[LUTE] Re: French tab prints - why 5 lines?
I find this type discussion fascinating. I was just looking at the
Adriaensen books and noticed Phalese & Bellere's first use of 7th and
8th course: an open 7th course was -a- (w/ a line going through it
since P always ciphered "in" the line instead of "in" the space). But
an open 8th course was --a-- , i.e. a hyphen on either side. For years
I had never noticed the subtle difference and assumed one was expected
to change the 7th course as necessary.
I suspect the Phalese prints from the 1540's through the end of the
century were fairly popular among at least amateurs. By not requiring
page turns for the most part after his switch from ottavo to quarto he
could market to those who didn't feel it necessary to memorize their
material.
They were also a digest of the more popular and often easier
intabulations alongside--or followed in the next publication by--the
most difficult. We can also follow many broad evolutions of
harmonic/ficta trends, intabulation styles and repertory. Food for
another thread . . . or thesis project.
Sean
On Sat, May 4, 2019 at 10:04 AM Alain Veylit
<[1]al...@musickshandmade.com> wrote:
Printers were very dependent on the fonts they had - In the Ballard
book, the bar lines clearly use a single font (i.e. piece of
metal...)
with a vertical bar and 6 horizontal dashes extending on both sides.
In
Dowland's Book of ayrs, the barlines extend up and down from the
staff
in notation, but are too short in the tablature. See:
[2]http://fandango.musickshandmade.com/img/can-she-excuse.png
It seems to me probable that the printers used at least some of the
same
type case for both notation and tablature (i.e. whenever possible
...).
A 5-line tablature staff and a 5-line notation staff are not that
different, after all. This could considerably reduce the cost of
production as well as space in the workshop. This is just
speculation on
my part, but it could be interesting to look at prints with both
notation and tablature (Il Fronimo, English books of airs, as well
as
Phalese) . Printers fonts were extremely valuable, and if I remember
correctly could be used for decades if not centuries.
Note the same "fishbone" pattern for barlines as in Ballard and
Booke of
Ayres in notation in Phalese's Luculentum theatrum musicum - that
extend
both above and below the staff.
(facsimile:
[3]http://rosdok.uni-rostock.de/resolve/id/rosdok_document_00894
2)
On 5/4/19 9:06 AM, Denys Stephens wrote:
> Dear Alain,
> Thanks! Thanks also for the link to the Ballard print - it really
is very elegant. Single impression tablature had come a long way
from Attaingnant's first ground breaking prints. One more point
about Phalese crossed my mind, which is that in prints such as
'Hortus Musarum' he pirates pieces from Italian prints and converts
them from the six line Italian tablature to his own five line
system, which I think makes it clear that he is deliberately
choosing the five line format despite being aware that the Italian
prints use six. In Hortus Musarum the efficient use of space
together with its portrait format means that longer pieces can be
accommodated on one opening of the print. So for example a fantasia
by Marco Dall'Aquila that requires two page turns in Casteliono fits
on one and a half pages and still leaves room for another short
fantasia. From a swift thumb through of my copy, it looks like there
are no pieces in Hortus Musarum that require a page turn. Very
player fri!
endly! This seems to be an intentional improvement by Phalese on
his earlier lute prints where he used the landscape format commonly
found in Italian lute prints - this does result in longer pieces
requiring page turns.
>
> Thanks again & best wishes,
>
> Denys
>
> -Original Message-
> From: Alain Veylit <[4]al...@musickshandmade.com>
> Sent: 04 May 2019 01:19
> To: Denys Stephens <[5]denyssteph...@sky.com>;
[6]lute@cs.dartmouth.edu
> Subject: Re: [LUTE] Re: French tab prints - why 5 lines?
>
> Great explanation, Denys :)
>
> Paper was the most expensive part of publishing for a long time,
and I saw somewhere that German tab was appreciated for saving
vertical space on the page.
>
> I am transcribing pieces from Dowland's First booke of Ayres, and
I find it amazing what those printers managed to do with the tools
they had.
> Though, esthetically speaking, Ballard has my preference:
> [7]https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b52506298g/f15.image .
It's a work of art
[LUTE] Re: French tab prints - why 5 lines?
