CBOM=
Cittern/Bouzouki/Octave Mandolin
The
potential of this instrument is unlimited- it is great for both
accompaniment and soloing.
My book, A
Guide To Octave Mandolin,
gets into detail about many elements of playing this unwieldy looking
axe, covering standard and non-standard approaches in a variety of
styles. Hear a sample mp3 from the CD that comes with the book: "Men of Ulster" hornpipe.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I've
gotten some feedback from folks who think the book isn't basic enough; it is not intended as a primer to the instrument.
However, I do cover the basics of fingering and right hand issues in
the text, and again through the actual transcriptions. I would suggest
that you get a digital slow-down software to use with your computer-
they are around $50 and are a GREAT bargain, as they allow you to slow
the music down but retain the original pitch; slow down the music
beyond half speed and retain audibility; loop passages (of any length)
to repeat; tune the recording to your instrument if desired; play back
at alternate pitch levels to change keys, etc. The one I use is The
Amazing Slow Downer from Roni Music (www.ronimusic.com).
You can download it for a free tryout. I have no stake in this company,
and there are others. We live in interesting times (sometimes in a good way)!
===========================================
I have a regular column in Mandolin Magazine addressing the octave mandolin.
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Why not follow the naming conventions of the bowed strings which have ruled the planet for centuries?
Great
debate continues to rage over what to call each instrument. Perhaps
"the fighting is so fierce because the stakes are so small" :) In the
UK and Europe, the octave mandolin is often called
an octave mandola, which I find quite confusing and
"musically incorrect", although "historically accurate".
I humbly propose, strictly for the purposes of organizing these instruments for the modern player and composer who is not playing historic classical mandolin music:
Mandolin- GDAE is
standard, it can be tuned a number of other ways including GDAD, GDGD,
AEAE etc. Corresponds
to the violin. Tuned like a violin.
Mandola- CGDA Corresponds to the viola. Tuned like a viola.
Octave
Mandolin- same as mandolin GDAE an octave lower. Again, many
variants on the tuning. No modern bowed counterpart.
Mandocello-
same as Mandola an octave lower, long scale. Corresponds to the 'cello. Tuned like a 'cello.
Bouzouki-
longer scaled version of octave mandolin, but less frequently tuned
like one, due to the long scale length making GDAE tuning unwieldy
(without a capo)- usually a "modal tuning" like ADAD. Not be be
confused with
Greek Bouzouki, which is DAD (older tuning) or CFAD, whole step below
the top 4 strings of the guitar (contemporary tuning).
Cittern-
as above (though may be short scaled) with 5 courses (sets) of strings.
I recently played one tuned GDAEB with the extra high string, but most
seem to be tuned with an extra low string pitched at D or C. Again, the
tuning can vary wildly depending on the player's preference. Stefan
Sobell appropriated this name from an olde English stringed instrument
also called the cittern.
To
me, just my opinion: the name "Octave Mandola"
defies logic, because it is not a mandola (viola) tuning, nor is it an
octave below the mandola tuning (which would be mandocello), and has
nothing to do with a mandola-as-tuned-like-a-viola as you'll find in
the US marketplace. The instrument tuned an octave below the mandolin
is, to me,
most
logically an octave mandolin.
"Alto mandola" and "Tenor mandola" mean different things to different people in various countries.
A viola isn't an octave below a
violin. In the USA, mandolas are tuned like violas- CGDA.
I
believe the naming conventions could be simplified, but the horse is
out of the barn. More at the Ceolas
page.
I got a thoughtful email from
Olli Salmi:
On Mar 2, 2008, at 1:04 PM, Olli
Salmi wrote:
Dear John McGann,
I'm
sending you an e-mail I sent to the British BMG Federation a couple of
years ago. It should explain why the instrument tuned GG - dd - aa -
e'e' is called a mandola in Europe. It doesn't explain why Gibson
called the alto mandola a tenor mandola.
The
BGM wanted me to write it into an article without the links but since
the links were the evidence I couldn't see how I could do it. I now
have one printed source, "Breve Metodo facile per Mando˜la
napoletana o
Romana" by Pirani [Giuseppe Bellenghi (1847-1902)], who only says that
the common mandola in use is the mandola in SOL because it's tuned
precisely an octave below the mandolin.
I've
removed dead links. The message is a bit dated in that I now have a
very nice mandola made in Portugal (bandola), tuning GG - dd - aa -
e'e', vibrating length of string 44 cm. I have also read Paul Sparks
(Classical Mandolin), who uses the American terminology. He describes
the Romantic Quartet "– two mandolins, octave mandola, and
guitar" (p. 195-6) as a more sophisticated form of the mandolin and
guitar duos. He explains the rise of the Classical Quartet as a
solution for opening the entire string quartet repertoire for fretted
instruments (p. 197). This would need the alto instrument, Gibson's
mandola.
