Anthony R. Glass   Tue, 18 Jan 2000 16:51:15 -0600
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Hello all,

I've read so many bios so far that sound similar to my own that I've had
to really struggle not to repeat too much of what has already been said!
Here goes...

I'm 37 and live near Peoria, IL with my wife of nearly 2 years.  I am a
librarian by profession (Eureka College), and I have been playing some
form of guitar or another since high school.  I was introduced to the
lute literature gradually through various transcriptions for classical
guitar (i.e. Frederic Noad's anthologies, Papas' "Six Lute Pieces of the
Renaissance", adapted from Chilossoti, etc.)  At some point I realized
that tuning the 3rd string down a half step actually made more sense and
not only made the original tablature more accessible, after a while it
also made guitar transcriptions just seem pointless.

It never occurred to me until I happened upon this list some years ago
that acquiring a lute was even feasible, let alone possible (I always
thought Julian Bream and those guys were actually playing instruments
built in the 16-17th centuries! Not!).  But, eventually I decided that's
exactly what I was going to do. Besides, I got tired of retuning the
sixth string all the time.

Unfortunately, there are not a lot of teachers or builders within a
three hours drive in any direction of Peoria (Chicago and St. Louis are
the closest urban centers to speak of, and we're right between).  So,
after doing some homework I finally ordered an 8co. ren lute from Mel
Wong last summer (the "Plain Jane Pickering" special). It arrived last
Friday, and I am a proud owner indeed! No matter how much you think you
like the sound of the lute on a CD, or even from across the room,
there's no comparison to the sound of the one you hold in your hands (my
initial, disoriented fumbling notwithstanding!) Yes, there'll be some
re-adjustment ahead of me due to long ingrained guitaristic habits, but
the payoff is knowing just how much better it'll sound if and when I get
it right!

True, it's always better to try before you can buy--if you can. But it
is nice to know
that some of us folks out in the middle of nowhere can take a calculated
risk and come out ahead. At any rate,  I sensed Mel had a pretty solid
rep among the lutenetters I talked to during my research.  One more big
Thumbs-Up for Blackbird!

In addition to my luting aspirations, my wife and I play in a recorder
consort, occasionally even playing in public or at SCA events (if you
can call that "public"). In addition to the dozen or so lute CDs in my
playing rotation,  I try to listen to as much renaissance choral music I
can get my hands on.  Naturally, we mostly play renaissance material,
most of our recorder repertory consists of works originally scored for
voices.  Sometimes I think it's useful to think of the lute as a
hand-held choir.

Well, I did try my best to keep this down to a few quick paragraphs.
Okay, who's next?