Official Luthiers Forum!

I have attached a link to the piece of music I played at the RCM charity concert (thanks Russell for hosting it), this piece is my studio recorded version, as no recording was made at the concert. It was originally wrongly attributed to the Williams manuscript instead of Saizany, so a couple of you will have heard this before wrongly described.

Chaccone

Not a download for dial-up, sorry!

Terry and Larry also asked to see a picture of my old house, this one probably shows it best. This view is of the new part of the house when the front was altered in about 1620 (to meet the latest fashion and to reflect the wealth of the owner), the rear of the house is late 15th/early 16th century, Henry VII or Henry VIII period. It's an oak frame of course built with green oak and pegged together, no nails. The first floor is 'jetted' out over the ground floor so that weight of the walls counter balances the weigth of the floor boards and furniture in the upper rooms. There are no foundations, the The lower portion has had bricks added in the 17th century, but they are just decorative, the main timbers sit on Ragstone rocks set in a trench, forming the foundations. Roof is traditional Kent pegtiles.



The house opposite mine on the green is much older! Originally a "Hall House", one single room with a hole in the roof to let the smoke from the open grate out, it has of course been updated over the centuries but the original oak frame dates from late 13th/early 14th century.

ColinColin S38967.5651273148

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

Colin,

Fabulous house and a lovely piece of music beautifully played. I suspect that music like that must have been played there by previous owners.

Thanks for posting this.

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Dave White
De Faoite Stringed Instruments
". . . the one thing a machine just can't do is give you character and personalities and sometimes that comes with flaws, but it always comes with humanity" Monty Don talking about hand weaving, "Mastercrafts", Weaving, BBC March 2010

Wow, that is very cool Colin. I envy the amount of history you European folks have all around you. I remeber when I was in Bavaria, it wasn't uncommon to see buildings three or four hundred years old. I love that Tudor style!

Your playing is wonderful as well! Such a beautiful piece of music.

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Joe Breault
Merrimack, NH
Perpetual novice

Colin...very impressive home as well as your sound clip. Thanks for sharing!

It's always fun to imagine what was taking place in our then infant country when such a house was first occupied. Have you been able to track the chronology of various owners throughout its existence? If only those walls could speak

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

Inspiration for creativity and beauty all around you Colin, no wonder you have so many talents! Thanks for sharing this with us!

Serge

Colin You are very talented, and I love your house.

Al

Beautiful house, Colin. It must be a great place to return to after you've been away for a while.

I greatly enjoyed your recording. Do you have a photo of the instrument you used?

Colin, so this is the house we were talking about razing for the old oak beams? Suggestion retracted (and kudos to your wife).
That is a beautiful place!
We need to have an OLF get-together right there!

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

What a great house there Colin,Love that steep roof.It looks like you have a few fireplaces there.I've built a lot of them here out of stone and brick. Thanks for sharing this! Hey ,It sure does look like a cool OLF gathering spot!

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Anderson Guitars
Clearwater,Fl. 33755

Thanks all, we love the house as well. We bought it 30 years ago, when we first got married. It was in a very dilapidated condition and at the time was all we could afford, new houses were a lot more expensive then, people just didn't want to take on major restoration projects, especially on Listed houses. The property price boom hadn't started so on our meagre salaries we could just afford it. Even when my job has moved us around Britain (and even 2 years at Cornell) we kept this house on as our Home, just renting elsewhere. Anyway it's now become not just our home but a major part of our Pension Fund, I find it unbelievable what the market nows says it's worth.

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

[QUOTE=CarltonM] Beautiful house, Colin. It must be a great place to return to after you've been away for a while.

I greatly enjoyed your recording. Do you have a photo of the instrument you used?[/QUOTE]

Carlton it's this one my 10-course Venere I made a couple of years ago, It has been posted before.



Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

Very beautiful instrument Colin!

Serge

Wow, Colin. I love the house, but I was really bowled over by the recording. What a beautiful sound. I don't suppose you have a CD available of YOU playing the lute?

Ron

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OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......

Hesh, yes it's a bell. This was one of the main Farm houses in the area and in the 18th century the bell was added to tell the labourers that they were due to start or finish work. Also supposed to be rung to warn of invasion, and apparently caused panic in the area when, during the Napoleonic wars, children rang it in the middle of the day, and everyone thought the French had landed in Kent. They switched to using the Church bell instead.

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

Colin, that is without a doubt, the coolest thing ever! I think what strikes me first whenever I'm in the UK is, for want of a better word, the "permanence" of everything...when folks refer to America as the "new world" they don't know how right they are! European structures just look as though they want to tell you about their past if they could only speak! And great sound clip too! How close are you to London?

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http://www.presnallguitars.com

[QUOTE=Colin S]Carlton it's this one my 10-course Venere I made a couple of years ago, It has been posted before.[/QUOTE]
I thought it probably had been, but it still looks (and sounds) mighty pretty the second time, too!

Congratulations on your home appreciation, too!