That is a very good point. Indeed that is what compelled me to print the scan on paper to bind as a book. The second part of the duets is printed upside down - also very player-friendly. On 04.05.19 18:06, Denys Stephens wrote: Dear Alain, Thanks! Thanks also for the link to the Ballard print - it really is very elegant. Single impression tablature had come a long way from Attaingnant's first ground breaking prints. One more point about Phalese crossed my mind, which is that in prints such as 'Hortus Musarum' he pirates pieces from Italian prints and converts them from the six line Italian tablature to his own five line system, which I think makes it clear that he is deliberately choosing the five line format despite being aware that the Italian prints use six. In Hortus Musarum the efficient use of space together with its portrait format means that longer pieces can be accommodated on one opening of the print. So for example a fantasia by Marco Dall'Aquila that requires two page turns in Casteliono fits on one and a half pages and still leaves room for another short fantasia. From a swift thumb through of my copy, it looks like there are no pieces in Hortus Musarum that require a page turn. Very player fri! en! dly! This seems to be an intentional improvement by Phalese on his earlier lute prints where he used the landscape format commonly found in Italian lute prints - this does result in longer pieces requiring page turns. Thanks again & best wishes, Denys -Original Message- From: Alain Veylit Sent: 04 May 2019 01:19 To: Denys Stephens ; lute@cs.dartmouth.edu Subject: Re: [LUTE] Re: French tab prints - why 5 lines? Great explanation, Denys :) Paper was the most expensive part of publishing for a long time, and I saw somewhere that German tab was appreciated for saving vertical space on the page. I am transcribing pieces from Dowland's First booke of Ayres, and I find it amazing what those printers managed to do with the tools they had. Though, esthetically speaking, Ballard has my preference: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b52506298g/f15.image . It's a work of art as much as the music, and it probably did come cheap... By the way, Phalese was Dutch, not French. French books were generally more luxurious than in England or Holland, and French music publishers switched to engraving fairly early in the 17th century. Alain On 5/3/19 1:40 PM, Denys Stephens wrote: I was intrigued by this question. Phalese is one of the most prolific users of a five line stave for lute tablature, and looking at his prints suggest several reasons why he did it. In single impression printing of tablature the tab lines are integral with the letters, and it's surprising in the music in the Phalese prints how relatively infrequently notes occur on the sixth course (in comparison to the higher courses). So leaving out the lowest line saves some typesetting. But it also allows the staves to be placed closer together without looking overwhelmingly cramped. That saves paper and fits more music onto each page. So I would say that it was the most cost effective and efficient way to print the kind of repertoire he was dealing with. Best wishes, Denys -Original Message- From: lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu On Behalf Of Dan Winheld Sent: 03 May 2019 03:24 To: Tristan von Neumann ; lute@cs.dartmouth.edu Subject: [LUTE] Re: French tab prints - why 5 lines? Inertia. On 5/2/2019 7:00 PM, Tristan von Neumann wrote: Here's a question: Why do French prints have 5 lines for the 6 course instrument? Early manuscripts like Pesaro (but not all of them, like BSB Mus. Ms. 2987) already employ six lines. While 5 lines in Ms. can be explained by the use of the same 5-point pen used for the lines of staff notation, I wonder why this is also occuring in prints? In type-set prints, you need to make different types for staff and tab notation, so why keep 5 lines? :) T* To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: French tab prints - why 5 lines?
