Hi Arto,
Well the temperament problem is the same for baroque and renaissance
lute, with the 2nd to 4th courses being the same tuning and in the Dm
tuning the 1st being the same as the 4th! So G major works well,
because you can have the 1st, 4th and 6th frets in the low position
(nearer
I had the same problem and Daniel Fourget informed me kindly about the
solution.
But I am still dazzled: how does a browser influence the download of a
file?
I mean, if you download the same file with a different browser you have
a valid pdf on your computer..
That is
Out of curiosity - is there any evidence that Lute makers/players of the
renaissance insisted on maintaining frets made from gut PRIMARILY because they
would shift them around to accommodate the mean tuning within different keys?
...otherwise, wouldn't have been easier for lute players of the
The answer is NO.
Gut frets wear out gut strings nearly not as much as hard frets,
and considering the cost of strings - this is simple economic
expediency. Still is, now.
There were always a few masochists bent on temperaments,
but these were always a small minority.
Even keyboard composers were
On Jan 6, 2012, at 1:57 AM, Martyn Hodgson wrote:
Equal temperament was used on lutes from the 16th century onwards
Except by Gerle (1532)
And the Dowlands (1610)
And Ganassi (1543)
And Mersenne (1636)
And anyone who read their books and followed their instructions
And anyone who played with
Dar Howard and all,
I am sorry I must disagree with the Mersenne bit below. Mersenne insists that
the best way to play in tune with fretted instruments in particular, is to use
some sort of equal temperament. Just one example, from his Livre Troisième des
Genres de la Musique, Proposition XII
On Jan 6, 2012, at 9:51 AM, Jean-Marie Poirier wrote:
Mersenne insists that the best way to play in tune with fretted instruments
in particular, is to use some sort of equal temperament.
And yet the fret placement he gives in Harmonie Universelle is decidedly
unequal.
--
To get on or off
Jean-Marie,
Can you post a translation of the passages? I can fight my way through
it, but French is not one of my languages.
Chris
Christopher Wilke
Lutenist, Guitarist and Composer
www.christopherwilke.com
--- On Fri, 1/6/12, Jean-Marie Poirier jmpoiri...@wanadoo.fr
Well, Chris, being rather busy at the moment I will go to the essential and
give a rough translation of the relevant bits in terms of temperament :
Mersenne : We know from experience that the octave composed of the lesser
number of dergrees and divisions is the most convenient and is used for
On Jan 6, 2012, at 12:36 PM, Jean-Marie Poirier wrote:
Although Denis does not recommend openly a sort of equal temperament, he
acknowledges the fact that fretted instruments are not naturally and
technically apt for unequal temperaments. I think his ivory frets, which
could be adjusted
Isn't that evocative of the Well-tempered keyboard...
JM
There is another important passage in the Jean Denis's text, well woth
quoting. I will try a translation :
After hearing a harpsichord tuned in equal temperament Denis asks why they use
this temperament which he judges bad :
Being in
Prominent???
RT
From: howard posner howardpos...@ca.rr.com
Sent: Friday, January 06, 2012 3:48 PM
Subject: [BAROQUE-LUTE] Re: Sharp keys seem to work well in d-minor tuned
lute...
On Jan 6, 2012, at 12:36 PM, Jean-Marie Poirier wrote:
Although Denis does not recommend openly a sort of equal
Correct, Howard, my mistake. But nonetheless this technique, which was probably
not very popular though... Here is the passage about tastini taken on Arto
Wikla's site, thank you Arto ! :
Eumatius [the student]: ... Also, how does it happen that you do not use frets
that are spaced by unusual
David, I made amends for that mistake of mine ! ;-(
There is another quotation from Mersenne I like very much :
According to the common saying of musicians, the lute is the charlatan of
music, because it passes off as good that whichis bad on good instruments...
(Translated by Mark Lindley ,
On 6 January 2012 22:45, Jean-Marie Poirier jmpoiri...@wanadoo.fr wrote:
I like the isea of playing a charlatan of music :-). Don't you ?
So true. And at the same time we can suggest such unwordly beauty with
our imperfect instruments. Suggestion is the key word here. Perhaps
also in our
Well, my original mail on this subject referred - among other things -
about the possibility of correcting the tuning on higher frets easier than
on the first fret: the first fret bb and f# are hard to tune by left hand
pressure - that problem becomes much easier on higher frets. Perhaps this
Dear luthenists
A friend gave me an amusing tuning fork, which is clearly of
some age.
I am not (here) in a position to be able to load a photo of it, but it
fits into a tight wooden case, and at the end of this there is a hollow
metal peg. I quickly realized that if you
This is very interesting to me, because an old friend recently alerted me to
a new line of thinking claiming that 432Hz OUGHT to be true concert pitch.
There are websites devoting a lot of space to articles and discussions about
this.
http://www.omega432.com/music.html
--- On Fri, 1/6/12, wikla wi...@cs.helsinki.fi wrote:
Are there really any serious lutenists, who just push the buttons, just
set the finger on the string without colouring the pitch by the finger
pressure up or down?
I find just pushing the buttons to be pretty hard in itself.
Chris
Reminds me of a Woody Allen quote:
... I like three, but it is hard enough to get one.
RT
Are there really any serious lutenists, who just push the buttons, just
set the finger on the string without colouring the pitch by the finger
pressure up or down?
I find just pushing the buttons to be
So true. I recall years ago, playing a mandolino in the double
Vovaldi concerto, with a modern chamber orchestra. The concertmaster
gave a true a=440 to tune all the string players, but most of the
string players tuned sharper than that, and they were around 443. I
recall in rehearsals
On Jan 6, 2012, at 3:43 PM, Edward Martin wrote:
I
recall in rehearsals stopping, and inquiring why they did that. They
responded that many of the individual violinists tuned sharp, so I
can hear myself, and they found that it was easier for them to play that way.
The usual answer is
How silly is that? Playing sharp _is_ out of tune!
At 05:51 PM 1/6/2012, howard posner wrote:
On Jan 6, 2012, at 3:43 PM, Edward Martin wrote:
I
recall in rehearsals stopping, and inquiring why they did that. They
responded that many of the individual violinists tuned sharp, so I
On Jan 6, 2012, at 4:17 PM, Edward Martin wrote:
The usual answer is better sharp than out of tune.
How silly is that? Playing sharp _is_ out of tune!
Well, it's a joke, but like much humor, it's based in experience. If the
orchestra is playing at 441 and the flute player comes in at 442
On 06/01/2012 9:18 PM, Bruce O. Bowes wrote:
I wonder if anyone knows of a simple arrangements of the tune
Walsingham. I would be very grateful if you could give me some idea of
where i might be able to find it or pass along a copy.
There are a number of versions on sarge gerbode's site
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