11c Baroque Lute with Gut Strings - Rob MacKillop
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- Опубліковано 12 вер 2024
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Music begins at 2'30"
RobMacKillop.net
A very nice lute from Chris Doddridge, with beautiful strings by www.DamianStrin...
I got my very first lute yesterday and ist's my first lessons with your school today. A very special day for me! I just want to remind other students what exactly to work for- in your words: "Francesco da Milano left his listeners in an 'ecstatic transport of divine frenzy'. Good luck trying to recreate that!" LOL! I'm working on it, Rob, and folks: let's just try! Regards!
Cheers, Jürgen, though I don't know what my "school" is. My "Introduction to the Lute" (Mel Bay Publications) is for Renaissance lute. The Method for baroque lute by Miguel Serdoura is good. Best of luck!
Gut sounds si much better than nylon or carbon. Thrillingto realize this is the sound the old lute masters were used to. Thanks for your posting. 👍
Cheers, Baldwin. It’s still rare to hear this today, though I don’t know why.
The lutes are back! Bravo!
Glad you are pleased!
@@RobMacKillop1 I play lute vicariously through you in order to save money and spend it on guitars.
Woah! A Carole King song! I was *not* expecting that. 😄
Always expect the unexpected :-)
How I love this instrument ... I don't know why Lutes call me so but they do and this one is just wonderful and your playing honors the lute, Thank You. I don't remember ever hearing you sing at all and now that you did (even, if, just a little) ... I have to ask why are you not singing in more videos??? Have a beautiful day Dear Lute player. Love & Peace to All
Haha, I would get arrested if I sang in more videos :-) Anyway, I'm happy you like the lute. Thanks for your lovely comments.
Always amazing. ❤
Cheers, Paola!
Thank you for sharing, your music is so inspiring.
Thanks, Neal. Appreciated!
Beautiful playing, and lute, Chris, and great to hear you sing Rob! 😊more soon please x
There will be more lute playing, but due to public demand, no more singing :-(
@@RobMacKillop1 don't listen to them 😉
seems to be raining lute where you live. it only rains rain where i live. i should consider a relocation!
🤗 nice to hear something from the distant past as it was meant to sound, thanks
I'm so old, I remember it the first time round! :-)
Carole King approves.
Thank you so much Rob. Forgive a late happy new year to you and yours.
Absolutely love the lute! Never thought I'd here "it's too late baby now it's too late " on the lute! Love it! Plus of course the pieces you played.!
Thank you Rob.
Ps. I'd need a lute tech to deal w those strings! Ha!
You think I could have a career as a singer? No, neither do I! Happy New Year!
Did you just _sing_ in a video? Anyway, you and the lute sound very good :-)
Indeed. So are you saying you don't want to form a voice and lute ensemble with me? My voice is unique, and would easily mark out our group from all the others! :-)
Well. That took me somewhere very nice.
Good to know. Cheers.
Nice, Rob.
Cheers, M.
Definitely not a lute tuning I am used to but it's actually not bad. Nice to see a gut strung lute as well.
Cheers, Sam. There's a lot of nice repertoire in these alternative tunings. Worth exploring.
Hermoso
Thank you!
Rob,
love the sound of the baroque lute! Is this a new instrument? I have never heard of harp sharp tuning, just the d minor tuning. Could you recommend a good life site/forum for the lute. I'm very familiar with the guitar, but would, and was a beginner on the lute. Any help would be great. Btw, love the playing!
Cheers, Vince. Do a search for lute and ning. Good friendly site there.
Finally!
You have to be patient with me ;-)
Hello Rob. Do you have Chris Doddridge's contact by any chance? I'm in search not for a guitar or lute, but an Indian instrument by the name of sursringar whom he has knowledge of. I don't think he is very active on the internet so I couldn't find any way to contact him. Regards, Dana.
@@RobMacKillop1 Thank you Rob, appreciate this a lot!
