Classical Guitar Magazine
BUILD YOUR OWN BAROQUE LUTE!
An interactive course by David van Edwards
CD Rom (Complete with drawings and schematics housed in a hard cardboard case.) This is the companion to the 'Make your own Renaissance Lute' by Mr Van Edwards. So you have perhaps made your 6 or 7-course Renaissance Lute and want to go for the big one, the 13-course Baroque Lute so beloved of Weiss, Hagen, Falckenhagen, and all those other wonderful Baroque composers, or maybe you bave gone straight for this course. Well, this programme is just what you need, along with plenty of tools, lots of various sorts of wood, a huge amount of patience and a fair modicum of skill to boot.
By the very nature of the instrument, the 13-course is a more complicated instrument to play, and one presumes to make, owing to its extra bass rider holding the additional strings that don't fit on the first peg box. But anyone willing to take up the challenge that has the necessary skills will surely be able to cope with this course. It is extremely detailed, with lots of full colour photographs of every step of the procedure. And after the introduction has 50 chapters detailing the method plus several others involving the woods, the varnish and the required tools together with a final chapter covering amongst other things: the tutor books, the music, the strings and the various Intemet sites and news groups you might find helpful or interesting.
Along with its companion, this latest course from Mr. Van Edwards is top class in every way. Of course, you do need the skills with wood and tools in the first place to get very far with it but surely no one would actually go for such an item as this, without knowing they could complete it satisfactorily anyway. So with that in mind, I can only say that this course can be wholeheartedlv recommended in every way.
Chris Dumigan
This review appeared in Classical Guitar magazine November 2003
