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62-479: A mandolin orchestra is an ensemble of plucked string instruments similar in structure to the string sections of a symphony orchestra. There are first and second mandolin sections (analogous to first and second violins); a mandola section (analogous to the viola section); mandocelli (analogous to the violoncelli), classical guitars, and a bass section originally of mando-basses but nowadays more likely to be acoustic bass guitar or double bass. The classical guitar section

124-529: 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. [REDACTED] 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. The mandolin

186-469: A bass guitar . These were made by the Gibson company in the early 20th century, was also never very common. A smaller scale four-string mandobass, usually tuned in fifths: G 1 –D 2 –A 2 –E 3 (two octaves below the mandolin), though not as resonant as the larger instrument, was often preferred by players as easier to handle and more portable. Reportedly, however, most mandolin orchestras preferred to use

248-500: A violin (F-5 and A-5), or a single oval sound hole (F-4 and A-4 and lower models) directly under the strings. Much variation exists between makers working from these archetypes, and other variants have become increasingly common. Generally, in the United States, Gibson F-hole F-5 mandolins and mandolins influenced by that design are strongly associated with bluegrass, while the A-style is associated with other types of music, although it too

310-606: A "modified x-bracing" that incorporates both a tone bar and X-bracing. Numerous modern mandolin makers build instruments that largely replicate the Gibson F-5 Artist models built in the early 1920s under the supervision of Gibson acoustician Lloyd Loar . Original Loar-signed instruments are sought after and extremely valuable. Other makers from the Loar period and earlier include Lyon and Healy , Vega and Larson Brothers . The ideal for archtops has been solid pieces of wood carved into

372-513: A Kalamazoo, Michigan, luthier who founded the "Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Manufacturing Co., Limited" in 1902. Gibson mandolins evolved into two basic styles: the Florentine or F-style, which has a decorative scroll near the neck, two points on the lower body and usually a scroll carved into the headstock; and the A-style, which is pear-shaped, has no points and usually has a simpler headstock. These styles generally have either two f-shaped soundholes like

434-509: A fingerboard with frets . The action of the strings on the bridge causes the soundboard to vibrate, producing sound. Like any plucked 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 chordophones 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:

496-485: A mandocello tuning using fifths C 2 C 2 G 2 G 2 D 3 D 3 A 3 A 3 (E 4 ) (E 4 ). The mandobass is the bass version of the mandolin, just as the double bass is the bass to the violin. Like the double bass, it most frequently has 4 single strings, rather than double courses—and like the double bass, it is most commonly tuned to perfect fourths rather than fifths like most mandolin family instruments: E 1 –A 1 –D 2 –G 2, —the same tuning as

558-561: A member of the mandolin family, has a reasonable resemblance and similar range to the octave mandolin. It derives from the Greek bouzouki (a long-necked lute), constructed like a flat-backed mandolin and uses fifth-based tunings, most often G 2 –D 3 –A 3 –D 4 . Other tunings include: A 2 –D 3 –A 3 –D 4 , G 2 –D 3 –A 3 –E 4 (an octave below the mandolin—in which case it essentially functions as an octave mandolin), G 2 –D 3 –G 3 –D 4 or A 2 –D 3 –A 3 –E 4 . Although

620-515: A musician, also became instrument makers in the Neapolitan mandolin family. They introduced improvements in building techniques and modernized the Neapolitan mandolin. Among other innovations, they enlarged its sound box and—like the Roman luthier Luigi Embergher —extended the fingerboard over the sound hole to increase the range. When Nicola Calace emigrated to the United States in 1898, Raffaele continued

682-864: A period of decline in the US. Orchestras continued to exist in Japan, and Germany where they are known as Zupforchester, and also in Italy. In Canada, new mandolin orchestras were organized in Toronto, Winnipeg and other cities by left-wing immigrants from Eastern Europe. Frequently performing in labour halls, these groups were sometimes under government scrutiny, suspected of spreading socialist propaganda. Children's orchestras were also formed in Ukrainian communities. The New York Mandolin Orchestra continued to perform during World War II. Interest in

