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"Every guitar program should have one." Robert Barto
"Congratulations Michael !
I listened to the two pieces and it is very convincing. Your Dresden should help guitarists to have the desire to record more Weiss and other late Baroque composers. I wouldn't be surprised that one day, the whole London or Dresden Ms are recorded on this instrument.Your instrument will help, I'm sure, to break it (the invisible barrier) for guitarists and raise their interest and passion in Baroque lute works so this repertoire will have a better place in their several-century repertoire".
Sincerely yours,
Michel Cardin
"I'm looking forward to experimenting with the myriad of possibilities this instrument offers for arranging and composing, and that alternate tunings are just as intriguing to me as the newly revealed availability of Baroque lute repertoire on a guitar".
Stephen Aron
Prelude from Sonata 34 d-minor Dresden by Weiss double click here:
Courante from Sonata 36 d-minor Dresden by Weiss double click here:
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The First Thirteen String Guitar Designed to Function as a Baroque Lute for Guitarists:
As all luthiers (or woodworkers of any type) know well, maintaining right hand nails, working with sharp objects and sandpaper don't go well together. I became frustrated a number of years ago with working up guitar pieces, only to end up sanding all my nails off on the bench sander. I realized I needed an instrument I could play that didn't require nails.
Since most of the guitar music I was attracted to was originally written
for the lute, I decided to take up the lute again.
After I built a number of lutes, I found myself completely seduced by the
Baroque lute, in particular by the music of Weiss. As there were no Baroque
lute addiction treatment centers in my area, I decided to give in to the
compulsion. After proclaiming my new found obsession, my guitar friends
quickly lost patience with me; a few thought I had lost my mind. I sank
further into the abyss. Many guitar friends suspected the worst, and indeed
their worst fear was confirmed: I had begun making 19th century guitars
as well!
A number of years ago, I visited a well-known guitarist living in New York
City. Looking around his apartment, I noticed Weiss facsimilies spread
over just about every square inch of living space. I asked him about it
and he said he was transcribing the entire work of Weiss for the guitar
-- all 60 sonatas! I thought this was cool; it would be a welcome introduction
for guitarists to Weiss and his music.
However, "the problem with Weiss is some pieces within a sonata work
very well, and some don't", Manuel Barrueco related to me after complimenting
him on a great performance of Sonata 11 in D minor by Weiss at this year's
GFA in Cleveland.
After making and playing baroque lutes now for a number of years, I had
a new thought. Why not simply make a guitar tuned in D minor so one could
play directly from the original tablalture. In addition to 6, 8 and 11
course lutes, lutenists have 13 course lutes specifically to play the music
of Weiss and his contemporaries. Why not guitarists too?
Introducing the Dresden (patent pending):
The Dresden was conceived for the guitarists, who while wanting to play
baroque lute repertoire, finds he/she faces too many hurdles when actually
attempting the Baroque lute. Recognizing the failure of much of this unique
literature when transcribed for the conventional guitar, many guitarists
have forsaken the repertoire altogether. The Dresden was designed to fill
this gap. It is important to note that the Dresden is in no way intended
to replace the lute or to imply that the lute is an obsolete instrument. There is
really no exception to the beauty and delicacy of the true Baroque lute.
I, myself, am a dedicated life-long lutenist. The Dresden instead is an
extraordinary enabler for guitarists with a love of Baroque music: this
instrument makes it available like it has never been before.
When confronted with the Baroque lute, the guitarist faces a range of issues.
Among them are the following:
All this before addressing interpretation and style!
The Dresden solves concerns 4 through 9, allowing the guitarist to tackle
issues 1 through 3 without additional distraction. However, I'd like to
point out experienced lutenists find all of the above an asset.
The first thing a guitarist realizes when playing Weiss on the lute is
how good it all feels under the fingers, things that were monstrously difficult
on guitar suddenly become effortless on the lute. In Weiss, one doesn't
pluck a single course more than twice, the music moves more across the
strings rather than up and down the neck, the way it must be played on
guitar. Bar chords are almost nonexistent, as the thumb takes full advantage
of the open bass courses tuned diatonically (from A on the lowest course
to A on the sixth course -- a full octave) to the given key of the piece.
This greatly frees up the left hand. The highest fret used in Weiss is
the tenth, and so far I've only come across this once or twice, usually
he only goes to the 9th. (Bach arrangements need 14 frets).
Build It And They Will Come:
Over the past couple of years, I've casually mentioned my idea to a number
of guitarists only to hear them say, "Yeah! that sounds cool"
or "you're crazy!" However, one guitarist stood out from the
crowd. As I spoke with him over the past couple of years about this idea,
I could sense a very clear and rational approach and openness to this idea,
a new direction, something different. His name is Stephen Aron. Steve has
ordered The Dresden for the University of Akron, as he wanted his students
to be able to read Baroque lute tablature as part of their formal musical
training, without having to adapt and change their technique for the lute.
