Help: Octave Mandolin Singers

Subject: Octave Mandolin Singers
From: Wesley S
Date: 16 Nov 99 - 04:51 PM

I'll bet you can help me out.

I'm sure that a lot of you are familiar with the family of large mandolins - citterns,bouzoukis,octave mandolins and mandocellos. I'd like to get one for some of the more traditional songs that I sing. I've heard a lot of them with celtic bands in a group context but I haven't heard any solo singers performing with one. The closest I've found was Tim O'Brien on his newest CD the "The Crossing" . Someone out there must be working with this instrument in a more or less solo setting. But who are they ? Can you point me in the right direction??

For any of you that own one I see that they are made with scales from about 21 inches to about 26 inches. What do you prefer and why?

This is the first question I've posed to the forum so please be gentle with me. So far I've found a lot of good information here - I glad I stumbled upon y'all. Thanks - Wesley S.

Subject: RE: Help: Octave Mandolin Singers
From: Frankie
Date: 16 Nov 99 - 06:34 PM

Hi Wesley,

The only performer I've seen playing solo with a Mando family instrument was Andy Irvine at McGuire's Hill 16 in Ft. Lauderdale. He was playing an instrument with a medium-sized guitar body and it had either 4 courses or 5, I forget which. I do remember that it sounded great (as did Andy) and was custom made for him by Stefan Sobell. I play guitar and a bit of mando and have been fighting the urge to get a bouzouki or octave mandolin for years (too many directions already). Let me know what you come up with. Best Regards and welcome, Frankie

Subject: RE: Help: Octave Mandolin Singers
From: sophocleese
Date: 16 Nov 99 - 06:38 PM

Simon Mayer and Hilary James in England play in a Mandolin quartet. Simon is a wonderful mandolin player. Hilary is a lovely singer. If you can find information about their quartet you can probably get information about solo players as well.

Subject: RE: Help: Octave Mandolin Singers
From: Wesley S
Date: 16 Nov 99 - 07:36 PM

Frankie - Thanks - I should have mentioned that I was lucky enough to see Patrick Street with Andy Irvine at the North Texas Irish Festival in Dallas last year. He and the rest of the band were great. He's doing the type of thing I'm after. I'm just hoping to expand my possiblities. I'm very happy with my guitars and mandolin but variety is the spice of life. Thanks for the welcome. Wesley S

Subject: RE: Help: Octave Mandolin Singers
From: John of the Hill
Date: 16 Nov 99 - 08:38 PM

Wesley, Seán Tyrell has an excellent cd "Cry Of A Dreamer" The photo on the cover shows him playing a mandocello that he has reduced to 4 strings! Irish singer Jimmy Crowley favors a bouzouki for accompaniment. According to a recent article in Dirty Linen magazine, he will be releasing an album of sailing songs that we use only mandolin-family instruments. I don't recall the name of that one. An artist named Chipper Thompson has a web site: www.folk-n-roll.com. I've seen him mentioned on the cittern-list. He is using octave mandolin in a rootsy American context. If you haven't figured it out by now, the taxonomy of this family of instruments is very fluid, and this man's cittern is that man's bouzouki, is this woman's octave mandolin. I am at the same crossroads you seem to be standing at, trying to narrow down the choices on an instrument, and broaden the music it's used for. Good luck, John

Subject: RE: Help: Octave Mandolin Singers
From: Susan A-R
Date: 16 Nov 99 - 11:02 PM

It seems to me that Danny Carnahan may be a bouzoki or octave mandolin player and does some nifty arrangements with the instrument and voice. There is a thread way back in the deep dark past somewhere about how to get in touch with him. Also, Rick Fielding mentioned a builder in Northern Ontario who made prety reasonably priced instruments of this sooort. Might check with him directly. I also dream of getting such an instrument, although I sem to have the devil of a time doing two things at once (playing and singing) I will be interested to see where this thread goes.

