Mandolin

In this episode of the I Can't Sleep Podcast, fall asleep learning about the mandolin. This might not be a sleep-inducing instrument, but learning about the many facts of the mandolin through Wikipedia seems to be. Happy sleeping!

Transcript

Welcome to the I Can't Sleep podcast,

Where I read random articles from across the web to bore you to sleep with my soothing voice.

I'm your host,

Benjamin Boster.

This episode is from a Wikipedia article titled,

Mandolin.

A mandolin,

Mandolino in Italian,

Literally small mandala,

Is a strained musical instrument in the lute family and is usually plucked with a plectrum.

It commonly has four courses of double-metal strings tuned in unison,

Eight strings,

Although five,

Ten strings,

And six,

Twelve strings,

Coarse versions,

Also exist.

The courses are typically tuned in a succession of perfect fifths,

With the same tuning as a violin,

G3,

D4,

A4,

E5.

It is a soprano member of a family that includes the mandala,

Octave mandolin,

Mandacello,

And mandabass.

There are many styles of mandolin,

But three are common,

The Neapolitan or round-backed mandolin,

The carved-top mandolin,

And the flat-backed mandolin.

The round-back has a deep bottom constructed of strips of wood glued together into a bowl.

The carved-top or arch-top mandolin has a much shallower arched back and an arched top both carved out of wood.

The flat-backed mandolin uses thin sheets of wood for the body,

Braced on the inside for strength in a similar manner to a guitar.

Each style of instrument has its own sound quality and is associated with particular forms of music.

Neapolitan mandolins feature prominently in European classical music and traditional music.

Carved-top instruments are common in American folk music and bluegrass music.

Flat-backed instruments are commonly used in Irish,

British,

And Brazilian folk music.

Some modern Brazilian instruments feature an extra fifth course tuned a fifth lower than the standard fourth course.

Other mandolin varieties differ primarily in the number of strings and include four-string models tuned in fifths,

Such as the Brescian and Cremonese,

Six-string types tuned in fourths,

Such as the Milanese,

Lombard,

And Sicilian,

And six-course instruments of twelve strings,

Two strings per part,

Two strings per course,

Such as the Genoese.

There has also been a twelve-string,

Three-strings-per-course type,

And an instrument with sixteen strings,

Four strings per course.

Much of mandolin development revolved around the soundboard,

The top.

Premandolin instruments were quiet instruments,

Strung with as many as six courses of gut strings,

And were plucked with the fingers or with a quill.

However modern instruments are louder,

Using four courses of metal strings,

Which exert more pressure than the gut strings.

The modern soundboard is designed to withstand the pressure of metal strings that would break earlier instruments.

A soundboard comes in many shapes,

But generally round or teardrop-shaped,

Sometimes with scrolls or other projections.

There are usually one or more sound holes in the soundboard,

Either round,

Oval,

Or shaped like a calligraphic F,

F-hole.

A round or oval sound hole may be covered or boarded with decorative rosettes or purfling.

History Mandolins evolved from lute-family instruments in Europe.

Predecessors include the Gittern and Mandore,

Or mandala in Italy,

During the 17th and 18th centuries.

There were a variety of regional variants,

But two most widespread ones were the Neapolitan mandolin and the Lombardic mandolin.

The Neapolitan style has spread worldwide.

Construction Mandolins have a body that acts as a resonator,

Attached to a neck.

The resonating body may be shaped as a bowl,

Necked bowl lutes,

Or a box,

Necked box lutes.

Traditional Italian mandolins,

Such as the Neapolitan mandolin,

Meet the necked bowl description.

The necked box instruments include the carved top mandolins and the flat-back mandolins.

Strings run between mechanical tuning machines at the top of the neck to a tailpiece that anchors the other end of the strings.

The strings are suspended over the neck and soundboard and pass over a floating bridge.

The bridge is kept in contact with the soundboard by the downward pressure from the strings.

The neck is either flat or has a slight radius and is covered with a fingerboard with frets.

The action of the strings on the bridge causes the soundboard to vibrate,

Producing sound.

Like any plugged instrument,

Mandolin notes decay to silence rather than sound out continuously as with a bowed note on a violin.

And mandolin notes decay faster than larger stringed instruments like the guitar.

This encourages the use of tremolo,

Rapid picking of one or more pairs of strings.

To create sustained notes or chords.

The mandolin's paired strings facilitate this technique.

The plucked drum,

Pick,

Strikes each of a pair of strings alternately,

Providing a more full and continuous sound than a single string would.

