The 28, part 3
I've been journaling the work on the new 28-string Double Subcontra guitar, now a 26-string, in these blog posts:
The work continues, but is nearing completion.
Since I wrote the second blog post, I've changed the two triple courses back to double courses. This is because the right side is in all 5ths. I had originally tuned the triples as root/fifth/octave (1/5/8), but that higher octave string reinforced the octave and didn't emphasize the 5th. I then tried tuning the triples as root/fifth/fifth (1/5/5), so that the two higher strings were tuned to the fifth. In some ways, this provided a very lovely sonority, but that sonorous texture seemed to distract from the strength of the 5th, like it was almost de-emphasizing the 5th in those two courses. Those two courses didn't seem balanced with the rest of the instrument. So, yesterday I changed the two triples back to doubles, and they're tuned in 5ths. The R side now sounds more balanced and all the 5ths are now even. The two lowest bass courses are in octaves, with the other four in 5ths.
The L side is in all octaves. Both sides are in C subcontra (a major third below E contra). It all sounds incredibly rich and full. It's possible that I'll change one side to an intervalic tuning, but will keep the 5ths tuning. It's also possible that I'll move the 5ths tuning to the L side, as that's a 7-course side and having an extra treble course in the 5ths tuning is tempting. But for now I'm keeping the octave tuning. Octave tunings are the best for me when learning a new instrument.
I will likely be using the 28/26 in a recording session this week.
More to come.
-kk
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