The volume of the sound of the plucked string of the five course
guitar is low. To balance with that bass strings should better not be
too powerful. How long the extension should be would depend on the
acoustic properties of the instrument. Continuo instruments like the
theorbo needed a strong bass to compete with ensembles. It is not known
if the guitarre theorbee from the Gallot Ms was designed for that
purpose.
We know at least that the theorbo was used in ensembles of which the
players were payed. Appearance of the guitarre theorbee is not
reported.
According to some writers from the 17th century (Sanz, Matteis) the
guitar was an imperfect instrument. The broad use of bourdon tuning
shows that opinions were by no means uniform.
Lex
----- Original Message -----
From: [1]Martyn Hodgson
To: [2]Vihuelalist ; [3]Lex Eisenhardt
Sent: Sunday, July 19, 2009 10:21 AM
Subject: Re: [VIHUELA] Re: Murcia
The whole point about extended basses is that they produce a stronger
(louder) sound than shorter strings - hence why they were invented (by
Picinnini?).
I know of no study which has identified theorbo usage in the 17th
century between 'amateur' and 'professional' (ie paid to perform)
players. By the mid 18th century when the theorbo's appearance/record
became rarer use had dwindled (but seems to have continued in some
operas) mostly 'orofessionals' played them (eg Conti).
The use of re-entrant tuning seems to show that the Old Ones were
perfectly satisfied with what some moderns may perceive as an imperfect
('incomplete') instrument
MH
--
References
1. mailto:hodgsonmar...@yahoo.co.uk
2. mailto:vihuela@cs.dartmouth.edu
3. mailto:eisenha...@planet.nl
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