Author Topic: Octave mandolin, mandocello? (Read 175 times)

tmoney61092 · « **on:** January 06, 2011, 10:57:49 PM »

lately i've been getting into bluegrass, folk, and celctic music and have been looking into the intruments they use. i'm most intrigued with the mandocello and octave mandolin and have been able to find videos of both on youtube and love the sound. i own a mandolin and enjoy playing it, it's EXTREMELY cheap and isn't very playable and as a bass player i like to have more room between frets so an octave mandolin or mandocello would be awesome to have. me and some of my friends are looking into starting a bluegrass band and i would love to have either of these to play in it but i just don't know which one. the octave mandolin is tuned the same as a mandolin just an octave down(Gg,Dd,Aa,Ee) while the mandocello is tuned like a cello(Cc,Gg,Dd,Aa). my question is which one would be eaiser to incorporate into a band who are playing banjos, acoustic guitars, and possibly a ukelele? i've never played cello but would be willing to figure out/look up how it works in order to play the mandocello. i've found a couple octave mandolins that are decently priced but i haven't been able to find a good beginner mandocello so if you guys could work you're magic on finding one of those it would awesome . i love the sound of the mandocello and would be willing to save up money to get one(i realized that i didn't need anymore bass stuff until much further down the road). and if anyone has any experience with either or both instruments i would love to hear about it.

for anyone interested here are a youtube video of each. mandocello(skip to the beginning of minute 2 for the actual playing)- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAMe9pZwogY
and the octave mandolin- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFqThPZejTA

thanks guys

~Taylor

lbpesq · « **Reply #1 on:** January 06, 2011, 11:54:15 PM »

If you ask me, based on the videos, both of these instruments sound a lot more like a guitar than they sound like a bluegrass mandolin. I've only seen two instruments that can attain the classic mando sound. A mandolin, and the Veillette Gryphon Hi 12, which can been found on Joe Veillette's web site. I have a Gryphon. It is an 18.5 scale 12 string guitar tuned to D, the equivalent of the 10th fret on a regular guitar. The strings are all doubled like a mandolin as opposed to octave pairs on the bottom four strings like a regular 12 string guitar. The sound is amazingly full, like a mando on steroids. It is an astounding instrument. I had it up at the World Guitar Show last year and had the opportunity to show it to David Grisman. He had never seen anything like it. I told him it was so guitars players like me could pretend to know what he was doing! You might want to check one out. They're not cheap, but they do show up on eBay occasionally for a lot less than new. Also, someone out there might be making something similar that might be more modestly priced.

Bill, tgo

cozmik_cowboy · « **Reply #2 on:** January 07, 2011, 06:01:06 AM »

If you want to be bluegrass-authentic, you should probably stick with mandolin, or at most a mandola (1/5 lower than a mandolin). If you're not worried about about traditional instrumentation, whatever works for you is the right answer - and if you're using a uke, I guess that answers that, eh? As far as fitting into the sound, to my ear the higher 2 members of the family would be better; leave the octaves & mandocellos to the mandolin orchestras.

Peter

tmoney61092 · « **Reply #3 on:** January 07, 2011, 06:41:52 AM »

i like that guitar Bill, i'll have to look into those also. it's just that when i started music i started on bass so i never had the chance to play frets that were really close, this is something that would be very easy to learn and get use to of course but figured it'd be easier to pick up an instrument that's more in my field and be able to hold down the low end without needing someone playing bass. i'm also wanting it to be one of those things that i can take out to parties and get togethers and jam with people. thanks peter for the response, the uke thing is most likely not going to happen since our singer doesn't like playing it(even though he's really good) infront of an audience. well either way i'll find something whether it's one of those Veillette's or another mandolin that's actually good quality. thanks guys

~Taylor

sonicus · « **Reply #4 on:** January 07, 2011, 07:23:37 AM »

In the 1980's I had the good fortune of meeting Rudy Cipolla.
I remember him siting in his little store in San Francisco on Judah St. called Book NookIt was a funky old candy, magazine , book store. Behind
a cluttered counter of candy and comic books you could see him composing . He once showed me old pictures of the NBC mandolin orchestra and the large scores of the orchestrations. Rudy was very supportive to help young musicians understand written music. He was like a grandfather in spirit to share what he knew and encourage music appreciation. Rudy was really cool.
http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/showthread.php?63017-Rudy-Cipolla
http://www.dawgnet.com/acd_html/artists/cipolla.html

hydrargyrum · « **Reply #5 on:** January 07, 2011, 12:41:32 PM »

Have you considered the jug? Very little learning curve. The wash tub bass is another good choice, and one can never do without a good washboard player. How about one of those bass banjos we saw here recently? I love bluegrass, and have been playing it since I was 14 with my first guitar teacher (although I was more interested in Metallica at the time). Best of luck.

xlrogue6 · « **Reply #6 on:** January 07, 2011, 02:07:24 PM »

Learning curve on the jug = don't empty it too fast.

David Houck · « **Reply #7 on:** January 13, 2011, 03:17:29 PM »

Taylor, I loved both of those videos you linked; both players were really good and I liked what they were playing. The octave mandolin has a beautiful voice. The mandocello obviously covers more of the low end. Both instruments would make wonderful contributions to an ensemble, and sound great standing alone as well.

David Houck · « **Reply #8 on:** January 13, 2011, 03:29:16 PM »

I just ran a search, and the guy playing the mandocello is Mike Marshall, who has played with a long list of well known players including five years with David Grisman. Others include Stephane Grappelli, Mark O'Connor, Tony Rice, Bela Fleck, Jerry Douglas, Michael Manring, Tony Trischka, Edgar Meyer, and Sam Bush.

Thanks again for the links!

David Houck · « **Reply #9 on:** January 13, 2011, 04:07:37 PM »

This is absolutely delightful. Mike Marshall and Chris Thile (formerly with Nickel Creek).

But more to the point, here is Mike and Chris with Mike playing mandocello. This shows how the mandocello would sound working with a mandolin in a duet. I think it sounds great. Oh, and Chris does some amazing playing in this video!

tmoney61092 · « **Reply #10 on:** January 13, 2011, 08:20:18 PM »

Mike Marshall is an excellent player as i'm sure you were able to tell :p, i love the low end that a mandocello produces but they just don't make any at the price range for the common folk. i also found a video from the Musical Instruments Museum of 2 guys playing whiskey before breakfast on mandocellos, it's quite amazing(skip to 2 mins and 30 seconds for the playing) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEAB5Bib02M

looks like i'll be saving up money for a while until i'll be able to get one but i think it'll be worth the wait

~Taylor