Printers were very dependent on the fonts they had - In the Ballard book, the bar lines clearly use a single font (i.e. piece of metal...) with a vertical bar and 6 horizontal dashes extending on both sides. In Dowland's Book of ayrs, the barlines extend up and down from the staff in notation, but are too short in the tablature. See: http://fandango.musickshandmade.com/img/can-she-excuse.png It seems to me probable that the printers used at least some of the same type case for both notation and tablature (i.e. whenever possible ...). A 5-line tablature staff and a 5-line notation staff are not that different, after all. This could considerably reduce the cost of production as well as space in the workshop. This is just speculation on my part, but it could be interesting to look at prints with both notation and tablature (Il Fronimo, English books of airs, as well as Phalese) . Printers fonts were extremely valuable, and if I remember correctly could be used for decades if not centuries. Note the same "fishbone" pattern for barlines as in Ballard and Booke of Ayres in notation in Phalese's Luculentum theatrum musicum - that extend both above and below the staff. (facsimile: http://rosdok.uni-rostock.de/resolve/id/rosdok_document_008942) On 5/4/19 9:06 AM, Denys Stephens wrote: Dear Alain, Thanks! Thanks also for the link to the Ballard print - it really is very elegant. Single impression tablature had come a long way from Attaingnant's first ground breaking prints. One more point about Phalese crossed my mind, which is that in prints such as 'Hortus Musarum' he pirates pieces from Italian prints and converts them from the six line Italian tablature to his own five line system, which I think makes it clear that he is deliberately choosing the five line format despite being aware that the Italian prints use six. In Hortus Musarum the efficient use of space together with its portrait format means that longer pieces can be accommodated on one opening of the print. So for example a fantasia by Marco Dall'Aquila that requires two page turns in Casteliono fits on one and a half pages and still leaves room for another short fantasia. From a swift thumb through of my copy, it looks like there are no pieces in Hortus Musarum that require a page turn. Very player fri! endly! This seems to be an intentional improvement by Phalese on his earlier lute prints where he used the landscape format commonly found in Italian lute prints - this does result in longer pieces requiring page turns. Thanks again & best wishes, Denys -Original Message- From: Alain Veylit Sent: 04 May 2019 01:19 To: Denys Stephens ; lute@cs.dartmouth.edu Subject: Re: [LUTE] Re: French tab prints - why 5 lines? Great explanation, Denys :) Paper was the most expensive part of publishing for a long time, and I saw somewhere that German tab was appreciated for saving vertical space on the page. I am transcribing pieces from Dowland's First booke of Ayres, and I find it amazing what those printers managed to do with the tools they had. Though, esthetically speaking, Ballard has my preference: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b52506298g/f15.image . It's a work of art as much as the music, and it probably did come cheap... By the way, Phalese was Dutch, not French. French books were generally more luxurious than in England or Holland, and French music publishers switched to engraving fairly early in the 17th century. Alain On 5/3/19 1:40 PM, Denys Stephens wrote: I was intrigued by this question. Phalese is one of the most prolific users of a five line stave for lute tablature, and looking at his prints suggest several reasons why he did it. In single impression printing of tablature the tab lines are integral with the letters, and it's surprising in the music in the Phalese prints how relatively infrequently notes occur on the sixth course (in comparison to the higher courses). So leaving out the lowest line saves some typesetting. But it also allows the staves to be placed closer together without looking overwhelmingly cramped. That saves paper and fits more music onto each page. So I would say that it was the most cost effective and efficient way to print the kind of repertoire he was dealing with. Best wishes, Denys -Original Message- From: lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu On Behalf Of Dan Winheld Sent: 03 May 2019 03:24 To: Tristan von Neumann ; lute@cs.dartmouth.edu Subject: [LUTE] Re: French tab prints - why 5 lines? Inertia. On 5/2/2019 7:00 PM, Tristan von Neumann wrote: Here's a question: Why do French prints have 5 lines for the 6 course instrument? Early manuscripts like Pesaro (but not all of them, like BSB Mus. Ms. 2987) already employ six lines. While 5 lines in Ms. can be explained by the use of the same 5-point pen used for the lines of staff notation, I wonder why this is also occuring in prints? In type-set prints, yo
[LUTE] Re: French tab prints - why 5 lines?