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744-410: A shorter-scaled Irish bouzouki as a cittern, irrespective of whether it has four or five courses. Other relatives of the cittern, which might also be loosely linked to the mandolins (and are sometimes tuned and played as such), include the 6-course/12-string Portuguese guitar and the 5-course/9-string waldzither . The mandocello is classically tuned to an octave plus a fifth below the mandolin, in

806-456: A sound that is less full than a well-made, carved-top mandolin. Flatback mandolins use a thin sheet of wood with bracing for the back, as a guitar uses, rather than the bowl of the bowlback or the arched back of the carved mandolins. Like the bowlback, the flatback has a round sound hole. This has been sometimes modified to an elongated hole, called a D-hole. The body has a rounded almond shape with flat or sometimes canted soundboard. The type

868-486: A style developed by Seiffert, with a larger and rounder body. Japanese brands include Kunishima and Suzuki. Other Japanese manufacturers include Oona, Kawada, Noguchi, Toichiro Ishikawa, Rokutaro Nakade, Otiai Tadao, Yoshihiko Takusari, Nokuti Makoto, Watanabe, Kanou Kadama and Ochiai. Another family of bowlback mandolins came from Milan and Lombardy . These mandolins are closer to the mandolino or mandore than other modern mandolins. They are shorter and wider than

930-437: A total of eight strings. A variety of string types are used, with steel strings being the most common and usually the least expensive. The courses are typically tuned in an interval of perfect fifths , with the same tuning as a violin (G3, D4, A4, E5). Also, like the violin, it is the soprano member of a family that includes the mandola , octave mandolin , mandocello and mandobass . There are many styles of mandolin, but

992-434: Is a movable length of hardwood. A pickguard is glued below the sound hole under the strings. European roundbacks commonly use a 13-inch (330 mm) scale instead of the 13 + 7 ⁄ 8 inches (350 mm) common on archtop Mandolins. Intertwined with the Neapolitan style is the Roman style mandolin, which has influenced it. The Roman mandolin had a fingerboard that was more curved and narrow. The fingerboard

1054-453: Is most often used for and associated with bluegrass. The F-5's more complicated woodwork also translates into a more expensive instrument. Internal bracing to support the top in the F-style mandolins is usually achieved with parallel tone bars, similar to the bass bar on a violin. Some makers instead employ "X-bracing", which is two tone-bars mortised together to form an X. Some luthiers now using

1116-466: Is normally tuned like a viola (perfect fifth below the mandolin) and tenor banjo: C 3 –G 3 –D 4 –A 4 . The octave mandolin (US and Canada), termed the octave mandola in Britain and Ireland and mandola in continental Europe, is tuned an octave below the mandolin: G 2 –D 3 –A 3 –E 4 . Its relationship to the mandolin is that of the tenor violin to the violin, or the tenor saxophone to

1178-401: Is similar to a mandocello, ordinarily tuned C 3 /C 2 –G 3 /G 2 –D 3 /D 3 –A 3 /A 3 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, the saddle-less bridge glued to the flat face like most ouds and lutes, with mechanical tuners, steel strings, and tied gut frets. Modern laoutos, as played on Crete, have

1240-399: Is the soprano member of the mandolin family, as the violin is the soprano member of the violin family . Like the violin, its scale length is typically about 13 inches (330 mm). Modern American mandolins modelled after Gibsons have a longer scale , about 13 + 7 ⁄ 8 inches (350 mm). The strings in each of its double-strung courses are tuned in unison, and the courses use

1302-455: 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 cittern 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

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1364-418: Is typically a five course (ten-string) instrument having a scale length between 20 and 22 inches (510 and 560 mm). The instrument is most often tuned to either D 2 –G 2 –D 3 –A 3 –D 4 or G 2 –D 3 –A 3 –D 4 –A 4 , and is essentially an octave mandola with a fifth course at either the top or the bottom of its range. Some luthiers, such as Stefan Sobell, also refer to the octave mandola or

