I have recently been trying out a modification of the workflow described in an EARLIER POST, especially for the more complex pieces. This has the advantage of reducing confusion in my head, and also gives me a basic lute arrangement.
When a piece is simple, however, I find it just as easy to transcribe directly from the original tabs, as I used to. Horses for courses.
This post is also a bit of a plug for TablEdit, the setting software that I use, which is specifically designed for tablature.
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| First line of a transcription for lute |
Procedure
1. Make a full transcription for lute – surprisingly easy in TablEdit. This means I always have a full copy to work with. When one has access to a published transcription with the tabs and notation in parallel it's pretty easy. And when the tabs reproduce the format used in Renaissance times, one can use them to get the notes in the right place, and then edit them according to the notation provided by ones learned predecessors.
2. Duplicate the lute version, and copy notes on the 4th to 7th strings an octave higher, on to normally the third and fourth strings. Play back each bar in MIDI, and listen for and correct any discords.
3. Eliminate the bottom strings, leaving just the top four strings. This gives a version playable on a ukulele with the 3rd string tuned down a semitone.
4. Make a copy of the above, adjust the tuning to that of a conventional low-G ukulele. All the notes on the third string will have to be dropped by one fret. Annoyingly, this means representing an open 3rd lute string at the 4th fret on the 4th string.
5. Now comes the refining stage: correcting the note lengths, and further modifying the fretting to fit more easily under the fingers. The upper voice will always be maintained, but the skill is in making the lower voice(s) comprehensible. Btw, lute music often uses open strings in the bass, but htat's an advantage that the ukulele lacks.
6. I have now started making two versions of the arrangements:
(1) a fully-voiced version, to aid understanding of the musical lines, and
(2) an unvoiced version with all the stems pointing up, and every note on the same stem of the same length. This sounds not too pleasant in MIDI playback, but it does help getting the timing right in more complex passages. And, of course, this is much as the Renaissance lute player would have dealt with - see the illustrations in THIS POST.
Why not have a go!