Dear Alain, Thanks! Thanks also for the link to the Ballard print - it really is very elegant. Single impression tablature had come a long way from Attaingnant's first ground breaking prints. One more point about Phalese crossed my mind, which is that in prints such as 'Hortus Musarum' he pirates pieces from Italian prints and converts them from the six line Italian tablature to his own five line system, which I think makes it clear that he is deliberately choosing the five line format despite being aware that the Italian prints use six. In Hortus Musarum the efficient use of space together with its portrait format means that longer pieces can be accommodated on one opening of the print. So for example a fantasia by Marco Dall'Aquila that requires two page turns in Casteliono fits on one and a half pages and still leaves room for another short fantasia. From a swift thumb through of my copy, it looks like there are no pieces in Hortus Musarum that require a page turn. Very player frien! dly! This seems to be an intentional improvement by Phalese on his earlier lute prints where he used the landscape format commonly found in Italian lute prints - this does result in longer pieces requiring page turns. Thanks again & best wishes, Denys -Original Message- From: Alain Veylit Sent: 04 May 2019 01:19 To: Denys Stephens ; lute@cs.dartmouth.edu Subject: Re: [LUTE] Re: French tab prints - why 5 lines? Great explanation, Denys :) Paper was the most expensive part of publishing for a long time, and I saw somewhere that German tab was appreciated for saving vertical space on the page. I am transcribing pieces from Dowland's First booke of Ayres, and I find it amazing what those printers managed to do with the tools they had. Though, esthetically speaking, Ballard has my preference: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b52506298g/f15.image . It's a work of art as much as the music, and it probably did come cheap... By the way, Phalese was Dutch, not French. French books were generally more luxurious than in England or Holland, and French music publishers switched to engraving fairly early in the 17th century. Alain On 5/3/19 1:40 PM, Denys Stephens wrote: > I was intrigued by this question. Phalese is one of the most prolific users > of a five line stave for lute tablature, and looking at his prints suggest > several reasons why he did it. In single impression printing of tablature the > tab lines are integral with the letters, and it's surprising in the music in > the Phalese prints how relatively infrequently notes occur on the sixth > course (in comparison to the higher courses). So leaving out the lowest line > saves some typesetting. But it also allows the staves to be placed closer > together without looking overwhelmingly cramped. That saves paper and fits > more music onto each page. So I would say that it was the most cost effective > and efficient way to print the kind of repertoire he was dealing with. > > Best wishes, > > Denys > > > > -Original Message- > From: lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu On Behalf > Of Dan Winheld > Sent: 03 May 2019 03:24 > To: Tristan von Neumann ; > lute@cs.dartmouth.edu > Subject: [LUTE] Re: French tab prints - why 5 lines? > > Inertia. > > On 5/2/2019 7:00 PM, Tristan von Neumann wrote: >> Here's a question: >> >> Why do French prints have 5 lines for the 6 course instrument? >> >> Early manuscripts like Pesaro (but not all of them, like BSB Mus. Ms. >> 2987) already employ six lines. >> >> While 5 lines in Ms. can be explained by the use of the same 5-point >> pen used for the lines of staff notation, I wonder why this is also >> occuring in prints? >> >> In type-set prints, you need to make different types for staff and >> tab notation, so why keep 5 lines? >> >> >> >> :) >> T* >> >> >> >> >> To get on or off this list see list information at >> http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html >> > > >
[LUTE] Re: French tab prints - why 5 lines?
It's a possibility. Phalèse was known for pirating more luxurious tabs for wider audience in Flanders, thus saving space would be a fitting explanation. Yet, Italian printers with the same goal did not use only 5 lines, so why again is that? Was Phalèse an exceptional cheapskate? :) Interestingly, a purchasing power analysis (for England, because the data was available) I once made showed that a lute book (like a table book) would have called the same price it does today. It cost as much as 100 eggs or a small barrel of beer or several pounds of beef. Compared to income, the average craftsman would have to save money from only a few days of income to buy an album. Since only a few books are published per year, this seems affordable for a wide audience. The real price revolution we have today is in the distribution of recordings. Does anyone have a price list from Gardano, Morlaye et al.? I would love to check those if they were more expensive. Also it would be interesting to have some prices for Bésard, Mertel, Adriaenssen, Denss, Fuhrmann etc. because those were big compilations, like a "CD box set". Were they less expensive considering the long "running time"? That's another interesting thing: most albums contain music that lasts about 60-90 mins, or sometimes less. Though there was no technical restriction in recording space on the medium. For example, Francis Pilkington's debut album contained 22 tracks. Singing every stanza may lead to a