The Windmill, Volume 7, Number 9, May 1981 Page: 4
8 p. : ill.View a full description of this periodical.
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3 fStudents
The art of building fine musical in-
struments using the methods of crafts-
ment of the 16th and 17th centuries is
part of the learning process for music
students at UTPB. The class is building
a 17th-century viola da gamba.
Prof. Craig Lister, music, said building
the instrument has been a semester-long
project, and work will continue into the
summer. A total of 250-300 hours will go
into the project. An inaugural concert
for the instrument is planned in the fall.
Lister said the viola da gamba, popular
in the 15th to 18th centuries, was devel-
oped at about the same time as the
modern violin, but is in a different family
of instruments,
"Actually, there is no relation between
the viola da gamba and the cello," he said.
"Laymen might consider the gamba as
a six-string guitar that is bowed," he said.
"Like the guitar, the gamba has both
frets and a flat back, which gives it its
distinctive sound. The cello has only
four strings and has a bowed back," he
added.
Lister noted that by 1770, the gamba
had died out, but when it was in vogue,
it was played in combination with the
harpsichord to provide support for singers
and instrumentalists.
"It is a fact that the gamba balances
with the harpsichord better than a cello
because the gamba has a brighter, thinner
and more delicate tone than the modern
cello. The gamba has a broader range
than the cello-our gamba has a range of
about three octaves," he said.learn
"musician's
Gambas were made in various sizes
and played together or in consort, but
they also were played as solo instruments,
Lister said. The standard consort was one
tenor, one alto and two bass gambas.
Lister's students are building a bass
instrument built in the baroque style of
the 17th and 18th century. Woods used
in the instrument are the same as used
during that time-spruce for the sound
board, sycamore for the sides and back,
and maple for the neck.
He noted that while the class began
with a kit providing all the wood pieces
and bent pieces in their bent shape, a
great deal of preparation went into build-
ing the instrument, and many tools also
had to be made.
The first step in construction involved
putting the ribs onto the back and con-
structing the back and sides.
"Once you get the shape of the back,
you cut out the sound board. Then you
thin the inside of the sound board. This
determines the quality of the instrument,
because it must resonate at a certain
pitch," he said. Tapping the sound board
at a particular place should produce a
bell-like tone between B flat and B natu-
ral. This pitch is perfected by thinning
the sound board.
Once the proper tone is obtained,
decorative F holes must be cut in the
sound board with a knife. No saws may
be used. The sound board is glued to
the back and sides with a thinned animal
glue.Lister noted modern glues are so
strong that the wood breaks if repairs are
needed. Animal glue will separate, with a
sharp blow of a rubber mallet.
Next, a decorative "purfling" is added
around the edge of the sound board. This
"purfling" is an inlay of celluloid which
protects the edge of the board from
cracking and causing a weak place in the
instrument.
Once the sound board is completed,
the neck piece is carved and the sound
post and strings are installed. By this
time, Lister said, the sound quality is
already determined, but certain perfec-
tions in the instrument can be made.
The instrument is played "in the
white" at this point, before finishing the
wood to identify "wolf tones" or louder
notes. He said the sound board may be
sanded slightly at this point to tone down
various notes.
Even the varnish to finish the wood is
authentic, according to Lister. The
chemistry lab at UTPB will make the
varnish based on a formula used in the
18th century, he said.
Lister said he is hoping, in future
classes, to build all the instruments in-
cluded in a normal baroque ensemble.
His classes have already built a harpsi-
chord. After completing the viola da
gamba, he said another six or eight
instruments will be needed including
wind, keyboard, string and percussion
instruments.ins
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University of Texas of the Permian Basin. The Windmill, Volume 7, Number 9, May 1981, periodical, May 1981; Odessa, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1032906/m1/4/?q=Lamar+University: accessed June 6, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.