines a strobe light on your string while you're tuning. Sounds like a really nice tuner. Unfortunately, it has only the six guitar notes EADGBE, so it's limited in usefulness for a 440 lute, and even more so for a 415 lute. That sounds very short-sighted on the part of the manufacturer. I can't imagine any way that it had to do with cost or programming limitations. I am guessing that it was a limitation of the mind of the designer. Yes, I know you're suppose to learn to tune by ear. I was a purist about this for a long time, until I bought a classical guitar with a digital chromatic tuner built in. It's particularly convenient during the week or two after installing new strings. Nylon guitar strings will slack about a half-step per day for the first few days, and I found that I could bring myself back to correct pitch on all strings in a very short span of time. The ear still comes into play however, because any guitar I've owned will have small manufacturing quirks affecting tuning that I come to learn and compensate for by finding a closest agreement between two conflicting intervals. The ear also comes into play of course, once one learns how to compensate for the idiosyncrasies of tuning problems found in particular pieces, or to make the commonly found adjustments that help the more important intervals found in any particular key to be in acceptable accord. Tobiah To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: general public Lute awareness
As amateurs we only accepted travelling expenses and any hospitality that was on offer, but we politely declined any fee. I am of the opinion that for an amateur musician accept a fee is to take what is due to those who depend on performing fees to make a living. I'm not sure I follow. If you took a fee, then the choice of booking you or a professional would be on more even ground. By providing your services for free, you look much more attractive then the professional, and in that way more surely cost them the job. Tobiah To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: colonel public Lute awareness
I believe the criterion for judging good music from bad lies in the quote (also Ellington??): "If it sounds good, it is good." This is either tautology or useful advice for anyone in the habit of judging music by its smell. It's not a tautology. After all, I said so! To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: Lute in North America?
Here's a groovy little club of which I'm quite fond: http://www.iaglr.org/. The name was obviously mangled to accommodate the catchy acronym that sounds like 'eye ag ler'. If the organization weren't paying so much attention to the acronym, they might have come up with a more suitable name: Worldwide Association Toward Eerie Research ;) Tobiah To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: Changing tempo.
into ritardando, in as graceful a manor as possible Haha, Sutton Court, for instance. I guess I'm in my cups, in a manner of speaking. Tobiah To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: Changing tempo.
On 5/16/2013 3:43 PM, Herbert Ward wrote: I'm working on Solus cum Sola (Dowland). I find myself slowing down during the harder parts, and then resuming tempo when the technical challenges relent. The variations in tempo don't bother me as I listen to myself. But I wonder whether they would be considered bad form by knowledgeable listeners. This was discussed recently in another thread. The consensus of this list seemed to be that an unwavering tempo is at best tangential to the conveyance of the performer's expression of his interpretation of a piece. One expert was quoted as saying that the most difficult passage of a piece should be practiced until perfect, and that the rest of the piece should not exceed the tempo at which that passage could be well played. This idea enjoyed little company here. I once saw an article of origin that I can not now recall, that graphed tempo maps of rock performances throughout the decades. It was shown, that significant, although fluid changes in tempo were made in most (all?) of the performances before the advent of MIDI. After that dubious boon to rock performance, most bands exhibited metronome perfect tempo throughout a piece. I'd say that at that point we lost one of the most important dimensions of musical expression (well, at least as a rock listener). Having said that, if you are generally slowing down your tempo only because you find yourself in a more difficult passage, I suggest that you reflect honestly on whether you are doing it to reinforce your communication of the intention of the piece, or are too lazy to take the time to know the passage viscerally to the point that the movement of your fingers is but a passing matter. Don't be afraid to "Man up" and spend some arduous hours in order to then forever glide through that difficult passage. As to whether the listener suffers, I'd say mostly no. I've seen many such egregious manipulations of tempo for the sake of disguising lack of ability without any apparent lament of the audience. I