slightly longer playing time, I haven't tried. And then the copyright - up to only 10 years of privilege meant that that the music could only be obtained exclusively for a relatively short time. So coming up with something interesting and new was more important because one could not rely on exclusivity after that. And pirating music with expired privileges was a good way too :) How could those people survive...? Copying the music by hand was no crime, and it only depended on care if you have a perfect transfer of musical information. It also seems that musicians were paid a good sum of money once, not a few dimes everytime someone buys the album... good times :) On 04.05.19 02:18, Alain Veylit wrote: Great explanation, Denys :) Paper was the most expensive part of publishing for a long time, and I saw somewhere that German tab was appreciated for saving vertical space on the page. I am transcribing pieces from Dowland's First booke of Ayres, and I find it amazing what those printers managed to do with the tools they had. Though, esthetically speaking, Ballard has my preference: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b52506298g/f15.image . It's a work of art as much as the music, and it probably did come cheap... By the way, Phalese was Dutch, not French. French books were generally more luxurious than in England or Holland, and French music publishers switched to engraving fairly early in the 17th century. Alain On 5/3/19 1:40 PM, Denys Stephens wrote: I was intrigued by this question. Phalese is one of the most prolific users of a five line stave for lute tablature, and looking at his prints suggest several reasons why he did it. In single impression printing of tablature the tab lines are integral with the letters, and it's surprising in the music in the Phalese prints how relatively infrequently notes occur on the sixth course (in comparison to the higher courses). So leaving out the lowest line saves some typesetting. But it also allows the staves to be placed closer together without looking overwhelmingly cramped. That saves paper and fits more music onto each page. So I would say that it was the most cost effective and efficient way to print the kind of repertoire he was dealing with. Best wishes, Denys -Original Message- From: lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu On Behalf Of Dan Winheld Sent: 03 May 2019 03:24 To: Tristan von Neumann ; lute@cs.dartmouth.edu Subject: [LUTE] Re: French tab prints - why 5 lines? Inertia. On 5/2/2019 7:00 PM, Tristan von Neumann wrote: Here's a question: Why do French prints have 5 lines for the 6 course instrument? Early manuscripts like Pesaro (but not all of them, like BSB Mus. Ms. 2987) already employ six lines. While 5 lines in Ms. can be explained by the use of the same 5-point pen used for the lines of staff notation, I wonder why this is also occuring in prints? In type-set prints, you need to make different types for staff and tab notation, so why keep 5 lines? :) T* To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: French tab prints - why 5 lines?
Great explanation, Denys :) Paper was the most expensive part of publishing for a long time, and I saw somewhere that German tab was appreciated for saving vertical space on the page. I am transcribing pieces from Dowland's First booke of Ayres, and I find it amazing what those printers managed to do with the tools they had. Though, esthetically speaking, Ballard has my preference: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b52506298g/f15.image . It's a work of art as much as the music, and it probably did come cheap... By the way, Phalese was Dutch, not French. French books were generally more luxurious than in England or Holland, and French music publishers switched to engraving fairly early in the 17th century. Alain On 5/3/19 1:40 PM, Denys Stephens wrote: I was intrigued by this question. Phalese is one of the most prolific users of a five line stave for lute tablature, and looking at his prints suggest several reasons why he did it. In single impression printing of tablature the tab lines are integral with the letters, and it's surprising in the music in the Phalese prints how relatively infrequently notes occur on the sixth course (in comparison to the higher courses). So leaving out the lowest line saves some typesetting. But it also allows the staves to be placed closer together without looking overwhelmingly cramped. That saves paper and fits more music onto each page. So I would say that it was the most cost effective and efficient way to print the kind of repertoire he was dealing with. Best wishes, Denys -Original Message- From: lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu On Behalf Of Dan Winheld Sent: 03 May 2019 03:24 To: Tristan von Neumann ; lute@cs.dartmouth.edu Subject: [LUTE] Re: French tab prints - why 5 lines? Inertia. On 5/2/2019 7:00 PM, Tristan von Neumann wrote: Here's a question: Why do French prints have 5 lines for the 6 course instrument? Early manuscripts like Pesaro (but not all of them, like BSB Mus. Ms. 2987) already employ six lines. While 5 lines in Ms. can be explained by the use of the same 5-point pen used for the lines of staff notation, I wonder why this is also occuring in prints? In type-set prints, you need to make different types for staff and tab notation, so why keep 5 lines? :) T* To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: French tab prints - why 5 lines?
