Baroque Lute Strings

Video Transcript

"Hello, my name is Foti Lycouridis, and behalf of Expert Village, I will talk to you about the baroque lute strings. The strings themselves are actually made of gut that is cow gut or sheep gut and this is really what gives the lute its characteristic sound, along with the fact that the back of the instrument is vaulted and that creates almost an echo chamber. So, let me play a little bit for you, so you can see what this is about. So you can see the sound of the gut is really very very sweet. Unfortunately, the gut is susceptible to humidity and temperature changes and in our modern world there are other alternatives. One other alternative for the string is to use Nile gut which is a composite material made out of nylon that is distressed to create this gut sound. Now the bases, the octaves of the lute strings, are made out of a gut or silk that has been wound with wire-- similar to that of the classical guitar. Now, also if you are performing and traveling, I would recommend that you use Nile gut, but if you're recording or want to be very true to the period historically, you should use gut strings. Strings are very expensive, so a set could cost you anywhere between 150-200 dollars or more. Because of the way they are made, you need to know the scale of the length of this instrument. If you order them, then your string maker will give you the right strings. If you order them incorrectly you will sometimes get short strings which will not be any good."