Your Comments

If you wish to comment on any of the aspects of this website, contact Rob MacKillop (robmackillop@gmail.com). Questions will be answered.

Rob, what a fantastically assured and convincing performance! Your passion for and commitment to the music really shines through - that is so rare to see nowadays amongst professionals, a true delight! We know that your playing is underpinned by a huge academic knowledge but (and I mean this as a compliment) you can't tell - just you and the music, right there in the moment - absolutely brilliant. Thank you. Cheers! Bowler

Greetings Rob, Thx again for this outstanding introduction to Miguel de Fuenllana. I am learning that it isn't easy to bring out the spiritual musicality in these fine pieces ... your recordings certainly don't show how difficult this is! Jim

Dear Rob Thanks for your Fuenllana project! I've been a big Fuenllana fan since my first contact with the vihuela, many years ago, and I thought I was alone in this fan club. Most of the pieces you play are old friends of mine (in fact, the tiento de octavo tono was the first Fuenllana I ever played, back in 1978!; Fuellana's Duo was one of the first "magic" pieces I played, I couldn't stop playing it, time and again, and each time I enjoyed it even more, and Tant que vivray is still one of my very favourite songs -out of all the songs that there are), and hearing your versions of them is both refreshing and enlightening for me. I think vihuela music is as intense as it is fine, and your playing matches the high standing of Alexander's vihuelas. You are making an outstanding effort to bring the vihuela music in to the status it deserves. Thanks again and best wishes Eloy (Mexico)

Thanks for that, Eloy! It is good to get encouragement from fellow musicians. I feel I have changed my playing by studying Fuenllana. He is teaching me through his music. For me, his music is a journey of discovery, and I wanted to let people experience it with me. One day I hope to record a CD of his music, with first-class microphones, etc. What appears on my website is just a study. Some of those early recordings, such as Tant Quey Vivre and the Duo, I would want to record again anyway. I didn't quite get them the way I hear them in my head. But it is always that way! I hope you can record something in the future. Rob

Hi Rob, These recordings you have made have a very warm sound. I hope you don't mind me asking, but what mics are you using, how close is the vihuela, what post-processing do you do? It this is your "secret sauce" that you don't want to reveal, I completely understand. I'm asking because I have made just a few recordings with some cheap mics and they seem to be too bright unless I close mic (taking advantage of the proximity effect). Thanks and regards, David

Hi David, I discuss my 'sauce' on my website: - there is a short statement about recording with a link to more info: The mic is about 12 inches away from the vihuela, pointing at the bridge area. Having a first-rate instrument also helps, and, of course, a vihuela does generally have a warmer sound than a lute. Rob

Hi Rob, this is beautiful music, even on a lute! I downloaded and played all seven of the fantasias and then listened to your MP3 files. Did Fuenllana have anything specific to say about tempi or is this down to the performer? Needless to say, your interpretation seemed absolutely right for each one. Thank you for this. I look forward to seeing all the fantasias on your site! best wishes Charles

Hi Charles, Fuenllana suggested that the best tempo was whatever suited the standard of player. He only wanted you to play cleanly - not always possible with his music. I play the pieces at different tempi, depending on how I'm feeling, so the recorded examples are just one snapshot of how I felt at one particular time. If you want to play them faster or slower, that is up to you. Thanks for the compliments. Much appreciated! Rob

Really nice little tunes - this Fuenllana guy was gifted ! Klaus

Greetings Rob, I haven't signed up for your discussion group as yet but I plan to soon. However I wanted to respond to the start of your Fuenllana story. Great stuff! This story could be the beginning of a little movie about Miguel de Fuenllana. I never heard any of his vihuela music until I discovered your site a couple of weeks ago. You know, the only visual reference I have of anyone playing a vihuela is the Julian Bream DVD 'Guitarra!'. If you ever turn this Fuenllana story into a movie script please let us know. It would be great to see you play! I mentioned to you in an earlier e-mail that your site inspired me to search for a vihuela. Well, I found a luthier in Brasil who seems to have nice instruments at reasonable prices. I was expecting to be put on his waiting list of one year but he just happened to be finishing a vihuela very similar to what I was looking for. It should be here in 2 weeks. Your site will be a central part of my education .. listening and reading. Looking forward to your next chapter! Thank you again. Jim Gibson

