[VIHUELA] Re: Guitar stringing (again - sigh) was Re: Guitar bridges

2011-11-30 Thread Lex Eisenhardt 

Dear Martyn,


  Hmm again  how can lowering the position of the high octave string
  of an octave pair (so that it lies significantly below the general
  string datum) not have an influence on the ease of playing just this
  string?


Of course this requires to play a little more precise with the thumb. Which 
would need some exercice.
But it makes it much easier to touch the couse so that it sounds like a 
bass. Which would mean that the balance of the high and low strings is 
optimal to make the high octave enhance the effect of the bass. Also when 
the strings are fixed in the 'normal' way it needs a really good control of 
the thumb stroke, to prevent the sound of high octave string from dominating 
over the bourdon.




  I'm also not sure about always having a booming lower bourdon randomly
  interspersed in a campanella scalic passage - but perhaps the Old Ones
  didn't mind - tho' I doubt it...


Booming bourdons seems an exageration here. Hence my advice to try it for 
some time




  tho' again I did think your
  position was that you generally liked to have a low bass because of
  your belief in the necessity of complete melodic bass lines - ie basses
  that didn't jump the octave due to exigencies of the stringing.  Have I
  mistook your position? - in which case I'm sorry for it.


No problem.
My ideas are a bit different from that. I would argue that if we use 
bourdons--because we think that a certain composer had them--we should 
better make them heard. This doesn't mean that we should just stop thinking 
of the musical function that the notes on these courses would have, high or 
low, in a specific situation.


best wishes,
Lex 





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[VIHUELA] Re: Guitar stringing (again - sigh) was Re: Guitar bridges

2011-11-30 Thread Martyn Hodgson 


 From: Martyn Hodgson hodgsonmar...@yahoo.co.uk
 Subject: Re: [VIHUELA] Re: Guitar stringing (again - sigh) was Re:
 Guitar bridges
 To: Lex Eisenhardt eisenha...@planet.nl
 Date: Wednesday, 30 November, 2011, 13:53

   Thanks for this Lex.

   One of my guitars does have bourdons on both the 5th and 4th course -
   but I mostly use this instrument for continuo and do, indeed, find the
   basses are pretty strong ('booming') - as I would wish in this context.

   In my view, campanella play is not as effective with this disposition
   as with an instrument without bourdons or just a bourdon on the 4th -
   but I guess you think differently.

   rgds
   Martyn

   --- On Wed, 30/11/11, Lex Eisenhardt eisenha...@planet.nl wrote:

 From: Lex Eisenhardt eisenha...@planet.nl
 Subject: Re: [VIHUELA] Re: Guitar stringing (again - sigh) was Re:
 Guitar bridges
 To: Vihuelalist vihuela@cs.dartmouth.edu, Martyn Hodgson
 hodgsonmar...@yahoo.co.uk
 Date: Wednesday, 30 November, 2011, 12:18

   Dear Martyn,
  Hmm again  how can lowering the position of the high octave
   string
  of an octave pair (so that it lies significantly below the general
  string datum) not have an influence on the ease of playing just
   this
  string?
   Of course this requires to play a little more precise with the thumb.
   Which would need some exercice.
   But it makes it much easier to touch the couse so that it sounds like a
   bass. Which would mean that the balance of the high and low strings is
   optimal to make the high octave enhance the effect of the bass. Also
   when the strings are fixed in the 'normal' way it needs a really good
   control of the thumb stroke, to prevent the sound of high octave string
   from dominating over the bourdon.
  I'm also not sure about always having a booming lower bourdon
   randomly
  interspersed in a campanella scalic passage - but perhaps the Old
   Ones
  didn't mind - tho' I doubt it...
   Booming bourdons seems an exageration here. Hence my advice to try it
   for some time
  tho' again I did think your
  position was that you generally liked to have a low bass because of
  your belief in the necessity of complete melodic bass lines - ie
   basses
  that didn't jump the octave due to exigencies of the stringing.
   Have I
  mistook your position? - in which case I'm sorry for it.
   No problem.
   My ideas are a bit different from that. I would argue that if we use
   bourdons--because we think that a certain composer had them--we should
   better make them heard. This doesn't mean that we should just stop
   thinking of the musical function that the notes on these courses would
   have, high or low, in a specific situation.
   best wishes,
   Lex

   --


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[VIHUELA] Re: Guitar stringing (again - sigh) was Re: Guitar bridges

2011-11-30 Thread Lex Eisenhardt 

  Thanks for this Lex.

  One of my guitars does have bourdons on both the 5th and 4th course -
  but I mostly use this instrument for continuo and do, indeed, find the
  basses are pretty strong ('booming') - as I would wish in this context.


Good! But I suppose you can still play campanelas on that instrument?



  In my view, campanella play is not as effective with this disposition
  as with an instrument without bourdons or just a bourdon on the 4th -
  but I guess you think differently.


Depends what you're after. Of course campanelas are always perfectly clean 
without bourdons. But since I believe that Bartolotti (the Campanela 
Champion) had bourdons in mind for his music I forgive the accidental mild 
humming of the low octave strings. Perhaps he had a better playing 
technique.


Lex




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