Talk:Mandobass

Questionable Tremolo Information
I think the original statements about tremolo are spurious and incorrect. There is no particular reason why tremolo would be "easier" or better on doubled courses than on single strings. Guitarists execute rapid and smooth tremolos on single strings all the time -- listen to any flamenco recording -- as do double-bass players. I have changed the text on this.

Indeed, the double-course mandobass is, I believe, a fairly recent and still rather uncommon development. At the turn of the 19th-20th centuries, in the heyday of mandolin ensembles, virtually every available photograph shows the mandobass with single-strung courses. Tuning was variable -- from two octaves below the mandolin (G1-D2-A2-E3), to two octaves below the mandola (C1-G1-D2-A2), but by far the most common tuning was the standard string-bass tuning in /fourths/ : E1-A1-D2-G2. I have changed these these parts of the descriptions, as appropriate.

Tremolo bass reply
The 8-stringed mandobass was the common type of bass-mando in Europe thoughout most of the 20th C. In Germany it was called the "Tremolo-Bass" because it was perceived as more suitable for tremolo playing (and thus being able to play in a similar style as the rest of the mandolin orchestra). I do agree that the importance of double courses for tremolo playing is exaggerated but even so, this seems to be the main reason why European mandolin orchestras tended to prefer the double-course small mandobass. (Another important reason is of course that it was fairly easy for a mandolinist to adapt to. It's just like a mandolin only bigger and tuned two octaves lower.)

The origin of the larger double-bass tuned mandobass favoured by many U.S. mandolin orchestras, is a bit complicated. The question is how much does body shape matter on such an instrument? The Jugoslavian "berba" (essentially a plucked, fretted double bass) existed fairly early in the 19th century and its roots may possibly even be traced back to the 16th/17th C. large bass viols! At some time during the second half of the 19th C. Monzino came up with their "chitarrone" - essentially a berba with a guitar shaped body. These instruments are played and sound just like an upright mandobass. The only real difference is how they look. Even so, they probably should be regarded as different kinds of instruments. I don't know who came up with the first upright double-bass tuned mando. The information that Calace made them before Gibson, is new - and quite surprising - to me. I would expect an Italian manufacturer to have made either guitar-shaped "chitarrones" à la Monzino or smaller 8-stringed "tremolo basses". But in any case, Gibson certainloy wasn't the first. Wm C. Stahl listed them in their catalog as early as 1903 and there may have been some French manufacturers predating Gibson as well. (France seems to have been the only European country were the large mandobass were occasionally used.)

Frank Nordberg (talk) 19:05, 20 February 2011 (UTC)


 * Surely, if anything, double courses make tremolo playing more difficult. I certainly can see no mechanism for making it any easier. Can you cite any of the above? Mutt Lunker (talk) 19:17, 20 February 2011 (UTC)

Edits and Sources
Hi. I added a bunch of sources, fixed previously unsourced statements, and fleshed out the "History" section a good deal.

For future reference, it isn't necessary to have a footnote citation for every sentence in a paragraph, and especially not when (as was the case here) most of them are "Ibid." referrals to the same source. One such reference at the end of the paragraph is usually considered sufficient in such cases, unless you have a direct quotation from a different source within the paragraph. At any rate, I cleaned up the existing citations a bit, while I was at it.

As regards tremolo: I did uncover several sources which do indeed refer to the 8-string mando-bass as a "tremolo-bass". None, however, deign to explain why or how the instrument acquired that particular name (if, indeed, anyone knows at this point). So if anyone does find a reference to the reason for that name, it's probably worth a mention and a citation in the article. 74.95.43.249 (talk) 00:32, 29 April 2015 (UTC)