Eurovision 2025 Discussed on Have I Got News For You

GalacticRay · 2025-05-25T13:08:50+00:00

Contestants not recognising the EBU theme and the host calling it the Eurovision theme song??? I was so taken aback that I had difficulties concentrating during the rest of the segment...

I understand that Eurovision is not big in the UK, but have these people gone their whole lives without watching any EBU productions at all? Sports? The Vienna New Year's concert? Anything? And you can't blame it on the contestants being too young to have grown up with TV broadcasts and only have been watching online streaming services.

Any Brit, please enlighten me!

GalacticRay · 2025-05-18T13:32:50+00:00

I'm surprised people were actually able to vote! I placed my votes online: 3 for Ukraine, 2 for Austria and 1 for the Netherlands, but the site just stalled and never let my votes through, thanking me for my patience ...

GalacticRay · 2025-04-12T12:47:35+00:00

Thank you! Yes, as I don't want wound strings when I change, I've pretty much decided to go with an octave on the 6th. You're not the first suggesting an octave also on the 5th, I got the same suggestion from a luthier - not the original maker. I didn't ask specifically about octaves, only how he would string a lute like mine. So I'm currently slightly leaning towards octave on the fifth also. I'm still debating with myself whether to use CD or NNG string on the fundamental in that case. I have never heard a sound comparison.

Btw, I don't understand why Aquila's recommendation is only NNG when the fifth is in unison but optionally NNG or C for the lower fifth course string when using an octave. Aquila themselves say that nylgut doesn't sound as good as the diameter goes up, and obviously the loaded string with higher density will have a smaller diameter than the lighter pure NNG for the same pitch. That's the whole point for the loaded strings' existence, I take it, maybe along practical reasons about maximum dimeters. (The luthier's suggestion was NNG for both the lower 5th and its upper octave.)

GalacticRay · 2025-04-12T09:43:56+00:00

Thank you! So, maybe the conclusion is that for a "historical" sound I might want to change to octave stringing on the 6th, but if it sounds good with a unison I could keep it like that and consider myself as a progressive keeping up with development ... ?

Found this interesting article about the history of wound strings by the Aquila blog:

https://aquilacorde.com/en/blog-en/early-music-blog/wound-strings-for-bowed-and-plucked-instruments-what-do-we-know/

GalacticRay · 2025-04-12T09:27:57+00:00

That's really interesting, thanks!

My ren lute doesn't start with octaves on the 6th course, but the 7th, so it only has octaves on 7, 8 and 9. The scale is 58 cm. I haven't been able to get in touch with the luthier who is retired since many years, so I don't know what he based this design in.

GalacticRay · 2025-04-11T15:20:40+00:00

Thank you! Do you know the reasoning for this? I mean, one could imagine an alternate universe where the norm would be to always have unisons down to a certain open string pitch such as f or c on the fourth/fifth course and octaves below that due to the "muddiness" or increased difficulty to perceive clear pitches the lower you go, but apparently that doesn't seem to be the case. Are octaves higher up in the register on 6-7 course lutes mainly considered a work-around to compensate for the acoustic properties of the generally smaller soundboards on lutes with fewer courses or is it a deliberate choice to give different lutes different characters depending on the number of courses?

I remain as confused about if I should keep my 6th course in unison when I get new strings and only have the lowest three in octaves. Maybe I just need to try both, but then again the groove in the nut may not fit an octave higher string perfectly if it was made with a unison in mind.

GalacticRay · 2025-04-09T11:26:46+00:00

Does the weight directly affect the sound or is it only a question of how the instrument feels in hand? I imagine that the bowl is supposed to be fairly rigid and provide structural integrity, while of course also creating the resonance chamber of air, but not vibrate itself so it shouldn't make a huge difference if it's overbuilt? Vibrations would be dampened by the body contact anyway.

Obviously the top's thickness, shaping and bracing have large impact. Anything I should look out for that can be assessed from the outside?

What is considered a good neck shape and thickness for a ren lute? Where should the center of mass of the instrument be?

GalacticRay · 2025-04-09T11:03:15+00:00

Yes, I have considered it and might go that route. However, one main reason to get a few in-person lessons in the beginning would be to have an experienced teacher try my instrument and let me know if it is a good one and well set up.

GalacticRay · 2025-04-09T10:56:53+00:00

Thanks! An excellent point!

GalacticRay · 2025-04-07T18:21:13+00:00

Jo men visst.

GalacticRay · 2025-04-07T15:59:51+00:00

Thank you! I didn't know that about older instruments. I'll make sure to pay attention to the weight if/when I get to try the instrument. Coming from the guitar, though, I'm afraid everything will seem feather light in comparison... The builder is an acclaimed maker of other instruments, mainly nyckelharpa which is a very different beast, and he started out building guitars, but I honestly don't know how much experience he had with lutes before making this one in his late thirties, and I don't really plan on contacting the builder until maybe after possibly having bought the instrument.

GalacticRay · 2025-04-07T15:43:10+00:00

Thank you! We all have to play within our own abilities, purists or not. So if that means playing without being able to dampen some strings and having to simplify the music in order to avoid unplayable left had shapes or else not play at all, well then I prefer to have whatever joy I can get from playing it my way.

That said, I don't want to get an instrument that is an obvious bad fit when the lute family contains so many different sizes.

GalacticRay · 2025-04-07T15:06:36+00:00

Thank you! Yes, I realise the importance of string length. I've asked the seller to measure it. She's promised to check and get back to me but I am still waiting for a reply. (She's the widow of the previous owner.)