He also ordered one for himself.
To Discover Something New, Unveil The Past:
Todate, I've made two (2) Dresden's. The 2nd most recent one has features
that were not incorporated into the 1st design:
The Dresden has many features that are a direct result of my experience
not only building Baroque lutes, but playing them as well.
The first thing one will notice is a distinctive visual departure from
the design of 10 and 11 string guitars. The Dresden's neck is tilted to
the bass side allowing the bridge to be perfectly centered on the top.
Most importantly, however, this tilting of the neck allows the player's
left hand to be in a higher position (higher from the floor), or in the
exact same position as on the 6 string guitar. Guitarists picking up a
multi-string guitar for the first time have enough obstacles to overcome.
This feature also allows the guitarist to move back and forth between a
6 and 13 string guitar without having to adjust. The standard 10 or 11
string guitar is more uncomfortable, not to mention a significant strain
on the player's shoulder, as one must hold one's left hand lower and in
a more extended position.
If we look back in time to the great lute makers of the past, we discover
they developed instruments with this particular physcal characteristic.
As more courses were added to lutes over time, the necks were more and
more tilted to the bass side, even though they could have avoided this
and simply built them with centered necks. They must have recognized this
important idea, missing in modern guitars; it is not only visually important
but acoustically critical as well.
The Extension:
The Dresden also has what is called a "Swan Neck". The first
appearance of a Swan Neck lute was in Germany made by Hoffman in 1723 and
was an innovation Weiss had made for the 13 course lute which first appeared
in 1718. Evidence has also surfaced recently crediting Weiss for adding
two more bass strings to the standard 11 course lute of the day to total
13 in all.
After seeing numerous multi-string guitars with the heads jam packed in
every conceivable way to fit as many strings as possible into a limited
space, abandoning any sense of proportional beauty, using unsightly banjo
tuners, combined with traditional tuners, I thought why not go back to
the past! The Swan Neck lute has a timeless appeal and a wonderful sense
of proportion as well as a very well thought out element of practicality.
So, I simply incorporated this idea into the Dresden.
Through my research, I put forth a controversial theory that Swan Neck
lutes were a direct result of new string technology. This theory now seems
to be the accepted norm among scholars in the lute world. This same string
technology many scholars also feel gave birth to the modern six string
guitar as we know it today.
The neck extension allows one to use strings that are thinner in diameter
than if one simply stopped all the diapasons at the same place on the first
nut. I'm sure many of you have at one time picked up a 10 string guitar
and noticed how large the last few bass strings were, not to mention how
dull and lifeless they sounded. Again, the masters of the past figured
this out and were keenly aware that a bass string that was too thick sounded
dead and lifeless. Baroque lute bridges never feature string holes larger
than 1.8mm; this fact sets the limit on string diameters on lutes.
It works the same way on The Dresden. The neck extension allows the use
of bass strings with a diameter that is thinner and therefore produces
a bass register that is more responsive, hence, imparting both a much improved
fundamental tone quality as well as a perception of brighter octaves.
10 and 11 string makers today (myself included at one point), have simply
thought to just add more to the string diameter as you go down the basses.
It has been well-established that this is not an ideal solution. The design
of The Dresden eliminates this problem.
D Minor Tuning:
The Dresden was originally conceived as a guitar tuned in the standard
baroque lute tuning commonly referred to as D minor. This tuning allows
the guitarist the unheard of opportunity to read scores directly from original
lute tablature, with original fingerings, and ornamentation impossible
to realize on the 6 or 10 string guitar. While many guitarists play modern
and romantic music on the 10 string, it seems by far the most popular reason
to play a 10 string is the baroque repertoire.
The traditional 10 string, however, becomes an instrument not much different than the
6 string when it comes to arrangements. Bach himself set the precedent
for arranging for the unique tuning represented by the Baroque lute and
the Dresden guitar. Bach would have heard an instrument tuned in thirds
with diatonic basses, producing an entirely different effect than a modern
10 string guitar.
The exquisite compositions of Weiss are an entirely different matter. Weiss
wrote only lute music. Weiss' music is idiomatic to the lute. While the
left hand fingerings are more or less the same as guitar, however, the
right hand is quite different.
The most significant aspect of Baroque lute technique is the use of the
thumb. Weiss and all other baroque lute composers used the open basses
constantly; you might say the thumb "lives" in the basses. Each
time one plucks a bass string, your thumb rests on the next string to be
plucked; it is in constant motion using the basses to the fullest extent
possible, unlike 10 and 11 string arrangements of baroque music that only
occassionally use the lower notes.