1426-566: Is used 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 (E 2 ) (E 2 ) A 2 A 2 D 3 D 3 G 3 G 3 B 3 B 3 (E 4 ) (E 4 ); strings in parentheses are dropped for a five- or four-course instrument. Using a common Arabic oud tuning D 2 D 2 G 2 G 2 A 2 A 2 D 3 D 3 (G 3 ) (G 3 ) (C 4 ) (C 4 ). For

1488-569: Is very important and many orchestras are more accurately described as mandolin and guitar orchestras. Many orchestras also include a percussion section. Most mandolin orchestras are community-based and are supported by a core of professional musicians and teachers with a passion for plucked string instruments and music. They are found in nearly all major cities in the western world, as well as Japan, Korea, and South America. The stimulus to create mandolin groups often came from travelling mandolinists and teachers. Immigration from Europe to other parts of

1550-574: The National String Instrument Corporation ) to make a resonator mandolin , and amplifying electric mandolins through amplifiers. A variety of different tunings are used. Usually, courses of 2 adjacent strings are tuned in unison. By far the most common tuning is the same as violin tuning, in scientific pitch notation G 3 –D 4 –A 4 –E 5 , or in Helmholtz pitch notation : g–d′–a′–e″. The numbers of Hz shown above assume

1612-497: The Vinaccia family created in the last decade of the 19th century, and that Raffaele Calace subsequently perfected. Raffaele Calace made three long-playing phonograph records on which he plays mandolin and liuto cantabile. Raffaele Calace wrote about 200 compositions for mandolin. These include concert works for mandolin solo and compositions for mandolin and other instruments—duets with piano, trio combinations with mandola and guitar,

1674-571: The mandolin , and soon became a virtuoso . After Calace graduated with high honors from the Regio Conservatorio di Musica in Naples, he set out to elevate the mandolin's place in music. To achieve this, he toured Europe and Japan, giving concerts on the Neapolitan mandolin and liuto cantabile . The liuto cantabile is a bass variant of the mandolin family that scholars believe Neapolitan luthiers of

1736-522: The soprano saxophone . Octave mandolin scale length is typically about 20 inches (510 mm), although instruments with scales as short as 17 inches (430 mm) or as long as 21 inches (530 mm) are not unknown. The instrument has a variant off the coast of South America in 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 , though not strictly

1798-512: The "potato bug" , " potato beetle ", or tater-bug 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 planes 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

1860-544: The Calace workshop with his daughter Maria (also a mandolin player), and his son Giuseppe Calace . Today the Calace atelier is run by Calace's grandson Raffaele Jr . Neapolitan mandolin A mandolin ( Italian : mandolino , pronounced [mandoˈliːno] ; literally "small mandola ") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick . It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison , thus giving

1922-658: The Cremonese instrument, which were tuned the same as the Neapolitan. Like the Lombard mandolin, the Genoese mandolin was not tuned in fifths. Its 6 gut strings (or 6 courses of strings) were tuned as a guitar but one octave higher: e-a-d’-g’-b natural-e”. Like the Neapolitan and unlike the Lombard 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

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1984-417: The Cremonese 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 with 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

2046-532: 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, similar to the 12-string guitar . While occupying the same range as the octave mandolin/octave mandola, the Irish bouzouki is theoretically distinguished from the former instrument by its longer scale length, typically from 24 to 26 inches (610 to 660 mm), although scales as long as 27 inches (690 mm), which

2108-484: The Leland brand. A handful of contemporary luthiers build piccolo mandolins. The mandola , termed the tenor mandola in Britain and Ireland and liola or alto mandolin in continental Europe, is tuned a fifth below the mandolin, in the same relationship as that of the viola to the violin . Some also call this instrument the "alto mandola". Its scale length is typically about 16 + 1 ⁄ 2 inches (420 mm). It

2170-415: The Lombard 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's set of 4. The Lombard 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 5 notes. When Adelstein wrote, there were no nylon strings, and

2232-419: The Neapolitan mandolin and the Lombard mandolin. The Neapolitan style has spread worldwide. 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 archtop mandolins and