Thanks Jim. Great news about your vihuela. I hope you have a great time together. Glad you like the beginning of the story. Not sure where it will go, or for how long, but I enjoyed writing the first part. Cheers, Rob

With the new Fuenllana uploads I could definitely hear how you've grown (both in your technique and confidence in style) since the first vihuela recordings. It is also nice to hear faster pieces which nevertheless have that mysterious Fuenllana spirit behind. I can imagine, after you've recorded them all, how great it will be to immerse in listening to them! Sasha

The Guardame las Vacas with vihuela-case percussion is great fun! And Canción del Emperador... pure magic. Polyphonia

Rob, Beautiful pieces and very nice playing. But...... "Music to be listened to on headphones in a candlelit room, through the haze of deep red wine." I did this - music was great, two bottles of Burgundy was great. Couldn't play worth a damn, my wife is mad at me and I have a headache. Just in the interests of full disclosure. Really enjoy your playing and transcriptions, excellent resource. Regards, -Brian

Sorry about that, Brian. Didn't mean to cause trouble with your wife! Hope the headache wears off. Rob

Congratulations Rob! Brilliant performance! In addition to what you say on your web site to introduce the piece, Fuenllana seems to have been also in love with the sound of his vihuela, he seems to know exactly where he is in any place of the piece. Or is it all you ...? Sasha

A little while ago I bought 'Flowers of the Forest' after hearing the tracks of yours on 'The Clear Stream' . I've now just got your book which I'm obsessively working my way through. As a teenager I started on the guitar but over the last few years moved over to the mandolin and banjo as a consequence of feeling completely redundant at, (Irish/Scottish trad.), sessions. You have now re-animated my, (latent but always pre-eminent), love of the guitar/plucked instruments. Thank you. What a stunningly beautiful and uplifting album 'Flowers...' is. Thomas

Thanks Thomas. Good luck with it all. Rob

There is also now the "Pinturicchio" lion's head viola at the end of your page: the interresting thing with that instrument - apart from its long string length! - is that it has been ordered and painted for Pope Borgia'appartments in Roma. This Pope was Archbishop of Valencia, Spain, before he moved to Italy, where he came with his complete "maison" (I don't know the word in english). Valencia is considered to be the place of birth for the vihuela, probably as a development of arabic instruments of the rebab type. Several names of cities and villages of the coast of Valencia still has arabic resonances today, the most famous beeing Benicasim. So do I consider the model of Pinturrichio as an interresting vihuela-viola, as the vogue of the viola in Italy was in part imported from Valencia by the Borgia. Philippe

Hey Rob, Thanks again! I loved the train starting on the Folias and it really got going. Got "Thrill is Gone" blasting me right now at 7am and why not! I'll try and find your CD on Amazon and let you know. Sandy

'The Dias copy is an excellent choice. I know it's controversial, but I have found a heap of documentation on vihuelas that has not yet been published, including the names of numerous 16th century makers that are not listed in Romanillos' book. The documentation that I have assembled leaves no doubt in my mind that what today we tend to call respectively "guitars" and "vihuelas" were all made in the same workshops by the same makers using exactly the same technology and aiming for the same aesthetic result. The difference in name has more to do with the way the instruments were played. Romanillos maintains that it is legitimate to continue calling guitars "vihuela" up until the advent of single strings. In some parts of Latin America, the guitar is still called vihuela. In the south of Chile, for example, the instrument is called "vihuela" when used for playing folk music and "guitar" for playing classical/ concert repertoire. John Griffiths, musicologist and vihuelista

Hello, Rob! I have just listened to your lute and vihuela files. You have without a doubt the best tone I have ever heard! I have, with great frustration, been trying to do home recordings of both lute and recorder now for some three years and have never been fully satisfied with the sound quality. I really appreciate your sharing your equipment information, and I plan to check into the Edirol R-1 Wave/MP3 Recorder very soon. But, in the meantime, please tell me what kind of gut strings you are using and where I can get them. They sound fabulous and I would love to give them a try. Thank you in advance for the information. Best regards, Stephen

Thanks Stephen. Aquilla gut. It's the best. But you also need a good instrument. There is no such thing as a solo artist or solo recording: luthier, stringmaker, musicologist and performer - they all have an input to the finished sound. And the weather! Rob