Susan A-R

Subject: RE: Help: Octave Mandolin Singers
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 16 Nov 99 - 11:11 PM

Yah, Susan it was Peter Cox. Do you know how to bring that one back? Was it in MacArthur harps?
Rick

Subject: RE: Help: Octave Mandolin Singers
From: John of the Hill
Date: 17 Nov 99 - 12:27 AM

Rick, Does Glen Reid do any building of octave mandolins, I stumbled across his site once, but don't remember where.Oh and Wesley, one cheap way to hear snippets of different players is to go the www.greenlinnet.com and search their catalog by instruments such as cittern, bouzouki, octave mandolin, and mandocello. They have a lot of sound samples from their artists available. You can then do a little detective work to try to find out details of any instrument you like the sound of. John

Subject: RE: Help: Octave Mandolin Singers
From: Lady McMoo
Date: 17 Nov 99 - 03:11 AM

John Faulkner has some nice albums of songs backed by bouzouki or octave mandolin, some alone and some with Dolores Keane. I find myself that it makes an interesting alternative to guitar on many songs. Personally, I usually play in an octave below mandolin tuning, i.e. EADG, and find this works for both chords and interspersions of melody but a lot of traditional players and singers, e.g. Andy Irvine, use other tunings such as ADAD which give a more modal sound.

mcmoo

Subject: RE: Help: Octave Mandolin Singers
From: AKS
Date: 17 Nov 99 - 04:27 AM

Site worth visiting

http://www.execpc.com:80/~danb/text_files/cittern.html

with 'basic' information on the matter and some links.

AKS

Subject: RE: Help: Octave Mandolin Singers
From: BBJfla
Date: 17 Nov 99 - 08:40 AM

There is an internet mailing list, to which I subscribe, for Cittern, Bouzouki, Octave Mandolin, Mandola and any other "mandolin on steroids" derivatives. Wonderful bunch of people, and not just talkers but doers as well. We just came out with our second 2-cd set of tunes mostly and some songs by list members. And this year I was able to attend the second annual Zoukfest in Weston, Mo. Both of these started as discussion threads on the list.

Stanley Greenthal did a song class on mandocello that was great.

If you want to join this mailing list, send the following command in email to

[e-mail]

with the following in the body (not subject line)

subscribe

Be warned, though. It is an active list. This morning I have 31 messages waiting, and I cleared it yesterday afternoon.

Subject: RE: Help: Octave Mandolin Singers
From: BBJfla
Date: 17 Nov 99 - 10:04 AM

http://www.celticmusic.com/zoukfest/1999_pictures/dave_bucher/stanley.gif is a picture of Stanley at the instructor's concert from Zoukfest 99. I bought his CD.

Subject: RE: Help: Octave Mandolin Singers
From: BBJfla
Date: 17 Nov 99 - 10:48 AM

Here is that picture of Stanley.

Subject: RE: Help: Octave Mandolin Singers
From: Susan A-R
Date: 17 Nov 99 - 11:12 PM

So where and when will zoukfest 2000 be? And yes, Rick, I think that it was the MacArthur Harp link. but I'm a Luddite, so I have no clue as to how to go back there. It was just about the time I was heading for Toronto though, so I'd guess it's a mid Aug thread.

Subject: RE: Help: Octave Mandolin Singers
From: Wesley S
Date: 18 Nov 99 - 06:20 PM

I'm sorry but I did't have any luck trying to access the site that AKS suggested. Is it correct? Or am I just being computer illiterate? By the way have any of you tried the octave mandolin made by Weber? I've been very happy with the Bridger mandolin I got from them. I hope the larger models are just as good. Thanks to everyone for the suggestions. Wesley

Subject: RE: Help: Octave Mandolin Singers
From: AKS
Date: 19 Nov 99 - 02:33 AM

Wesley S, I just pasteandcopied it back to my browser (Netscaspe; haven't learned the klikkie making yet and am quite ignorant with html anyway) and it seems to work fine here! It takes to Dan Beimborn's page about differences between citterns, buzukis etc. Has anybody else tried?

AKS