Medieval & Renaissance Instruments

Built to play, not to decorate. Plenty of medieval-style instruments are sold as decor. Ours are working instruments in real tonewoods (Rosewood, spruce, maple, lacewood) with proper string lengths, bridges and tuning hardware, made for consorts, faires, classrooms and home playing.

Stave-built bowls. Our lutes and the lute-guitar have bowl backs assembled from individual curved staves, the way lute makers built them in the Renaissance. The Deluxe lutes use a 25-stave bowl.

Honest about history. Some of these designs are historical and some are modern cousins, and we say which. The rebec, medieval fiddle, lute, vihuela, cromorne, bombard and tabor are period instruments. The bowed psaltery is a 20th-century relative of the plucked medieval psaltery, and the lute-guitar is a guitar built on a lute body. Both are lovely to play and easy to start; we just will not pretend they hung in a 14th-century hall.

A whole consort from one workshop. Plucked strings, bowed strings, a reed voice and a drum: you can outfit a small early music group, a faire act or a school program from this one page, with matching quality across the set.

If you have never played an instrument: start with a lyre harp (8, 10 or 16 strings). Open strings, no frets and no bow, so a simple melody comes on the first day. The soprano bowed psaltery is close behind: each string is one note, laid out in order.

If you play guitar: the lute-guitar uses standard guitar tuning, so you play it from day one with a lute voice. Ready for the real thing? The 6-course lute and the vihuela share most of their intervals with the guitar, and the 4-course Renaissance and 5-course Baroque guitars open up their own repertoire.

If you play violin or fiddle: the medieval fiddle is tuned G D A E like a violin. The rebec is tuned G D A in fifths, three strings, held at the shoulder, chest or under the arm.

If you play recorder: the straight cromorne is fingered like a recorder, with a windcap reed you never touch with your lips. The bombard is a loud double reed from the shawm family, made for outdoor playing and Breton dance music.

Choosing a lute: 6-course lutes suit most 16th-century music. 7 and 8-course lutes add bass strings for later Renaissance and early Baroque repertoire. The descant lute is smaller and higher pitched, and the travel lutes are easier to carry. See all of them in Lutes.

For faires and outdoor sets: volume and portability matter most. A bombard or cromorne with a tabor carries over a crowd; a lyre harp is light and easy to carry between sets.

Tune on arrival, and often at first. Every instrument here needs tuning when it arrives, and new strings stretch for the first couple of weeks. Tune before every session until they settle. A clip-on chromatic tuner makes this quick.

Courses are pairs. On lutes, the vihuela and the early guitars most notes come from a course of two strings tuned together. Tune one string, then match its partner to it until the beating between them disappears.

Reeds need a little care. Moisten the bombard double reed briefly before playing and let it dry after. The cromorne reed sits inside its windcap, so it needs no soaking; just keep the cap on and store the pipe dry.

Bows need rosin. If the rebec or medieval fiddle bow makes almost no sound, it needs rosin. A few strokes across a cake of rosin wakes it up, and a light pass every few sessions keeps it there.

Strings and accessories. Replacement sets for lutes and early guitars are in Lute and Early Guitar Strings. Questions about any instrument? Write to us at info@roosebeck.com and a member of our team will answer.