2294-502: The Romantic Mandolin Quartet (two mandolins, mandola , and guitar ), and quintets. Calace also wrote pedagogical works, including a mandolin method, Schule für Mandoline , and a method for playing the liuto cantabile. The mandolin method was published in 1910 and elaborates on the 18th-century Italian mandolin tutors by Giovanni Battista Gervasio (c. 1725–c. 1785), Gabriele Leone (c. 1725–c. 1790) and others. It shows

2356-567: The United States, when the bowlback was being made in numbers, Lyon and Healy was a major manufacturer, especially under the "Washburn" brand. Other American manufacturers 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 & Mueller, Dietrich, Klaus Knorr, Reinhold Seiffert and Alfred Woll. The German bowlbacks use

2418-425: The banjo movement, eventually replacing it as the better ensemble instrument. Mandolin orchestras were popular in the early 20th century, and many cities and schools had one. A considerable body of music was created, much of which was simple or popular marches and foxtrots that were easy and fun to play. However, some "serious" music was also created and which requires every bit as much skill to play as anything in

2480-618: 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 . Archtop instruments are common in American folk music and bluegrass music . Flat-backed instruments are commonly used in Irish, British, and Brazilian folk music, and Mexican estudiantinas . Other mandolin variations differ primarily in

2542-485: The bottom and neck of the instrument. The neck was wider than the Neapolitan mandolin's neck. The peg-head is similar to the guitar's. At the very end of the 19th century, a new style, with a carved top and back construction inspired by violin family instruments began to supplant the European-style bowl-back instruments in the United States. This new style is credited to mandolins designed and built by Orville Gibson ,

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2604-500: The development of the traditional Italian playing style. The Calace school forms a bridge between other modern methods for mandolin, such as those by Raffaele Calace's countryman Silvio Ranieri (1882-1956), a Roman virtuoso who settled in Brussels , and the American -based Italian mandolinist Giuseppe Pettine (1874-1966). Raffaele Calace and his brother Nicola Calace (1859-1923), also

2666-450: The entire lower course tuned to C 3 , a reentrant octave above the expected low C. Its scale length is typically about 28 inches (710 mm). The Algerian mandole was developed by an Italian luthier in the early 1930s, scaled up from a mandola until it reached a scale length of approximately 25 to 27 inches. It is a flatback instrument, with a wide neck and 4 courses (8 strings), 5 courses (10 strings) or 6 courses (12 strings), and

2728-420: The fingers or with a quill. However, modern instruments are louder, using 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. The 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

2790-411: The flatback 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

2852-477: The gut and single strings "do not vibrate so clearly and sweetly as the double steel string of the Neapolitan." Brescian mandolins (also known as Cremonese) that have survived in museums have four gut strings instead of six and 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 einigen Uebungsstucken von Bortolazzi , Bartolomeo Bortolazzi popularised

2914-440: The ideal thickness, produce the sound consumers expect. Not carving them correctly dulls the sound. The sound of a carved-wood instrument changes the longer it is played, and older instruments are sought out for their rich sound. Laminated-wood presstops are less resonant than carved wood, the wood and glue vibrating differently than wood grain. Presstops made of solid wood have the wood's natural grain compressed, typically creating

2976-456: The mandola. Bowlback mandolins (also known as roundbacks), are used worldwide. They are 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

3038-401: The mandolin was renewed as a part of the resurgent interest in folk music in the late 1950s and 1960s. As this music began to be re-discovered, orchestras began to form anew in large cities in the US. In the modern era, many cities in the US host mandolin orchestras of many years experience; many have libraries of hundreds of compositions. Significant new music continues to be written all over

3100-405: The more well-known violin repertoire. Principal among the important composers of such music were Raffaele Calace , Arrigo Cappelletti , Giuseppe Manente and Carlo Munier , who all wrote beautiful and virtuosic music for various mandolin chamber music ensembles (mandolin and guitar, two mandolins and mandola, etc. as well as full orchestras). After World War I, the mandolin orchestras went into

3162-594: 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; six-course instruments of 12 strings (two strings per course) such as the Genoese; and the tricordia , with four triple-string courses (12 strings total). Much of mandolin development revolved around the soundboard (the top). Early instruments were quiet, strung with gut strings, and plucked with

