Regarding quills in the style of 18th-c. mandolinists, here's a link to an image of what I've been using in recent times: http://cittern.ning.com/photo/bic-synthoquill?context=user
Eugene > -----Original Message----- > From: lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu [mailto:lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu] On > Behalf Of Stuart Walsh > Sent: Thursday, September 03, 2009 4:59 PM > To: Ed Durbrow > Cc: vl > Subject: [VIHUELA] Re: Quills, 15the century dance and plucked duos > > Ed Durbrow wrote: > > > > Crawford Young said he has tried nearly every kind of plectrum and > has > > settled on the narrow end of an eagle feather stripped down. In fact, > > he was using a nylon guitar string as a plectrum when I saw his > concert > > and all during the seminar I attended. > > Yes, that came up in a previous discussion. I'm really surprised - I > thought that really fast players, jazzers and rockers, blazed around > their fingerboards with plectrums made of reinforced concrete! > > Another thing that came up in previous discussion of quills was a > reference to a website giving an account of an 18th century method > (Leone?) of preparing a quill. This method used the usual end of the > quill and (if I remember) it was important to use the quill of only some > creatures (like ravens) and the method of production was certainly quite > intricate. (Also, I seem to remember accounts of quills being steeped in > liquids... oils or something). Anyway, using the other end of the quill, > I wouldn't have thought it mattered much what bird feather was used and > preparation is no more than taking off the feathery stuff and smoothing > it a bit. > > But I know nothing of the subtleties of plectrumstechnique and the > bottom line is that just about anything could be used as a plectrum. On > the other hand, using the thin end of the quill in this way, and the way > you have to hold it, does end up looking like a lot of illustrations of > medieval playing. > > one of the dances, Giloxia, by Domenico > > > > Very nice. When was this written? > > > > > 15th century dance is a large field and I know very little about it. > Most of the dances are just lines of long notes - no discernible > melody. But this Giloxia by Domenico actually sounds like like a tune in > itself. Nevertheless, in this realisation of it by Ian Gatiss, Ian > treats the line like any other tenor line and so he creates a faster > moving top line and then a bass underneath. (As perhaps was done by two > shawms and a sackbut in haut contexts?) > > I've tried to see if I could contact Ian Gatiss, having met him just > once and that many years ago. Some of his work on early dance is online. > > Ian was very unassuming about his own realisations, encouraging people > to try to create their own versions - this is an improvisatory > tradition. But Ian's realisation (aimed probably at amateur wind and > string players) is very attractive and just a little bit obsessive; > quite a nice touch in view of the title of the piece. > > > > Stuart > > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
