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Mandolins Rafael Delgado-Aparicio
What is a Mandolin? • The Mandolin, also spelled MANDOLINE, is a small stringed musical instrument related to the lute. It evolved in the 18th century and was built in several varieties in different Italian towns, the Neapolitan mandolin becoming the representative type.
Why the name? • It is probable that the origional instrument was the mandola and this evolved in the 15th century. So why mandola? • In Italian, the word mandorla means almond. So in other words it is referring to the shape and colour of the instrument. • A later, smaller mandola was then known as the mandolina; mandolin in English.
Its Structure • The instrument's form and proportions were strongly influenced by the maker Pasquale Vinaccia of Naples (1806-82). • The pear-shaped body is deeply vaulted; the fingerboard, with 17 frets, is slightly raised. • At its widest part, where the bridge is set, the belly angles downward, increasing the pressure of the strings on the bridge to give a brilliant tone of great carrying power.
Its Strings • The mandolin has four pairs of steel strings tuned, by a machine head (as on a guitar), to violin pitch (g-d'-a'-e). • The strings are hitched to the instrument's end. • Quick movement of the plectrum across each unison pair of strings produces a characteristic tremolo. A shell plate around the oval sound hole protects the belly from damage by the plectrum.
The mandolin’s Tremolo • The mandolin is characterized by a special musical device called the tremolo. • The tremolo is referred to as the quick repetition of one note, which is obtained by the movement of the plectrum. It is also referred to as the quick back and forth repetition of the same two notes, normally one third apart.
Captain Corelli’s Mandolin • In the novel, the captain probably owns and old Italian, or Neapolitan, mandolin. Nowadays, it has evolved and changed tremendously. • Old Italian mandolins have a round back that can slide around on your belly when you play it. Most modern ones have a flatter back and are easier to play standing up. The two types have slightly different sounds.
The Mandolin’s Family • Just as the violin has a family (the violin, viola, 'cello and double bass) so does the mandolin. The names of these are the mandola, mandocello and mandobass.
How to tell mandolins apart from mandolas, citterns, etc. • Scale length (measured from the nut to the bridge) is the main way to tell what you are dealing with. The range is from about mandolin size to a bit longer than guitar size (roughly equal to an acoustic bass)... and this makes all of the difference. You can get the same note at several different lengths, but each will emphasize a different octave or two of the instrument most prominently. A mandolin, for example, tends to ring most loudly on the middle two courses of strings, the D and A. • This is another interesting factor- the bass strings are sometimes in octaves, going low to high from the bass side to the treble side (the opposite of a normal 12-string guitar tuning). Unisons are never exactly in unison (either it is fantastically hard to get them spot on, or slight differences in the strings make it impossible) but they are still very closely in tune. … Continued on Next Slide…
More differences • …This produces that sound that separates the Mandolin style instruments from a 6-string guitar. The fact of the matter is that there are different sounds created by different stringing styles, but that doesn't seem to differentiate one instrument from another in name so much as scale length and tuning do. • A teardrop shaped instrument--Sobells, Gibson mandolin family "A" models, Fylde, and other makes) tends to have a large resonant sound, with both strong bass and treble. Round-backed instruments (Greek bouzoukis, old "tater-bug" mandolins) have more of a "ploonk" sound, and are focused more on the bass than the treble. Deeper soundboxes seem to create more resonance and bass emphasis, shallower ones project louder with more emphasis on the "zing" or treble. Sobells come in either "small", "large", or "giant" in any of the mandolin family instruments. a "small" is about the size of a mandola, considerably bigger than a Gibson mandolin. This emphasizes treble, and creates a "zing" sort of sound. A "large" will create a big bass sound, a lot of resonance, and more sustain.
Its cousin: the lute • It is a stringed instrument widely played in the 14th to 18th centuries and revived in the 20th century; also, generically, any stringed instrument having strings that run in a parallel plane to the soundboard and along a protruding neck. • The lute developed its classical form by about 1500. It has a flat fir belly, or soundboard, and a deep, extremely lightweight, pear-shaped body made by bending narrow strips of wood (ribs) and gluing them side by side. Tied onto the neck and fingerboard are seven to ten gut frets. Six pairs (“double courses”) of strings run from tuning pegs (set in a pegbox that angles sharply back from the neck) to a bridge glued to the belly.
Mandolins all over the world • In a gallery in Washington, a painting by Agnelo Gaddi (1369- 1396) depicts an angel playing a miniature lute called the mandora. The miniature lute was probably contrived to fill out the scale of 16th century lute ensembles. The Assyrians called this new instrument a Pandura, which described its shape. The Arabs called it Dambura, the Latins Mandora, the Italians, Mandola. The smaller version of the traditional mandola was called mandolina by the Italians.
Mandolins nowadays • Today the mandolin continues to be a popular and vital instrument. In country music, the mandolin has made quite a comeback since the heyday of the Nashville Sound in the 60's and 70's. In the early 80's, the syrupy strings and layered vocals gave way to a powerful neo-traditionalist movement that re-introduced the mandolin to country audiences. In rock music, the mandolin has been present consistently since the late 60's. English folk-rock, the acoustic-tinged albums of Rod Stewart, and the heady acoustic ballads of Led Zepplin all made the mandolin a familiar sound to rock audiences. Today, the present interest in 'unplugged' music continues to showcase the mandolin.
