The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #73025 Message #1265547
Posted By: GUEST,Jon
06-Sep-04 - 05:27 PM
Thread Name: mandola, octave mandolin or what
Subject: RE: mandola, octave mandolin or what
When Inükshük said go heavier, I assumed he meant tune to the GDAE below the CGDA the mando-cello (which is the same pitch as a cello) is tuned in. I dread to think what strings would be needed.
I did know someone with an old Gibson mando-cello which I played a few times and loved it in CGDA. The instrument was built like a tank and was hard work (and remember once doing a floor spot playing the Athol Higlanders at a brisk pace and wondering if I was going to get through as the muscles in my left hand were aching after once round) but I found it rewarding for the sound I could get out of it.
This person later put strings along the lines Mooman have given. The owner liked it and found it much easier to play but for me, doing so lost all the qualities that I liked in terms of sound - it did sound OK but I felt it did need something heavier on it to get the full value out of it.
A lot of this is personal/subjective but I'd rather have kept it in the CGDA, put up with the harder work to play and have learned that tuning (the times I tried it in that tuning, I didn't need to worry that I would be playing in the wrong key).