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3224-429: The ordinary double bass , rather than a specialised mandolin family instrument. Calace and other Italian makers predating Gibson also made mandolin-basses. The relatively rare eight-string mandobass, or "tremolo-bass", also exists, with double courses like the rest of the mandolin family, and is tuned either G 1 –D 2 –A 2 –E 3 , two octaves lower than the mandolin, or C 1 –G 1 –D 2 –A 2 , two octaves below

3286-439: The plectrum (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 hybrids with the drum-like body of the louder banjo , adding metal resonators (most notably by Dobro and

3348-423: The right shape. However, another archtop exists, the top made of laminated wood or thin sheets of solid wood, pressed into the arched shape. These have become increasingly common in the world of internationally constructed musical instruments in the 21st century. Pressed-top instruments are made to appear the same as carved-top instruments but do not sound the same as carved-wood tops. Carved-wood tops when carved to

3410-455: The same relationship as that of the cello to the violin, its strings being tuned to C 2 –G 2 –D 3 –A 3 . Its scale length is typically about 26 inches (660 mm). A typical violoncello scale is 27 inches (690 mm). The mandolone was a Baroque member of the mandolin family in the bass range that was surpassed by the mandocello. It was part of the Neapolitan mandolin family. The Greek laouto or laghouto (long-necked lute)

3472-471: The same tuning as the violin: G 3 –D 4 –A 4 –E 5 . The piccolo or sopranino mandolin is a rare member of the family, tuned one octave above the mandola and one fourth above the mandolin (C 4 –G 4 –D 5 –A 5 ); the same relation as that of the piccolo (to the western concert flute ) or violino piccolo (to the violin and viola ). One model was manufactured by the Lyon & Healy company under

3534-474: The soundboard, either round, oval, or shaped like a calligraphic f (f-hole). A round or oval sound hole may be covered or bordered with decorative rosettes or purfling . Mandolins evolved from lute family instruments in Europe. Predecessors include the gittern and mandore or mandola in Italy during the 17th and 18th centuries. There were a variety of regional variants, but the two most widespread ones were

3596-489: The standard Neapolitan mandolin, with a shallow back. The instruments have 6 strings, 3 wire treble-strings and 3 gut or wire-wrapped-silk bass-strings. The strings ran between the tuning pegs and a bridge that was glued to the soundboard, as a guitar's. The Lombard mandolins were tuned g–b–e′–a′–d″–g″ (shown in Helmholtz pitch notation ). A developer of the Milanese style was Antonio Monzino (Milan) and his family who made them for six generations. Samuel Adelstein described

3658-413: The three most common types are the Neapolitan or round-backed mandolin, the archtop mandolin and the flat-backed mandolin. The round-backed version has a deep bottom, constructed of strips of wood, glued together into a bowl. The archtop, also known as the carved-top mandolin has an arched top and a shallower, arched back both carved out of wood. The flat-backed mandolin uses thin sheets of wood for

3720-466: The world by composers including Victor Kioulaphides , John Craton , Annette Kruisbrink , Clarice Assad , Francine Trester and Jeff Hijlkema . Raffaele Calace Raffaele Calace (1863 – 1934) was an Italian mandolin player, composer, and luthier . Calace was born in Naples , Italy , the son of Antonio Calace , a successful instrument maker. He initially trained to be a musician , discovered

3782-515: The world resulted in the concept spreading rapidly, with movements beginning quite early in the US, Japan and Australia. Some indication of the speed of these developments across the globe can be appreciated by the following: On reviewing the S.S. Stewart 's "Banjo and Guitar Journal", later called "Banjo, Guitar and Mandolin Journal", between 1884 and 1900 one comes to a view, at least in the US and Australia, that mandolin ensemble playing evolved within

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3844-603: 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. Prominent Italian manufacturers include Vinaccia (Naples), Embergher (Rome) and Calace (Naples). Other modern manufacturers include Lorenzo Lippi (Milan), Hendrik van den Broek (Netherlands), Brian Dean (Canada), Salvatore Masiello and Michele Caiazza (La Bottega del Mandolino) and Ferrara, Gabriele Pandini. In

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