think you know the answer to your question, but are looking for an excuse to practice less vigorously. Should that be the case, then I offer you no refuge. I do support however, creative manipulation of tempo in most music, provided that it stems from an understanding of the music, rather than a shortcut to what would be perceived as performance ready technique. I must confess, that out of necessity, I knowingly go into ritardando, in as graceful a manor as possible, before going into a change say, from 1/16 notes to 1/32 notes. I think it's ok to do this. In a way it's a form of music compression. It would be wrong to make my audience listen to a long piece at half tempo, only because a passage was coming later that I hadn't yet mastered, but could get through, polished enough, if I just gracefully descended into a more manageable tempo. I've seen many do this with a pained expression on their face that the audience takes for the pain of a passionate artist channeling a long dead composer's haunts, while the artist knows in his heart that it's an expression of the pain of all of the failed attempts to execute the approaching passage. Tobiah To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: Getting dings and scuff marks off of a stringed instrument
On 05/10/2013 10:18 AM, Christopher Stetson wrote: Hi, Toby, Joshua, and all. I wouldn't recommend steel wool. Could only make it worse. I've never used the stuff, but keep in mind, this is not the sort of steel wool that you scour pots with. It's designed to polish, and is often used on glossy wood finishes. Tobiah To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Frank from Milan
Ok, my last college class was 20 year ago now. I thought that I was told that "Francesco Canova da Milano" basically meant "Francesco Canova from Milan (Italy)". I was reading the surprisingly brief wikipedia article about the aforementioned individual, and I came across this: A composition called "Canzona by Francesco da Milano" (better known as the song "The City of Gold") is commonly misattributed to da Milano. So, if I am not grossly mistaken about my interpretation of the entire handle with which we refer to the beloved 'Frank', then I wonder if it can at all be correct to refer to him as "da Milano". Wouldn't that be like one of you referencing this letter and remarking that it was written by "From California"? I expect much from the ever flowing fount of knowledge and wisdom that is this list! Thanks, Tobiah To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: Classical Guitar Music in Tablature
On 04/23/2013 11:37 AM, Dan Winheld wrote:
One thing we shouldn't lose sight of here. Like Bruce Lee pointing at the moon and
reciting the old Zen wisdom of "Do not mistake
the finger pointing at the moon for the moon itself", we must likewise keep in
mind that we are talking of the re-creation -in
sound- of aural documents that were preserved & transmitted by putting them
into a hard visual medium- the only way such a record
could be kept, prior to the invention of- well, "records". Symbols on paper
(and now the monitor) only, not the thing itself. Music
was originally heard directly; then sung or played- the oral/aural tradition.
Still informs musicians of all genres and cultures on
a vast and primary scale.
It's certainly important to make the distinction. I still need
to teach my fingers the path through the mechanics of the music,
and I do have a preference as to how that gets done.
Grand or less than grand staff ("Pitch Tab") vs. the often more exact blue print
maps of events on strings & fingerboards that
result in the identical aural result.
Save perhaps the effect of the lack of specific duration of notes
in tab - we still have to make them up in order to get to grand
staff, but the end result for a particular musician could differ
depending on which format he used to learn a piece.
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[LUTE] Re: Classical Guitar Music in Tablature
On 04/23/2013 03:39 AM, WALSH STUART wrote: On 23/04/2013 04:36, Edward Chrysogonus Yong wrote: Chaps, just a random silly thought. There're plenty of classical guitar players who play lute music in CG transcriptions, but does the reverse exist? Obviously those who're CG players can play on the lute directly from the CG staff notation, but for those of us who don't play CG, do lute tablature editions of CG music exist? I find some of the Sor stuff quite pretty, but can't be bothered to learn CG notation… Edward Chrysogonus Yong edward.y...@gmail.com Do you play lute music from staff notation (as well as tab)? I play lute music exclusively from the grand staff. My impression is that it's ultimately the superior method of notating lute music, but I sometimes feel like a blind man in a book store that has only a handful of volumes in Braille. I do have a copy of Finale, which has some support for converting tab to modern notation. What are people here using to accomplish that? Thanks, Toby To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Tempo, magnitude and precision.