Dear Rob, I'm very fond of your channel and particularly of this video. Would you please so kind and give me some advice on strings? I'm playing a 13 course baroque lute by Andreas von Holst. The instrument is marvellous but I haven't been happy with the strings so far. Since I'm doing concerts with this lute I tried to be on the safe side putting a mixture of Nylgut and Pyramid strings on it. As for tuning it's a choice that provides a certain reliability, on the other hand I would like to try using entirely gut strings. Do you have any suggestions? All best wishes, Andreas
Hi Andreas. I'm a big fan of your playing, so it's nice to hear from you. I used to have mixed types of material for strings, including gut, and I noticed that the gut strings did not go out of tune as quickly as the others. That, plus the fact that each material has a different sound, led me to experiment with just one material, gut, for all the strings. Add to that the fact that wound basses did not become common until after 1700, and it seemed an experiment worth exploring. And I'm glad I did. I would never again use anything but gut. The sound is beautiful, the feel to the fingertips is soft, and the tuning is more stable - which is not to say it doesn't go out of tune, but that they tend to go out of tune at the same rate. So, the overall pitch might change a little, but generally the tuning is quite good. I use gut strings by Damian Dlugolecki, who I think manufactures the best-quality gut, but unfortunately he has just retired! Gamut make good gut, and there is always Aquila. Stringing an 11c lute all in gut is an expensive undertaking, but do keep in mind that it's almost a one-time payment, as most of the strings will last a decade at least, with only the cheapest 1st, 2nd and maybe 3rd strings needing replacing. Always buy extra firsts. I've had one first string last a year, but most of them just last a few weeks. I have to say I've had a couple of 1sts that only lasted seconds - but not from Damian Dlugolecki. A good thing is that a gut string will settle in pitch MUCH quicker than gut or nylgut, so you could change the first and second strings a day before a concert or recording. So, there ARE issues with gut strings, but the benefits far outweigh the negatives in my experience. I hope this helps? Cheers, Rob
Rob MacKillop Dear Rob, that was quick! Thanks indeed for this detailed answer! Yes - it helps a lot. My whole attitude concerning the sound I'd like to get from my lutes has been changed over the last years. I guess strings might contribute at least 50% to the results one obtains. Normally I'm using a Pyramid nylon string for the top string (f') and have noticed that I can't "sing" any longer with the instrument, something which is quite frustrating. So I'll definitely follow your advice. Actually I'm looking forward to experimenting with all my instruments, including a Lacôte - replica by Gary Southwell which might need gut too since I'm playing the guitar according to Sor's ideas. It would be wonderful if we could have a short Skype talk some day if you don't mind my asking. All best wishes and thanks again for your time and help, Andreas
@@AndreasMartinLaute Drop me an email, Andreas: robmackillop at gmail dot com
Hi Rob,
how long did it take that the gut strings remained quite stable in tune?
Which diameter is the chanterelle?
Thanks
This video is from five years ago, so I can’t remember. But gut settles more quickly than nylon or nylgut. The string thickness depends on the string length from bridge to nut, and also pitch. I can’t recall the string length of that lute. Sorry.
I arrived here curious to hear a lute with gut strings... What an enchanting sound. Compared to nylon there appears to be what I can only describe as "depth" to the sound the guts produces.
I don't play lute myself, but I once did a course in instrument making with a very fine Luthier called Arthur Robb. Do you know him?
Hi Berni. I know of him, but have never met him. Yes, gut is more complex in sound, and therefore more subtle, with depth and presence. I use it on classical guitars as well. Glad you like it!
@@RobMacKillop1 Rob playing a Robb - there is a real ring to that. 😁 Apart from being a fine lute maker, he is a great guy.He lives down in the West Country. I was probably his worst pupil. I made a Bowed Psaltery with him that worked perfectly, but was aesthetically a disaster 😈
PS I love your accent. Whereabouts in Scotland are you from?
From Dundee, but I live in Edinburgh now. Miss my home town, but that's life.
