ES - A&S questions

[Douglas Dudley]

Only think I know for certain about stringed-instrument-making:  You don't
have to use only brass strings for even modern instruments - guitars,
violins and others use nylon as a replacement for gut strings.  (at least,
at the grade-school-orchestra [huzzah for people willing to teach music to
young kids, by the way] level they do.  Someone may still make gut strings
for concert musicians.)Second item I don't know for sure; it is a rumor but
came from a source I consider reliable about music as well as other things:
Brian Beru (ancient king of Ireland, in case anyone has not heard of him)
owned a harp strung with white brass.  When archeologists dug it up out of
the bog where it had been for about 900 (this number I really am NOT sure
about - somebody please correct me!) years, the sound board was bowed about
20 degrees out of true - reproduction instrument makers spent (at least)
several years trying to reproduce the bow, until they discovered that it had
originally been flat, and was bowed becasue of tension of the brass strings,
still taut (I didn't hear, or think to ask, if it was still in tune).  So if
you can find out what kind of wood was used, maybe you can still use metal
strings.


----- Original Message -----
From: Richard Culver <rbculver at hotmail.com>
To: <elfsea at Ansteorra.ORG>
Cc: <glaslyn at Ansteorra.ORG>
Sent: Saturday, November 20, 1999 7:22 PM
Subject: ES - A&S questions


> Wassail!
>
>      ( I have mentioned this to Glaslyn's populace, but I need all the
help
> I can get :)  )
>
>     I am in search of people who can give me advice on A&S projects.  I
very
> much would like, in this second try at the SCA, to be more involved with
all
> points, not just fighting.
>      I have at least one project in mind.  It is going to involve some
> woodworking.  One question for example would be if old instruments used
> catgut for strings and wood for the pegs, would working reproductions have
> to have the same.  I am planning on such a thing, but want them actually
> playable and to do so may require things like bronze guitar strings, metal
> tuning pegs (could use oak pegs in theory but I think they would
eventually
> give using metal strings) and reinforcement of the bridge which would most
> likely be not visible from the outside.  I could make non-working
examples,
> but I would think people may want to hear these.
>      If there is anyone who could spare some face-to-face teaching and
maybe
> even show me their examples (purely because I am audio-visual in learning
> style) or pictures of their displays in detail, I would greatly appreciate
> it.
>
>
> Godspeed,
> Cyniríc Cyniwarding
>
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