I sometimes struggle with the desire to warp the tempo of a lute piece, to accentuate a beautiful or pivotal phrase, or to keep myself interested during a more mundane passage. I've heard it expressed by one professor, that absolute metric time was desired during the Renaissance. I also remember the notion that rubato, in the romantic period, was just a way of lending or borrowing time in such a way that the same piece played straight through at a constant tempo would end at the same time as the performance where rubato was performed. All of this is bait for discussion, but also a precursor to a main query. I attempted to play along with a youtube video of a fellow playing Francesco, and found that it was impossible to do; he took wild liberties with the tempo at every whim (either that or I can't play in time!). I wanted to hear some comment on that aspect of the performance, as well as on any other point I have raised. Thanks! Tobiah http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y837TG7FgFM To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Nigel North
I happened across some YouTube videos of him. He has a wikipedia article, so I'm sure you all know about him. I favor his playing over that that I've heard in some time. Tobiah To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: Of Mice & Milk
Anyway with all those mice around perhaps it is safer to use wireless technology as these rodents have been known to cause trouble when hungry. Instead of using mice one could do with nice. The difference is small but significant. Ok, back to the original topic, which I believe, was nicing a lute. To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: Bach by Anna Kowalska
On 4/4/2012 1:48 PM, Leonard Williams wrote: While watching/ listening to Benjamin Narvey's wonderful performance, my attention was drawn to a YouTube performance of a Bach cello composition played by Anna Kowalska at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Wi1IC6YQnM&feature=relmfu I have heard that the sarabande was a slower and stately dance, but it's hard to imagine people of the time withstanding such a potent soporific as this first piece played at this tempo. Perhaps it was meant to be in contrast to the Courante. In either case, I'm delighted by the performance. To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Recorder and Lute
How are the timelines of these instruments related, and what pieces include both instruments? Thanks, Tobiah To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: Vallet score and recording
On 4/1/2012 1:20 AM, Lex van Sante wrote: To me it sounds like a classical guitar with a capo on III Lex You caught me, the heretical witch that I am. To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: Vallet score and recording
Thank you for your detailed explanations. I recently bought a Rode NT1-A and 1402-VLZPro as well, and am very pleased with the very clear recordings I can make now. How strange that our choices of equipment were so similar. Great minds think alike? This is getting way off topic, but I'm not sure how to gracefully change the thread. Maybe you can do it if you reply. I don't know about the NT55, but my online searching told me long ago to stay away from the Marantz portables because of preamp noise. The Mackie is a great mic preamp value, and comes with a mixer to boot! Regards Up till now I used a pair of Rode NT55 mics straight into a Marantz solid state recorder. Still a good option, but the NT1-A is brighter, and the Mackie has very clear pre-amps. To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: Vallet score and recording
On 3/31/2012 2:12 PM, stephen arndt wrote: Hello, Tobiah, That was very impressive. Your tone is exceptionally clear. What did you record with? Thanks! I have a pair of RØDE NT1-A mics. They are hailed for their low self-noise. I plug those into a Mackie 1402-VLZPro mixer, and into my computer through an Echo Mia MIDI Soundcard. I used Reaper as the recording software. I did one single stereo track. I used a parametric EQ plugin to tame the base that is characteristic of my instrument in a small room, and also of the proximity effect caused by using large diaphragm condensers in relatively short range. I also put a notch cut at 200Hz, which seems to be a wild resonance frequency, either of my instrument or room, or both. The other effect was a reverb plugin that I used with moderation, set to emulate a large reflective room. Tobiah To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Grand Staff Lute Sheet music.
I'd be grateful for a pointer to a site that has any amount of lute music arranged for the grand staff. Thanks, Tobiah To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: strumming Gervaise
Real musicians don't need bass lines and figures, and compose their own bass lines with very nice accompaniments on the spot. I would replace the word 'Real' with the word 'Some'. Otherwise we will have to start talking about what 'Real' music is, which is usually like debating politics or religion at a cocktail party. To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
Re: Gut Frets, a crazy idea
> Just a suggestion for those not totally invested with a passion for absolute > "originality". Always a fascinating topic for me, ever since one of my professors interjected into a debate about using the sustain pedal while playing Bach: "and what would Bach have done if he had had a sustain pedal?" Same comes to mind wrt frets, tuning machines, amplification schemes, etc.
Re: Odd tablature notation
> Just one thing though, what does the IV{ indicate?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Tobiah
>
Never mind. Obviously it means that both notes are
to be played on the fourth course.
Re: Odd tablature notation
Leonard Williams wrote:
> Tobiah--
> That notation is Capirola's (perhaps) unique notation for a split course.
> Stop one string only of
> the course, play the other string open.
Oh, thanks. I can make sense of the measure now.
Unfortunately, I am using a guitar to play the music,
and so I will be unable to try this. The meausure
can be played fine with a normal fingering anyway.
Just one thing though, what does the IV{ indicate?
Thanks,
Tobiah
