A number of people have asked me why the 6 Course Renaissance Lute project moves so slowly.
My answer is a simple one: I cannot move faster.
I have also been asked why the lute looks so cumbersome – and this is easily explained: what you see in the photos is not the lute; it is the mould, or template, around which the lute body will be shaped.
The photos above show the first part of the actual lute – the neck-block, which resembles a sharp nose, and is carved from Poplar wood. (I chose Poplar because it has been traditionally used for that purpose; it works easily, and has good ‘resonance’).
The next step is to prepare thin ‘planks’ (known confusingly as ‘ribs’), and bend them around the mould. They will be glued edge-to-edge, and to the Poplar neck-block….thus forming a real lute body, which can be lifted off the mould.
That same mould will be used again to make more lutes: 6 Course or 7 Course Renaissance Lutes.
So much I understand; I move from lesson to lesson.
Of course, I am by nature a finicky sort of fellow, and I expect my silversmith training of long ago reinforced the trait- but at any rate, since I do not have a Master at my elbow, I must find out for myself how much ‘attention to detail’ is required.
For the time being I err on the side of detail, and caution….