Best regards,
Olli Salmi
I'd like to comment on the page
"A Systematic Approach to Names for the Instruments of the Mandolin
Family".
http://www.banjomandolinguitar.co.uk/mandolin2.htm
The
page unfortunately describes only the American terminology, perhaps
because there's very little information in English about the classical
tradition, at least online. Perhaps there's something in Sparks's
books, which I haven't read.
In
Italy, Germany and France, where mandolin orchestras are common and
where they follow the classical tradition, the terms are different. The
main difference is the mandola, which in these countries is tuned an
octave lower (not a fifth) than the mandolin, as you can see from the
following links (unfortunately not in English):
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandola
http://www.mandoline.de/familie/mandola.htm
http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandola
http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandola
http://www.duozigiottimerlante.it/orch_eng.htm
(their Italian is better; note the .gif image about notation)
http://www.orchestracaputgauri.it/tessitura.htm
(tuning and an image of the instruments of a classical quartet)
http://www.federmandolino.it/liuto-mandola.htm
A sound sample:
http://mandoline54.free.fr/mandolin.htm
http://www.musicaviva.com/encyclopedia/display.html?phrase=tenor-mandola
There
was also an alto mandola, tuned like the viola -- which is the alto
member of the violin family -- but it didn't really catch on. The music
for the mandola is written an octave above the tuning so any amateur
mandolinist can play it. Sometimes the more common (default) mandola is
called a tenor mandola to keep it apart from the alto mandola.
This is not fully similar to the
violin, viola, violoncello nomenclature:
violin -- mandolin
viola -- alto mandola
nothing -- (tenor) mandola
violoncello -- mandoloncello (NOT
mandocello)
Here's an attempt to make a
logical violin family.
http://www.newviolinfamily.org/8tet.html
You can see that the alto member
is a fifth below and the tenor member an octave below the standard
violin.
In
Finland we call the viola alto violin, which is possible in Swedish
(altfiol) and German (alt-Geige=Bratsche) as well. What I mean to say
is that the term "tenor mandola" is not really suitable for the
instrument that is tuned a fifth below the mandolin.
Mandolas seem to have a scale
length around 42-46 cm (mandoloncello and liuto cantabile 63-68 cm).
http://www.mandolinen.at/mandoline.php
That's the scale for which
strings are sold:
http://www.thomastik-infeld.com/guitars/levels/products/stringfamilies/out/mandola_start.htm
http://www.livesound.ru/mi/acsessories/thomastik/page05.htm
My friend in Sydney asked what
the Sydney Mandolins use. Adrian Hooper replied:
"The mandola we use is 17.5"
string length tuned an octave below a violin (or
mandolin). Double strings. Each
the same pitch.
Sometimes this instrument is
tuned like a viola, just depends on what
strings are used. We use
Thomastic-Infield strings..."
I
asked Carlo Mazzaccara, an Italian luthier, what scale length his
mandolas have. He said the scale was 43,7 cm, unless otherwise
requested.
http://www.oldmandolin.com/
Mandolas by German luthiers:
http://www.knorr-mandolinen.de/html/mandolen.html
(scale 45-46 cm)
http://www.knorr-mandolinen.de/html/mandolen_e.html
He
calls them Mandolas in German and octave mandolas in English. I wish
there was a cheap Korean or Romanian copy of the bottom one. To my
knowledge there are no classical mandolas within an amateur's price
range.
Another luthier:
http://www.guriema.de/mandola80%20en.htm
(scale 46 cm)
http://www.guriema.de/mandola%20en.htm
In
addition to the above MusicaViva site above the only thing that I have
found about European mandolas online is one sentence in the article by
Robin Bullock SO JUST WHAT EXACTLY IS A CITTERN, ANYWAY?
"Gibson's
terminology was only slightly confusing at the time, owing to the fact
that there already was an instrument called a mandola, used in
19th-century classical mandolin ensemble music, and it was tuned GDAE,
a full octave below the mandolin."
http://johndrurymusic.com/index.cfm
Perhaps Gibson wasn't acquainted
with the traditional European terminology and made up his own.
It's
a pity that repetitions of phrases like "usually tuned a fifth below
the mandolin" will soon be the only truth when people trust what they
can find on the Web in English. I just today saw the term octave
mandolin in Finnish. I don't think there are any common -- or even
uncommon -- sources in Finnish that describe the tuning of the
classical Neapolitan mandola, so you have to trust the sources in
languages you know best, and that's English these days.
