Classical Guitar Magazine
BUlLD YOUR OWN RENAISSANCE LUTE
An interactive course by David Van Edwards
CD Rom (Complete with drawings and schematics housed in a hard cardboard case.) Here is an innovative and wonderful idea I have not come across before. You do need to be handy with tools to even think of starting on such a venture as this and the chance to actually make your own instrument that you would be able to play afterwards must surely be a venture to be proud of. But exactly how feasible is it? When you actually load up your CD Rom, you get a main index page with 46 chapter headings, which detail step by step the exact way to make your lute. After the Introduction which goes into various details including just why Mr. Van Edwards has chosen only 6 or 7 course lutes, rather than 8, 9, or 10, one clicks onto lesson No.l, 'Marking and cutting out the outline of the mould and spine', whlch includes about a dozen and a half full colour photographs marking every step of the procedure along wlth the extremely detailed narrative telling you how to go about it. From then on you go through every step of the procedure in what appears to be great detail, wlth the end result that you finish with an extremely attractive looking: 6 or 7 course renaissance lute to play all that fabulous repertoire on. The final chapter covers all manner of things including teachers, tutors, strings, cases and the Internet discussion groups with links to many useful places for further subjects of interest.
All in all this appears to be thorough and, providing the necessary skills are yours for the using, there appears to be no reason why, with a great deal of time, effort and patience, you wouldn't end up with a beautiful instrument to treasure for the rest of your life. This package is a laudable achievement that many people ought to get a great deal of satisfaction
from.
Chris Dumigan
This review appeared in Classical Guitar magazine November 2003
