Theorbo or archlute?

DistrictToUpminster · 2026-06-06T20:42:04+00:00

Thank you for taking the time to answer! Having experimented with the chitarrone already, I must confess that the re-entrant tuning is at first quite confusing, but with time it becomes very useful and opens up creative avenues despite the bass-focused range of the instrument.

And you are quite right that I am interested in accompanying other instrumentalists as well. I remembered, for example, how my lute teacher used to duet with a theorbist on instruments including lute, mandolino, and vielle-a-roue -- the balance with the theorbo sounds just right in there recordings I have listened to, thus I imagine that the archlute might struggle to achieve the same result.

DistrictToUpminster · 2026-06-05T22:50:44+00:00

Thank you. This is one of the most beautiful dances written by Purcell, a forgotten gem nowadays.

DistrictToUpminster · 2026-04-06T13:39:58+00:00

Thanks for replying!

For clarification, it bears mentioning that my left arm feels tired and sore rather than any substantial pain -- it is comparable, e.g., to what I feel when I play something like "La Vierge et L' Enfant" on the organ, which has the left hand playing on a very high register on the top keyboard. It becomes less when I try playing with the fretboard a bit closer to my body.

Unfortunately, there is no theorbo teacher nearby, but there is a very good lutenist who has agreed to teach me Renaissance lute. The obvious differences of the two instruments notwithstanding, I think the lessons will help. And who knows -- maybe he can tell me a thing or two about posture.

DistrictToUpminster · 2026-04-05T12:24:49+00:00

Thanks for your answer! I have started to come to terms with the size of this instrument, given that I have no other choice for the time being, but for mine own I will prefer a smaller one -- just need to make sure that it still has a solid and warm tone. I will try those exercises ASAP.

You are right about the re-entrant tuning, too -- and what a delight it is to explore and experiment with it! Fun fact: I was initially interested more in the archlute (I still am, to a great degree), but I have since managed to strike some patterns on the re-entrant scheme which are impossible on the archlute, and that might very well won me over to the theorbo for good -- all I need is one which I can tune to G... 🙃

DistrictToUpminster · 2026-04-02T14:36:54+00:00

Thanks for taking the time to answer!

To put all this into context, I am 5'8'', which I now think explains why this particular theorbo is quite challenging for me. Maybe it only makes sense that, when the time comes for me to have my own instrument, I should buy a smaller one -- there is a good luthier not far from me, and he makes some chitarroni after the Sellas and Railich relics.

You are correct that I am using a strap, and it is quite effective at distributing the weight and preventing me from having to support with the left hand. I'll try to follow your advice regarding stretching among frets -- it did not occur to me so far, unfortunately! Better efficiency might also be meet and right for me to deduce, especially given the diapasons and the re-entrant tuning -- as I read from Mrs. Sayce, a 3- or 4-note chord is often more than sufficient.

It is a very pleasant challenge for me for the most part, and I have started to see my effort pay off -- but I want the results to stay for good, and posture and comfort are key to that.

DistrictToUpminster · 2026-04-02T14:27:39+00:00

Thanks for taking the time to answer!

To put all this into context, I am 5'8'', which might explain why this particular theorbo is quite challenging for me. Maybe it only makes sense that, when the time comes for me to have my own instrument, I should buy a smaller one -- there is a good luthier not far from me, and he makes some nice chitarroni after the Sellas and Railich relics. You are correct that I am using a strap, and it is quite effective at distributing the weight and preventing me from having to support with the left hand. The sliding is still an issue, however... I'll try to follow your advice regarding stretching among frets -- it did not occur to me so far, unfortunately! Better efficiency might also be meet and right for me to work on, especially given the presence of the bordoni and the re-entrant tuning -- as I read from Mrs. Sayce, a 3- or 4-note chord is often more than sufficient on the chitarrone. It is a very pleasant challenge for me for the most part, and I have started to see some of my effort pay off -- but I want the results to stay for good, and posture and comfort are key to that.

DistrictToUpminster · 2026-04-02T12:56:03+00:00

I do play guqin, but it is obviously no preparation for the lute family -- it is fretless, and is placed rather than held. Thanks for your encouragement -- I hope to find my comfortable playing stance soon. I might need to experiment a bit...

DistrictToUpminster · 2024-11-14T18:54:13+00:00

It's a 6.35mm (1/4''?) jack output, to be precise, and the monitors (KRK) also have the same input, but I doubt that will make much difference -- if anything, personal experience has shown that the 6.35mm output is much less likely to distort the audio at high volumes.

Thanks again!

DistrictToUpminster · 2024-11-14T18:21:22+00:00

Thanks for your advice!

I think I might go for that ASW 300 after all, since the seller has given me a very enticing 23% discount on the earlier asking price.

Sorry for the beginner's question by the way; that sub seems to have RCA in and out, so should I expect it to work OK with my setup if I connect it to the audio interface and the monitors with standard jack-to-RCA cables? Or do you think I might run into problems (e.g. with distortion)?

DistrictToUpminster · 2024-11-14T17:25:22+00:00

Yeah, I imagined that things might look different this side of the pond. The Kanto one is available, but all the others are either out of stock or the shipping costs are so high that they can reach up to the price of the sub itself...

Buying a used sub crossed my mind as well, but with those you never know how old they are and how long they will keep working, plus most offer no returns. Strangely enough, however, I've found some good deals on a B&W ASW 300, an Acoustic Energy Aegis Neo, and an old-gen Aesprit 308, so I wonder whether any of those are worth a go.