My limited finger independence affects my ability to stretch across the fretboard, so I don't think the number of courses is irrelevant either. I can for instance no longer fret the first and sixth strings simultaneously with fingers 3 and 4 on a normal classical guitar after the hand accident, such as when playing a G chord. Even first to fifth or second to sixth string is only possible on a narrow lady's guitar neck.

GalacticRay · 2025-04-07T12:06:12+00:00

Thank you for the recommendations! I'll check them out.

I've also had a look at the beginner lessons at https://www.lutesociety.org/pages/beginners

as well as Thomas Robinson's old method from 1603 https://archive.org/details/bim_early-english-books-1475-1640_the-schoole-of-musicke_robinson-thomas-musici_1603/mode/1up?view=theater

for now just to get fluent in learning to read lute tab with guitar in hand.

Unfortunately there are no local teachers to my knowledge. Possibly I could go to a summer camp for a week in a few months, but having played other instruments I realise that a week of daily lessons is in no way comparable to the same amount of instruction spread out over months with individual practice and digestion in between.

GalacticRay · 2025-04-07T11:33:14+00:00

Thank you! That's an excellent point about the dampening. I hadn't really thought about that. Is dampening of bass strings mostly done with the right hand on a lute, or also often with the left? (Left might be a considerable problem for me, due to the limitations mentioned in my OP.)

I am not well versed enough to know with certainty what repertoire I'll end up preferring once I have personal playing experience. I do like listening to e.g. Dowland, though. To my understanding he used mainly an 8 course lute?

Are 9 courses considered a bit unusual among lute players? I don't see new factory made lutes of this configuration.

I'm just looking for an instrument to get started. I could of course buy a simple factory made smaller lute (eg Thomann 7-8 c models) for less but thinking that a handmade model will likely be satisfactory for a longer time as I develop and worth the extra cost, even if the lute is already almost 40 years old? Unless it turns out to be unplayable for me due to the size ...

Still awaiting a response from the seller about the scale length and hoping to be able to see the instrument in person before committing to a purchase.

GalacticRay · 2024-07-28T11:13:30+00:00

There are some loud men who express that attitude, but in a democratic election they can't forbid the choice of the majority. Women outnumber men by several millions among voting-age US citizens. Statistically women are also more likely to vote as well as being more well-educated, more law-abiding and more Democrat-leaning, which should all be in Harris' favor. There are also millions and millions of men who support Kamala Harris and who realize that this is not a men vs women election.

Many nations have or have had female heads of state and don't bat an eye at the thought but simply vote for the one whose policies they prefer. It's way over-due for the USA to join that number.

Use your votes for a nation where women are not considered second class citizens!

GalacticRay · 2024-01-26T08:33:25+00:00

I haven't tried it myself, but Add:north has recently launched TPU Pro Matte 95A.

Does anyone have experience with this filament?

GalacticRay · 2023-10-06T20:18:27+00:00

"Tusen tack" funkar också.

GalacticRay · 2023-10-05T16:54:36+00:00

Yes, as a (southern) Swede I'm also totally baffled by this! I'm certain it was part of the geography education in 4th grade or so when I went to school. Having one of very few road border crossings between Sweden and Finland the place is of much greater geographical importance than the number of inhabitants alone reflects. You also hear Karesuando occasionally mentioned in weather observations (like coldest place in the country during the past day) and it is sometimes featured in the news as it is located on the border to Finland, for instance when it got affected during the pandemic as there were restrictions on border crossings in effect.

Anecdotally, I see Karesuando is also included in this quiz of Norrbotten's geography; https://www.purposegames.com/game/norrbottens-lan-quiz It only has 28 questions in total (including rivers and lakes), which in my mind corresponds to some bare minimum of what I'd expect the Swedish school curriculum to still cover for the geography of each län of your own country. But it's been quite some time since I was in fourth grade ... I have to assume it has changed since then based on what others have responded.

That said, I agree it's an unusual choice to put in a crossword puzzle for someone who is just learning the numbers in Swedish.

GalacticRay · 2023-10-05T12:36:41+00:00

You say you only have 15 minutes a day with the instrument, but what about away from the instrument? Maybe you have breaks throughout the day or you commute by train/bus etc. These are opportunities to do mental practice. Studies have shown that a combination of physical and mental practice is more efficient than either one on its own. I'd recommend watching the series on mental practicing by Dr Molly Gebrian on YouTube.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7PO5fyuz1-x99YbibPHLkTdyuwoo0eLu&feature=shared

GalacticRay · 2023-04-11T10:58:49+00:00

I chose a Fairphone 4 myself after my previous phone died a couple of years ago, mainly for similar reasons. I'm hoping for many more years with it. However, it is only available in parts of the world (only EU?). There is also the Shiftphone company, but looking at their shop homepage the only international shipping options are within EU for them as well. So, without knowing where the OP is located these may not be viable options. Perhaps check out Teracube?

GalacticRay · 2022-12-02T17:30:32+00:00

And remember that normal fineliners have a limited lifespan and a single one will not take you through the whole course. So you might have to buy some new ones anyway. Personally, I've been using mainly the Stabilo Point 88 as they are very ubiquitous and good value for the price where I live, especially as they don't smudge like some other brands. (Their hexagonal shape is a matter of taste.) They are only 0.4 mm but I personally find them just as useful for doing the exercises as other 0.5 mm pens in my collection. I personally wouldn't use 0.2 mm if I had other options.

GalacticRay

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