Do the Dance of Celebration

[cactuswatcher]

It's the ATPo Board Anniversary!

Here is ATPO's official phony Fandango group, "The Lurkers" to help us celebrate!


These happy lasses and lads are actual ATPo Lurkers
From right to left (to be perverse):
Lotta Moxie, Lead Singer. Loves Spike and long essays (a little too much if you ask me!).
Red Nekke, Dancer. Has copies of every version of the Existential Scoobies wallpaper. Once dated Lucy, the LA library troll of a thousand names. Wants gainful employment as something other than a head rest.
Buffy DiFlor, Lead Dancer. Loves Conor and the Destroyer, thinks Masq is hawt, too! Working on GED parttime. Wants to become a philosopher.
Rudy Tutoot, Mandocello, Alpen horn. Collects (NT) posts on his hard drive. Knows all the words to "They got the mustard out."
Stew Proons, Lyre mandolin, concert kazoo. Wes and Lilah shipper. Made his acting debut in Angel Season Six as "man with back turned, walking away." Still has Boke.com bookmarked.
Randy van Phicker. Harp Guitar, banjo stomper for the band. Cried when Oz left Buffy. Cried when Angel left Buffy. Cried every time Rob liked an episode. Thinks vampires are real. Does not believe in Drzzzt.

Comments

[cactuswatcher.livejournal.com]

Lyre mandolins are sort of the 'Lost Ark' of mandolin family instruments. The Gibson company made a few of them and used one on a famous label for other instruments they made. This picture was probably a promo for Gibson instruments rather than a photo of an actual performing group. Harp guitars are more common but this fancy one with the scroll on top of the body is very rare as well.

Mandolin orchestras were very common in the US from about 1890 till the middle of World War I. The mandolin corresponds in tuning to the violin, and there were sizes with the same tuning as the viola, cello and bass as well. The mandobass was mostly a failure as an instrument, but the others worked quite well although they never achieved the popularity of the mandolin.

I own, besides mandolins, an octave mandolin. It's a modern invention. It's tuned a fifth higher than a mandocello and has about the longest reasonable scale for an instrument tuned in fifths for playing melody rather than straight back up. The chord shapes are the same for the mandolin, and it's far easier to play lead on than a guitar, so they are experiencing a mini boom in popularity at the moment. They are more popular in Britain and Ireland than here, right now. Mandolin players are far more likely to have heard of than anyone else, though.

[anomster.livejournal.com]

Wow, this is fascinating, CW! I had no idea! So if the octave mandolin is a fifth above the mandocello, where's the mandolin equivalent of the viola tuned? And I guess I don't know enough about string instruments to know what you mean about its having "the longest reasonable scale" for its tuning.

So what kind of Renaissance music are you bringing (to pick up on a topic from another thread)? I have a suite of music for alto recorder & guitar--do you wanna give that a shot? Though I gotta warn you, I haven't played it in years. But I could bring it--doesn't take up much space. (Just checked--the guitar part shows the chords as notes on a staff, so at least it's not too guitar-centric.)

Thanks for bringing out my music geek side!

[cactuswatcher.livejournal.com]

Violins (and mandolins) are tuned GDAE. Violas are tuned a fifth lower - CGDA. Cellos are tuned an octave lower than a viola - CGDA again. Double Basses are tuned in fourths EADG (so it tune values look backward from the violin!).

The scale business is about how many notes you can comfortably reach without moving your hand. The scale of a stringed instrument is the distance between the bridge that stops the strings vibrations on one end and the nut on the far end of the neck. That length affects how fast you can play and how many different harmonic combinations you can play along with the melody.

I have to say up front, I'm not a great musician. I've rarely played with anyone in my life, and am not I used to playing back up, at all! I'll have far more trouble than you will. If it's really guitar chords written out standard notation, I don't how much good it would be. Mandolin chords are much different and not as rich. But, we can try it. If you don't expect me to do it on sight, I may be able to work out something simple. I don't think Renaissance harmony is all that fancy. But no 'public' performances, please! Just the two of us having fun.

The music I have is a book of music for the lute transcribed for the mandolin with guitar chords suggested. If you don't mind playing in unison or to a crappy background drone we can probably play the few of those together. It should be within the range of your recorder. I have and can play more or less badly La Mantovana, and a couple of things from Terpsicore.

[anomster.livejournal.com]

Fun is the point! I don't know that I'm exactly great myself, although I like to think I'm pretty good.

That's interesting about the tuning. I'm familiar w/recorder & some other wind instruments, where the tuning intervals are 4ths & 5ths (e.g., soprano/tenor recorders are in C, & sopranino/alto/bass recorders are in F.

I didn't know the chords themselves were diff't. for mandolin & guitar! Of course you can look at the music beforehand to see what you can work out. Your music book sounds fine. I don't know La Mantovana (by name, anyway--I might recognize the music), but I know 1 of the movements from Terpsichore. It even fits on crumhorn! Looking forward to playing w/you!