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Thread: Let's build a liuto cantabile

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    Registered User Greg Stec's Avatar
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    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
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    That is an extremely rare Embergher liuto that this guitar player in Russia came across years ago. he tunes it like a guitar (sort of). More info here.

    For convenience, here is the measurement page:

    Jim



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    I saw one and it looked like it would be a blast to play.
    A talent for trivializin' the momentous and complicatin' the obvious.

    The entire staff
    funny....

  5. #4
    Registered User Greg Stec's Avatar
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    Thirty-seven ribs
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    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
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    Not the easiest of instruments to play... of course, neither is a mandocello.

    Jim
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    Registered User David Westwick's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by (jgarber @ April 11 2007, 20:15)
    Not the easiest of instruments to play... of course, neither is a mandocello.

    Jim
    Carlo Aonzo has a Pandini Liuto Cantabile, which he let me try out last September, at his first ever Accademia (highlly recommended experience, BTW). I approached the instrument as a mandocello with an extra string on top, which was probably the wrong way to do things (reaching over the E string to get to the "cello beneath").

    Calace's compositions for this instrument are written on a grand staff (treble and bass, like piano music). The bass staff is reserved for notes played on the low C string. Notes on the treble staff sound an octave lower than written. This would suggest that Calace thought of the instrument as a tenor mandola with an additional low string, rather than as a mandocello with an E string added on top.
    David Westwick.

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    Well, David... any words you would like to share on the qualities of the instrument? I mean, if you're going to start a fire, you might as well fan the flames, too, right?

    Cheers,

    Victor
    It is not man that lives but his work. (Ioannis Kapodistrias)

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    Registered User David Westwick's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by (vkioulaphides @ April 17 2007, 13:54)
    Well, David... any words you would like to share on the qualities of the instrument? I mean, if you're going to start a fire, you might as well fan the flames, too, right?

    Cheers,

    Victor
    Hi Victor:
    It would take a lot of getting used to. The neck is a study in compromise. It has to be thick enough to accomodate the 5 courses of strings, and yet not so thick as to make the instrument unplayable. The resut is that the strings feel very close together, but getting over all of the strings to the C course is still a stretch. With time, I expect that my "finger radar" would learn the size and shape of the neck, and I would feel at home on the instrument.

    The tone is interesting. The strings are under considerably less tension than an arch-top mandocello, probably due to the presence of an extra course, and due to the round-back construction of the instrument. The bowl is huge, which gives the Liuto a haunting tone. Again, the differences in string tension took some getting used to.


    The Liuto Cantabile is a wonderful instrument when it is in the hands of a virtuoso. Fabio Giuduce played some selections from Calace (who invented the instrument, and then composed for it) for the students at the Accademia in Savona. The instrument was invented to allow mandolin family instruments to play counterpoint. The bass parts (mostly on C and G courses) have a sustain that makes the counterpoint really work -- much more so than duo-style on a mandolin.
    David Westwick.

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    By way of a "parallel" example, many —indeed MOST— orchestras in Germany, Austria, Switzerland (and also Spain, et al.) employ 5-string double-basses, going down to an awe-inspiring sub-contra-B (below the second ledger-line under the bass clef, sounding an OCTAVE LOWER!!!

    Playing such beasts is, ehm... challenging. # For us... *ekhm*... Yankees, # #who have played the "normal" (i.e. 4-string) instrument since our teens, the 5-string behemoth is doubly troublesome, as all of a sudden one has to contend with such a kinestetically baffling reflex-reaction as is needed for the "middle string"— something that rattles our nerve-ends to no end.

    Forgive my narrow-mindedness but, were I to "go low" on plucked instruments, I would go straight to a decent, bowlback mandocello, forgoing the quirky 10-string critter. In my dreams, that is... #



    It is not man that lives but his work. (Ioannis Kapodistrias)

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    Registered User Irénée's Avatar
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    Default Re: Let's build a liuto cantabile

    I have 2 built and transformed from guitars for me by myself

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    Last edited by Irénée; Dec-03-2020 at 1:27pm.

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    Registered User Irénée's Avatar
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    Default Re: Let's build a liuto cantabile

    It's my work job !

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    This one is nylon strung from low 2 high : C-G-D-A-E-a/g (as you want A or G, but G is most secure considering the
    high tension on nylon string)
    Great sound, wonderfull tone, very woody... May be suitable more for classic, but depending of your taste...

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    This one is metal strung from low 2 high : C-G-D-A-e
    This one has a big cutty sound with great projection...

    The best pleasure is when you do it yoursel !!!
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    Last edited by Irénée; Dec-03-2020 at 4:02pm.

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    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
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    Default Re: Let's build a liuto cantabile

    To update this thread here are some photos I have in my files. The site in the first post is no longer working. I believe that Victor Speranski now owns it. Attached also is the measurement image.
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    Jim

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  19. #13
    Registered User Irénée's Avatar
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    Default Re: Let's build a liuto cantabile

    ... interesting old Embergher 10 string model... Necessary to restore it...
    ... the sound would be interesting, but you have to find a good master luthier... I know one in Paris...

  20. #14
    Registered User Irénée's Avatar
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    Default Re: Let's build a liuto cantabile

    ... complementary information : the nylon strung 12 string has a red cedar top...

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