Various design variations and amplification techniques have been used to make mandolins comparable in volume with louder instruments and orchestras.

Including the creation of mandolin banjo hybrid with the louder banjo.

Adding metal resonators,

Most notably by Dobro and the National String Instrument Corporation.

To make a resonator mandolin and amplifying electric mandolins through amplifiers.

Tuning.

A variety of different tunings are used.

Usually courses of two adjacent strings are tuned in unison.

By far the most common tuning is the same as violin tuning.

In scientific pitch notation G3,

D4,

A4,

E5.

Or in Helmholtz pitch notation G,

D' A' E''.

Fourth lowest tone course G3 196 Hz.

Third course D4 293.

66 Hz.

Second course A4 440 Hz.

A above middle C.

First highest tone course E5 659.

25 Hz.

Note that the number of hertz shown above assume a 440 Hz A.

Standard in most parts of the Western world.

Some players use an A up to 10 Hz above or below a 440.

Mainly outside the United States.

Other tunings exist including cross tunings.

In which the usually doubled string runs are tuned to different pitches.

Additionally,

Guitarists may sometimes tune a mandolin to mimic a portion of the intervals on a standard guitar.

Tuning to achieve familiar fretting patterns.

Mandolin family.

Soprano.

The mandolin is a soprano member of the mandolin family.

As the violin is a soprano member of the violin family.

Like the violin,

Its scale length is typically about 13 inches.

330 millimeters.

Modern American mandolins modeled after Gibsons have a longer scale.

About 13 and 7 eighths inches.

The strings in each of its double strung courses are tuned in unison.

And the courses use the same tuning as the violin.

G3,

D4,

A4,

E5.

Piccolo.

The piccolo or sopranino mandolin is a rare member of the family.

Tuned one octave above the mandolin.

And one fourth above the mandolin.

C4,

G4,

D5,

A5.

The same relation as that of the piccolo or sopranino violin to the violin and viola.

One model was manufactured by the Lion and Healy company.

Under the Leland brand.

A handful of contemporary luthiers build piccolo mandolins.

Its scale length is typically about 9 and a half inches.

Alto.

The mandala,

US and Canada,

Terms the tenor mandala in Britain and Ireland.

And liola or alto mandolin in continental Europe.

Which is tuned to a fifth below the mandolin.

In the same relationship as that of the viola to the violin.

Some also call this instrument the alto mandala.

Its scale length is typically about 16 and a half inches.

It is normally tuned like a viola,

Fifth below the mandolin.

And tenor banjo.

C3,

G3,

D4,

A4.

Tenor.

The octave mandolin,

US and Canada,

Terms the octave mandala in Britain and Ireland.

And mandala in continental Europe.

Is tuned an octave below the mandolin.

G2,

D3,

A3,

E4.

Its relationship to the mandolin is that of the tenor violin to the violin.

Octave mandolin scale length is typically about 20 inches.

Although instruments with scales as short as 17 inches or as long as 21 inches are not unknown.

Bandol.

The instrument has a variant off the coast of South America and Trinidad.

Where it is known as the bandol,

A flat-backed instrument with four courses.

The lower two strung with metal and nylon strings.

The Irish bouzouki,

Although not strictly a member of the mandolin family,

Has a resemblance and similar range to the octave mandolin.

It was derived from the Greek bouzouki,

A long necked lute.

Constructed like a flat-backed mandolin and uses fifth bass tunings.

Most often G2,

D3,

A3,

E4.

An octave below the mandolin.

In which case it essentially functions as an octave mandolin.

Common alternate tunings include G2,

D3,

A3,

D4.

A2,

D3,

A3,

D4.

Or A2,

D3,

A3,

E4.

Although the Irish bouzouki's bass course pairs are most often tuned in unison.

On some instruments one of each pair is replaced with a lighter string and tuned in octaves.

In the fashion of the 12 string guitar.

While occupying the same range as the octave mandolin,

Octave mandala.

The Irish bouzouki is theoretically distinguished from the former instrument by its longer scale length.

Typically from 22 to 24 inches.

All those scales as long as 26 inches,

Which is the usual Greek bouzouki scale,

Are not unknown.

In modern usage,

However,

The terms octave mandolin and Irish bouzouki are often used interchangeably.

To refer to the same instrument.

The modern sittern may also be loosely included in an extended mandolin family.

Based on resemblance to the flat-backed mandolins which it predates.

Its own lineage dates it back to the Renaissance.

It is typically a five-course ten-string instrument.

Having a scale length between 20 and 22 inches.