Is it possible they still thought of the 6th course as "added", as we do the 7th and subsequent courses, even when the 7th is tuned to "D" (nominal), and therefore a logical extension of the standard tuning pattern? Best to all, and keep playing, Chris. On Fri, May 3, 2019 at 4:44 PM Denys Stephens <[1]denyssteph...@sky.com> wrote: I was intrigued by this question. Phalese is one of the most prolific users of a five line stave for lute tablature, and looking at his prints suggest several reasons why he did it. In single impression printing of tablature the tab lines are integral with the letters, and it's surprising in the music in the Phalese prints how relatively infrequently notes occur on the sixth course (in comparison to the higher courses). So leaving out the lowest line saves some typesetting. But it also allows the staves to be placed closer together without looking overwhelmingly cramped. That saves paper and fits more music onto each page. So I would say that it was the most cost effective and efficient way to print the kind of repertoire he was dealing with. Best wishes, Denys -Original Message- From: [2]lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu <[3]lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu> On Behalf Of Dan Winheld Sent: 03 May 2019 03:24 To: Tristan von Neumann <[4]tristanvonneum...@gmx.de>; [5]lute@cs.dartmouth.edu Subject: [LUTE] Re: French tab prints - why 5 lines? Inertia. On 5/2/2019 7:00 PM, Tristan von Neumann wrote: > Here's a question: > > Why do French prints have 5 lines for the 6 course instrument? > > Early manuscripts like Pesaro (but not all of them, like BSB Mus. Ms. > 2987) already employ six lines. > > While 5 lines in Ms. can be explained by the use of the same 5-point > pen used for the lines of staff notation, I wonder why this is also > occuring in prints? > > In type-set prints, you need to make different types for staff and tab > notation, so why keep 5 lines? > > > > :) > T* > > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > [6]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > -- References 1. mailto:denyssteph...@sky.com 2. mailto:lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu 3. mailto:lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu 4. mailto:tristanvonneum...@gmx.de 5. mailto:lute@cs.dartmouth.edu 6. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: French tab prints - why 5 lines?
I was intrigued by this question. Phalese is one of the most prolific users of a five line stave for lute tablature, and looking at his prints suggest several reasons why he did it. In single impression printing of tablature the tab lines are integral with the letters, and it's surprising in the music in the Phalese prints how relatively infrequently notes occur on the sixth course (in comparison to the higher courses). So leaving out the lowest line saves some typesetting. But it also allows the staves to be placed closer together without looking overwhelmingly cramped. That saves paper and fits more music onto each page. So I would say that it was the most cost effective and efficient way to print the kind of repertoire he was dealing with. Best wishes, Denys -Original Message- From: lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu On Behalf Of Dan Winheld Sent: 03 May 2019 03:24 To: Tristan von Neumann ; lute@cs.dartmouth.edu Subject: [LUTE] Re: French tab prints - why 5 lines? Inertia. On 5/2/2019 7:00 PM, Tristan von Neumann wrote: > Here's a question: > > Why do French prints have 5 lines for the 6 course instrument? > > Early manuscripts like Pesaro (but not all of them, like BSB Mus. Ms. > 2987) already employ six lines. > > While 5 lines in Ms. can be explained by the use of the same 5-point > pen used for the lines of staff notation, I wonder why this is also > occuring in prints? > > In type-set prints, you need to make different types for staff and tab > notation, so why keep 5 lines? > > > > :) > T* > > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html >
[LUTE] Re: French tab prints - why 5 lines?
Inertia. On 5/2/2019 7:00 PM, Tristan von Neumann wrote: Here's a question: Why do French prints have 5 lines for the 6 course instrument? Early manuscripts like Pesaro (but not all of them, like BSB Mus. Ms. 2987) already employ six lines. While 5 lines in Ms. can be explained by the use of the same 5-point pen used for the lines of staff notation, I wonder why this is also occuring in prints? In type-set prints, you need to make different types for staff and tab notation, so why keep 5 lines? :) T* To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
