The sources are the first lute books ever printed with movable type, issued in Venice by Ottaviano Petrucci in 1507 and 1508, with music by Francesco Spinacino and Zoan Ambrosio Dalza. Additional sources are from Paris, two volumes of lute music printed by Pierre Attaignant in 1529 and 1530.

A recording of Hopkinson Smith playing works from early Attaignant prints (1529 and 1530) can be found in this article.

His instrument was specially made for early 16th-century music by the Boston-born luthier Joel van Lennep: a 6-course lute, with octave stringing on the 3rd to 6th courses, for “ringing clarity and brighter resonance.”