The instrument is most often tuned either D2,

G2,

D3,

A3,

D4.

Or G2,

D3,

A3,

D4,

A4.

And is essentially an octave mandolin with a fifth course at either the top or the bottom of its range.

Some luthiers,

Such as Stefan Sobel,

Also refer to the octave mandolin or a shorter-scaled Irish bouzouki as a sittern.

Irrespective of whether it has four or five courses.

Other relatives of the sittern,

Which might also be loosely linked to the mandolins.

And are sometimes tuned and played as such.

Includes a six-course 12-string Portuguese guitar.

And the five-course nine-string warbler.

Baritone bass.

The mandocello,

Which is classically tuned to an octave plus a fifth below the mandolin.

In the same relationship as that of the cello to the violin.

C2,

G2,

D3,

A3.

Its scale length is typically about 25 inches.

A typical violin cello scale is 27 inches.

The mandocello is a two-string instrument.

A typical violin cello scale is 27 inches.

The mandolone was a Baroque member of the mandolin family.

And the bass range that was surpassed by the mandocello.

Built as part of the Neapolitan mandolin family.

The Greek lauto or lauchto,

Long neck lute,

Is similar to a mandocello.

Ordinarily tuned C3,

C2,

G3,

G2,

D3,

D3,

A3,

A3.

With half of each pair of the lower two courses being tuned an octave high on a lighter gauge string.

The body is a staved bowl.

A saddle-less bridge glued to the flat bass like most auds and lutes.

With mechanical tuners,

Steel strings,

And tied cataphrets.

Modern lautos,

As played in Crete,

With the entire lower course tuned to C3.

A re-entrant octave above the expected low C.

Its scale length is typically about 28 inches.

The Algerian mandolet was developed by an Italian luthier in the early 1930s.

Scaled up from a mandala until it reached a scale length of approximately 25 to 27 inches.

It is a flatback instrument with a wide neck and four courses,

Eight strings.

Five courses,

Ten strings.

Or six courses,

Twelve strings.

Used in music in Algeria and Morocco.

The instrument can be tuned as a guitar,

Oud,

Or mandocello.

Depending on the music,

It will be used to play and player preference.

When tuning it as a guitar,

The strings will be tuned E2,

A2,

D3,

G3,

B3,

E4.

Strings in parentheses are dropped for a five or four course instrument.

Using a common Arabic oud tuning,

D2,

G2,

A2,

D3,

G3,

C4.

For a mandocello tuning using fifths,

C2,

G2,

D3,

A3,

E4.

Contrabass The mando bass most frequently has four single strings rather than double courses.

And is typically tuned in fourths like a double bass or a bass guitar.

E1,

A1,

D2,

G2.

These were made by the Gibson company in the early 20th century,

But appear to have never been very common.

A smaller scale four string mando bass usually tuned in fifths.

G1,

D1,

A2,

E3.

Two octaves below the mandolin.

Though not as resident as the larger instrument,

Was often preferred by players as easier to handle and more portable.

Reportedly,

However,

Most mandolin orchestras preferred to use the ordinary double bass,

Rather than a specialized mandolin family instrument.

Colace and other Italian makers predating Gibson also made mandolin basses.

The relatively rare eight string mando bass or tremolo bass also exists.

With double courses like the rest of the mandolin family.

And is tuned either G1,

D2,

A2,

E3.

Two octaves lower than the mandolin.

Or C1,

G1,

D2,

A2.

Two octaves below the mandolin.

Bullback mandolins,

Also known as roundbacks,

Are used worldwide.

They're most commonly manufactured in Europe,

Where the long history of mandolin development has created local styles.

However,

Japanese luthiers also make them.

Owing to the shape and to the common construction from wood strips of alternating colors,

In the United States,

These are sometimes colloquially referred to as the potato bug or potato beetle mandolin.

The Neapolitan style has an almond-shaped body resembling a bowl,

Constructed from curved strips of wood.

It usually has a bent sound table,

Canted in two places with the design to take the tension of the eight metal strings arranged in four courses.

A hardwood fingerboard sits on top of or is flush with the sound table.

Very old instruments may use wooden tuning pegs,

While newer instruments tend to use geared metal tuners.

The bridge is a movable length of hardwood.

A pickguard is glued below the sound hole under the strings.

European roundbacks commonly use a 13-inch scale instead of the 13 7 8 inches common on archtop mandolins.

Intertwined with the Neapolitan style is a Roman-style mandolin,

Which has influenced it.

The Roman-style mandolin had a fingerboard that was more curved and narrow.

