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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