Weiss' pieces require the player to move more across the strings utilizing
as many open strings as possible, creating a lush, sustaining resonance,
with an ease of phrasing impossible to obtain in any other tuning. Weiss
sounds clipped and strained on the normal guitar, as the guitarists must
constantly cut notes short that normally would sustain.
I know many guitarists are hesitant to tackle more than six strings. There
is no need to be as long as one is committed and invests some time in getting
acquainted with it. Multi-string guitar players will find it very easy
to adjust.
The Dresden with the D minor tuning opens up a wealth of music from the
baroque era by composers such as Bach, Weiss, Reusner, Hagen, Baron, Falkenhagen,
Bittner, Conradi, as well as the earlier French composers Gaultier, Mouton,
etc. not to mention the countless manuscripts with anon. pieces, and new
music being discovered every year.
Sylvius Leopold Weiss wrote his music in the French baroque tablature system.
French tablature indicates frets with lower-case Roman letters and the
top six fingerboard courses with six lines. Bass courses below the sixth
course are indicated by letters and diagonal slashes or numbers under the
sixth line. Staffs above the lines indicate rhythm.
Weiss wrote for a baroque lute tuned: f' d' a f d A G F E D C B A. The
first two strings were single, a, f, d, courses were doubled in unison,
and the remaining bass were pairs with a fundamental and an octave.
1) Appoggiatura from above or short trill; 2) extended trill; 3) appoggiatura from below; 4) port de voix; 5) mordent; 6) vibrator; 7) slur;
8) separe' (broken chord); 9) reprise (occurs a few measures below double bar or
final cadence;
10) left-hand fingers: 1 = index; 2 = middle; 3 = ring; 4 = little;
11) right-hand fingerings: I = thumb; . = index; .. = middle; ... = ring
The Bridge And Fretboard:
One will also notice the asymmetrical shape of the bridge. At first glance
this might look like the Kasha-designed bridge. Although similar, it is
actually based on the lute bridges. Most lute bridges are wider on the
bass side and thinner on the treble. According to Dr. Kasha and many others,
the bass needs dampening, (dampening = mass) and the treble needs to be
stiff and light. It is interesting to note that the early lute makers had
come to this conclusion 500 years ago. Another distinctive feature of Baroque
lutes is the crown of the fingerboard. Baroque lutes had anywhere from
3mm to 5mm crowns. This crowning of the fingerboard greatly facilitates
this style of playing. So I incorporated this feature into The Dresden.
The crown, however, reaches it's height under the 3rd string and flattens
out toward the bass side. As one is more occupied with the first 6 strings,
this gives it a better overall feel. On the curve of the back of the neck,
I do the same. The crest of the curve of the neck falls more under the
3rd string and flattens out toward the bass side. No reason to have this
crown crest in the middle of the neck as one doesn't generally play across
all 8 strings. One generally plays the first 6 strings. This has a feel
more in line with a 6 string guitar.
Strings:
Long ago I'd given up the practice of predicting what strings my customers preferred. What I think is a good string and what you might think is a good string are two different things. So, generally, on my 6 string guitars I use D'Addario EJ46 as these are very consistent and neutral strings. On the Dresden, however, it's a different matter. The option of tuning it to A 440 or A 415 or A 390 throws more into the pot! I would recommend contacting me personally about the different diameter strings one can use. I will say, however, that once you purchase a set of strings only the 1st 6 strings wear out at the normal pace as if it were an equivalent of a 6 string guitar. The remaining 7th and 8th strings wear out at less of a rate and the remaining diapasons will need to be changed maybe every 5 years as the only wear is your finger in stricking them -- there's no wear from the frets. One can go to the "link page" on my web site for string dealers. Strings are quite easy to obtain for The Dresden. So this is not a problem.
Specifications:
The Dresden features an Italian Spruce soundboard with prominent "hazelfechte"
or commonly known as "bear claw". Back and sides are East Indian
Rosewood. The string length for the 1st 8 strings is 650mm and the remaining
diapasons are 900mm. The neck is Spanish Cedar and the head is enclosed
on the back side by Rosewood veneer adding strength to the head design.
This particular guitar has Schaller tuners, however, the possibilities
for custom made tuners are limitless and the price is too! So, if interested
in custom tuners, please contact me to discuss this option. The case, obviously,
needs to be a custom design and is not included in the price of the guitar.
Again, please call me to discuss case options either from Carlton or Kingham.
Strings on this instrument are made in Italy by Aquila . The 1st 3 strings
are nylgut and the remaining strings are nylgut core with copper winding;
however, one can use the clear carbon nylon string as well for the trebles.
Price: U.S. $7,000.00
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