The fingerboard was lengthened over the sound hole for the E-strings,

The high-pitched strings.

The shape of the back of the neck was different,

Less rounded with an edge.

The bridge was curved,

Making the G-strings higher.

The Roman mandolin had mechanical tuning gears before the Neapolitan.

Manufacturers of Neapolitan-style mandolins Prominent Italian manufacturers include Vinaccia,

Naples,

Emberger,

Rome,

And Colace,

Naples.

Other modern manufacturers include Lorenzo Lippi,

Milan,

Hendrik Vandenbroek,

Netherlands,

Brian Dean,

Canada,

Salvatore Maziello,

And Michel Chiazza,

La Bottega del Mondolino,

And Ferrara Gabriele Pandini.

In the United States,

When the bullback was being made in numbers,

Lion and Healy was a major manufacturer,

Especially under the Washburn brand.

Other American manufacturers,

Such as Pantone,

Include Martin,

Vega,

And Larson Brothers.

In Canada,

Brian Dean has manufactured instruments in Neapolitan,

Roman,

German,

And American styles,

But is also known for his original Grand Concert design created for American virtuoso Joseph Brent.

German manufacturers include Albert and Müller,

Diechrich,

Klaus Knorr,

Reinhold Seifert,

And Alfred Wohl.

The German bullbacks use a style developed by Seifert,

With a larger and rounder body.

Japanese brands include Kunishima and Suzuki.

Other Japanese manufacturers include Ueno,

Kawada,

Noguchi,

Toichiro Ishikara,

And Katsushika.

Ueno,

Kawada,

Noguchi,

Toichiro Ishikara,

Toichiro Ishikawa,

Rokutaro Nakade,

Otae Tadao,

Yoshihiko Takusari,

Nokuti Makoto,

Watanabe,

Kanao Kadama,

And Ochai.

Other bullback styles are Lombardic,

Milanese,

Cremonese,

Brescian,

And Genoese.

Another family of bullback mandolins came from Milan and Lombardy.

These mandolins are closer to the mandolino or mandare than other modern mandolins.

They are shorter and wider than the standard Neapolitan mandolin,

With a shallow back.

The instruments have six strings,

Three wire treble strings,

And three gut or wire-wrapped silk-based strings.

The strings ran between the tuning pegs in a bridge that was glued to the soundboard as the guitars.

The Lombardic mandolins were tuned G,

B,

E',

A',

D'',

G''.

A developer of the Milanese style was Antonio Monzino,

Milan,

And his family who made them for six generations.

Samuel Adolstein described the Lombardy mandolin in 1893 as wider and shorter than the Neapolitan mandolin,

With a shallower back and a shorter and wider neck,

With six single strings to the regular mandolin set of four.

The Lombardy was tuned C,

D,

A,

E,

B,

G.

The strings were fastened to the bridge like a guitar's.

There were 20 frets covering three octaves,

With an additional five notes.

When Adolstein wrote,

There were no nylon strings,

And the gut and single strings do not vibrate so clearly and sweetly as the double steel string of the Neapolitan.

Brussian mandolin or Creminese mandolin Brussian mandolins,

Also known as creminese,

That have survived in museums have four gut strings instead of six in a fixed bridge.

The mandolin was tuned in fifths like the Neapolitan mandolin.

In his 1805 mandolin method,

Anweisung die Mandoline von selbst zu erlernen nebst den Fünften,

Die Mandoline von selbst zu erlernen nebst einigen Übungsstücken von Bortolazzi,

Bartolomeo Bortolazzi popularized the creminese mandolin,

Which had four single strings and a fixed bridge to which the strings were attached.

Bortolazzi said in this book that the new wire-strung mandolins were uncomfortable to play when compared to the gut string instruments.

Also,

He felt they had a less pleasing,

Hard,

Zither-like tone as compared to the gut string's softer,

Full singing tone.

He favored the four single strings of the creminese instrument,

Which were tuned the same as the Neapolitan.

Genoese mandolin,

A blend of styles Like the Lombardi mandolin,

The Genoese mandolin was not tuned in fifths.

Its six gut strings,

Or six courses of strings,

Were tuned as a guitar but one octave higher.

E-A-D'-G'-B'-E'' Like the Neapolitan and unlike the Lombardi mandolin,

The Genoese does not have the bridge glued to the soundboard,

But holds the bridge on with downward tension,

From strings that run between the bottom and neck of the instrument.

The neck was wider than the Neapolitan mandolin's neck.

The peghead is similar to the guitar's.

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