Привет,Роб! После серии публикаций о семиструнке я готов смотреть любое Ваше видео! С русским приветом, Я!😎
Спасибо, Алекс! Я хоп вам нравится нот из Шотландии!
I wonder how is your first course holding up after sometime. I have gut strings but my first course raffles very fast. And the sound at first was nice but after 1 week or so the sound is very dull and sounds like its blocked. I love the gut strings but for the 1ste course its very hard to keep it nice.
Yes, the first string is a problem. Sometimes I use a nylgut or carbon 1st. But I don’t like doing so.
@@RobMacKillop1 me neither i like the gut. I guess we should keep a well stocked 1ste course string cabinet😅. Do you oil your strings or care for them after or before you use them.
@@othala7540 I only oil them if the humidity is drying them out, which is rare in Scotland.
Depending on your string length it is simply impossible to use a gut string as a chanterelle. Either you have to use a very thin string (0,38mm) or go for Nylgut/Nylon.
Dear Rob, according to your last year recommendadtion I also switched to Damian gut strings. Excellent choice. Is there any particular reason why you play that away from the bridge close to the rose? Your Vienna Bernhard.
Just to annoy people who tell me not to :-)
Bernard : goo.gl/images/ZJtYH4
Would my Lyon and Healy bowlback mandolin sound better with gut strings?
No. It was built for very high-tension metal strings. The 18th-century mandolin was often string with gut, but the body construction was very different.
Rob the transition from 6 strings guitar to a 11c or 13 c baroque...you recommend jumping to a 13c and just going for it?
There are more differences between them than the number of strings, not least the string length from bridge to nut. French 11c lutes generally are around 67cms to 69cms, where as 13c lutes can very between 72 and 76 cms. Plus the internal barring can be different, and, of course, the aesthetic that went into the creation of each was different.
Given all that, the sound can be quite different. I never felt right about playing French 11c music on a German 13c.
So it depends on what music you want to play. Many classical guitarists want a lute in order to play Weiss and Bach. Now there are some 11c pieces by Weiss, but the 11c in Germany was already much bigger/longer than the French variety. Most of the music by Weiss is for 13 courses, so if that's your proposed repertoire I would go straight to that. I am more into the French repertoire, so it's an 11c for me.
I hope that helps?
@@RobMacKillop1 Rob thanks! Really clear. I guess is the 13c for me. Any luthier(s) you recommend?
Where are you in the world?
@@RobMacKillop1 USA..NYC
Number one choice would be NY-based Andy Rutherford. I can't find a website, but google him. Many top players use his instruments, expensive, though. Less expensive, try Gamut Strings - they make excellent lutes at decent prices. Check out the Lute Society of America website for more. Read as much as you can before ordering one. Second-hand lutes can be found here: www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute/forsale.html
Well, that was rather unexpected, but in a good way. ;) Is this one on loan, or are you keeping it? I’m hopefully getting a 7 course in the near future. :)
It's a keeper! :-) Great news you are getting a 7c. I recommend my Mel Bay book, Introduction to the Lute, for lute and guitar players :-)
Yes, I bought your book last year, but thanks for the recommendation. ; - )
@@wapolo1974 There's no harm in having multiple copies ;-)
Tempered fretboard in 11th century ? :))
17th century...
:))
No.
This is
11course Strings
musical instrument.
gut strings are the best guitar strings
I agree 100%
There is a bewitching quality to this instrument - so near, yet so far, far shallow, yet so deep, dusty with the smell of dry-rotted books in the ear, all presided over by a stalagtite diamond on top.
You took the words out of my mouth, Bea :-)
@@RobMacKillop1 Dang, Sir - I have it on good authority that doin' such a thang ain't easy to do!
hush! stop revealing my sectets!!! i string mine with fishing line...
Why does it sound almost like a banjo?
Beautiful music performanced skillfully and soulfully, anyway.
But also it quite does sound like a harp. Reminds me of Carolan`s works. I`m confused now.
Stop thinking. It's doing you no good at all :-)
People tend to say that about lutes.