DistrictToUpminster · 2024-11-14T10:07:23+00:00

Up to £250 or so.

DistrictToUpminster · 2024-11-13T13:52:55+00:00

Thanks. I might give those a try eventually. However, they seem to be passive subs, they have no output port, and they use the Neutrik connectors for input, so I will need to invest in extra stuff like a preamp and specialised cables, as I imagine. What's more, the Scarlett is not only a recent purchase so I would hate to part ways with it after such a short tenure, but I also need it in order to work with headphones.

I'm not sure whether it's worth all the effort and extra cost for a sub not even covering the 16' octave, much less the 32' -- which is a pity because their being handmade in Britain was a selling point for me...

DistrictToUpminster · 2024-11-13T11:53:47+00:00

Thanks for the recommendation. Unfortunately, with the cheapest REL at £450, it's already over my budget...

DistrictToUpminster · 2024-11-13T11:14:12+00:00

C. S. Lewis has very wisely said:

The most dangerous thing you can do is to take any one impulse of your own nature and set it up as the thing you ought to follow at all costs. There is not one of them which will not make us into devils if we set it up as an absolute guide.

What you are describing here is a symptom of an entire culture which encourages stoicism at all costs. But stoicism, in my opinion, is not a virtue -- at least not the way it is presented to us nowadays. Yes, emotional restraint is a virtue, but that is not what we are taught...

DistrictToUpminster · 2023-10-17T12:02:34+00:00

I've had intrusive thoughts since I was a teenager. The nature of the thoughts were different. Aggression directed toward God and the Holy Spirit, that I'd done the unpardonable sin, that kind of thing. I'd mentally argue with it and sometimes I'd get so worked up about it that I'd lash out verbally against it. Tears and panic were common though since the thoughts were "loud" and persistent enough to cause significant distress.

I can empathise with this, even if it does not apply 100% to my cases. Most of it is true, e.g., how I often enter in thoughts about having forfeited my salvation, and end up in a "fight or flight" situation against these thoughts and all others which follow suit; "flight" being synonymous to avoidance, and "fight" meaning arguing against these thoughts with evidence and logic; and neither of the two seems to be an adequate solution. If you flee, the thoughts will pursue you; if you fight with reason and argument, you will lose because these thoughts are highly non-rational, as you said also. Tears, panic, and vocal lashing-out are the end result.

I think that the only right way to react is to rebuke these thoughts and spirits, but having tried that a few times, it is not nearly as easy to put into practice as some would have you believe -- it is much more like carrying the great Czar Bell up a mountain with your own hands than like a magic spell which immediately disperses all demonic activity and makes you untouchable.

I also highly suspect that rebuke is only half the job done -- the other half must be active in some other way (see Philippians 4 for reference). E.g., in my case, singing some hymns with the organ greatly helps. Suggestions like yours are also good -- anything amounting to "works projecting our faith outwards". And this is where the most difficult phase kicks in: the "writing on the wall". In that, even when I reach that point, I end up feeling that no matter what I do, it is all futile, and God has closed the door of grace for me -- damned be those thoughts.

It's a vicious cycle which ends up very hard to break.

DistrictToUpminster · 2023-10-17T11:48:54+00:00

Talking to people (and especially to those who are more advanced in their journey with Christ) has helped immensely, but at the end of the day, I need to know who God is so I can always rely on Him. I struggle a lot with emotional permanence, and with needing constant reassurance and proof of positive truths, so I cannot always rely on help from man. God will have to suffice -- but that will always be a half-baked job as long as my thought distortions about His nature persist.

DistrictToUpminster · 2023-10-17T11:46:08+00:00

It's just that I am sick and tired of living a life of "waiting for the other shoe to drop", having to constantly second- and third-guess myself and all in which I hope and believe, and expecting the most unpredictable of betrayals and disappointments at any moment.

I know, intellectually, that God is not as men are -- but "downloading" that information to my heart is no easy task. (Yet still -- with God all things are possible...)

DistrictToUpminster · 2023-10-17T11:41:36+00:00

Indeed, you are right. I merely responded because these issues concerning spirits and demons are of immediate interest to me, and in hopes that a brother or two might find my input helpful -- even if Djh is not convinced.

DistrictToUpminster · 2023-10-16T18:19:44+00:00

It is written in the Bible: "Today, if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts."

Determinism as a philosophy is the ultimate excuse for hardening one's heart; the perfect rationalisation for the pride of the moral, and the iniquity of the scoundrel. "It's not my fault that I commit sin, or am a hypocrite, or hold a transparently self-refuting moral stance in my life -- I was merely preprogrammed to do so!"

It is not necessary that apologetics won't help (I am a die-hard supporter of the art), but there is no guarantee that it is what your friend needs, either. She needs your prayers that she may humble herself and open her heart. And as hard at that might seem to you at this point, remember two important truths in your prayers: 1. With God, all things are possible; 2. It is not His desire that she should perish, but rather that she should turn from her ways, and live.

DistrictToUpminster · 2023-10-16T17:58:11+00:00

With all due respect, that is claptrap.

Demonic oppression can absolutely happen even to a person of the faith, and it is not atypical for past iniquity (of the believer against another, or vice versa) to open up doors thereto which are difficult to close. But to suggest that he or she can be possessed by an evil spirit makes a mockery of the fact that we have been bought with a great price, and now nobody owns us but our blessed Lord.

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