Best regards,
Olli Salmi
===============================
My reply:Thanks Olli. I've made some
realizations:1) I am not going to change by
the world by insisting that anything be called anything. I doubt many people will agree with me, especially in non-US turf.
2)
I do not wish to be another loud mouthed American telling everyone
else how to think. I don't want to lose friends before I've made them!
I understand that in Europe people have various ideas about what a
"mandola" is, and even they disagree.
3)
I can order things in my mind,
and that works fine for me. I find it far more logical to call
plectrum instruments by their bowed counterparts name, with "octave
mandolin" being the most logical name for a mandolin tuned an octave
below the mandolin, and the mandola corresponding to the viola.
4)
I am a player and teacher, not a historical academic. It's been
enlightening to learn that there is a history behind the names, but I
still believe that a more simple and clear system would benefit all.
After all, throughout history we continue to revise and refine
everything from anaesthesia to electronics...
5) Let's shut up and play!
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Things to look
for in selecting an instrument:
Octave
mandolins come in a variety of scale length choices, usually from 20"
to about 23". The Sobell is 23". The longer the scale length, the more
resonant and rich the tone, all else being equal. The short scaled
instruments tend to be the least expensive as well. The tradeoff is
that the short scale instruments are easier on your left hand, since
you don't need to stretch as far. They are probably fine to learn on,
but you'll likely want to upgrade before too long. I use a combination
of guitar and mandolin type fingerings and so far have felt no
limitations based on scale length in GDAE tuning. I regularly play 6
fret stretches; then again, I have a pretty good wingspan...
All
the usual elements of tone woods apply, I've seen tops of spruce and
cedar, rosewood or maple back and sides, etc. There are many excellent
instruments; some of the ones I've played and enjoyed include the
Sobell (UK), Trillium (New Hampshire, USA), and Joe Foley (Dublin,
Ireland). Steven Owsley Smith in New Mexico makes some very interesting
looking instruments, but I've never played one (yet)...Will Kimble in
Cincinnatti OH is making some great instruments, I recently played a
mandocello of his, strung as an OM, and it sounded incredible...
My
advice is to get as good an instrument as you can afford- they will
have relatively higher resale value if you upgrade. There are at least
a dozen builders in the USA and abroad who are making fine instruments.
Relative to the price of a fine violin or cello, these handmade
instruments are an incredible value for the money. A fine
sounding/feeling/looking instrument will make you want to pick it up
and play it!
Feeling
augmented w/ Sobell OM, Somerville Theater 2003
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For internet Octave Mando and Bouzouki info, try:
Mandolincafé
has a CBOM forum "Message Board"
Hans Speek's
Bouzouki and Irish Music site
======================================================
What I Love
About the Octave Mandolin:
1. I can "think like a
mandolin player" but play in the range of the guitar.
2.
Works well with others- the instrument is capable of playing just about
any style of music, from Celtic styles to bluegrass, jazz, rock and
roll, classical, folk...what else is there, in Western music?
3. Great conversation starter, as people always ask "what is
that thing?"
4. Johnny Cunningham once called
it "A Mandolin Before Taxes".
5.
The slighty nasal, honking quality makes it a natural instrument for
Gypsy Jazz as played by Django Reinhardt and his disciples. Great for
rhythm and soloing. The tone allows it to find it's own place in the
mix and stands out from the guitar or piano.
6.
On recordings, you can double a mandolin part for a fat sound without
too much alteration of your mando part.
7.
If someone says "I know that- it's a
bouzouki/cittern/cistern/ukelele/mandocello/bazooka/sitar" you can nod
and
smile condescendingly. I have heard all those, by the way.
8.
It is the world's coolest instrument.
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My pal Lauck
Benson (of Beacon Hillbillies and Boston City Limits
fame) writes:
I have been learning some cittern
pieces of Anthony Holborne on the banjo.
Holborne
(1550-1603) was one of Queen Elizabeth's lutenists, and quite a
fine polyphonic composer.
I found this
description of the cittern:
"The English Cittern,
having four courses, a bizarre but useful tuning, and
often a
built-in hook for wall hanging, had a low reputation, due to its
popularity in taverns, barber shops and houses of ill repute. It is
normally
strummed with a crow quill, and it produces a rich,
banjo-like sound which
is ideal for accompanying vulgar
ballads."
But Holborne took it far beyond that,
and I really like the music.
Shabby Genteel is my
Ideal, so this is perfect :-)
-Lauck
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
With Aoife
O'Donovan and Ruth Unger
Matt Glaser laughs as my hands
stick to the fingerboard