Hi Tom how are you!

> Thomas Dent wrote:
> Forgive my confusion, but how is this 'buff' related to the common
> modern device of a movable batten with bits of felt on it?

I understand the ancient used normally leather, not felt. In one occasion I
replaced a felt buff with soft leather: the owner was delighted.

> And was part of the discussion also, almost unawares, about the 'peau
> de buffle', ie a whole other register? 

Not as far as I know. 

> To me the first two mentioned (ie a normal 8' damped by pieces of soft
> leather, resp. felt, pushed next to the nut) sound pretty similar and
> reasonably like a lute. But nothing like a fortepiano ...

No they do not of course: I never referred to the buff sound of a single 8'.
What I wrote is that playing 8+8, with one of the 8' buffed, produces a very
peculiar result. And actually it is not difficult to explain why:
1. 8+8 is more percussive than a single 8' because, unlike say a piano where
if you play louder the sound lasts longer, in the harpsichord adding stops
does not make the sound last longer, thus it sounds more percussive.
2. If now one of the 8' is buffed, the percussive sound is slightly muffled,
thus sounding nearer (not very closely of course!) to a fortepiano.
The effect is shown with very similar sounds in the musical example I
provided and in the one by Dantone, kindly provided by Andrea.

> In terms of music, I generally reserve this lutey effect for pieces
> with lots of arpeggiation and no important suspensions / tied-over
> notes in counterpoint. Quite a few bits of Buxtehude, Reincken
> suites... come to mind. The modern habit of using it for Goldberg 19
> is incomprehensible because that piece relies on held-over syncopated
> notes for much of its contrapuntal and melodic interest. If these
> notes sound no different from the 16ths you've reduced a subtle
> multi-voiced piece to a trivial little dance. 

Good observation Tom: I also abstain from following the modern tradition of
using the buff in Goldberg 19.

Regards

Claudio

Question: Has anybody ever found any reference to the use of the buff stop
in any ancient source (document or score?).

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