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Evelyn, thank you for putting this collection together. I printed off two copies and took them to our local session last night. Those of us who were reading the music were delighted, while the "ear"...

pps... After I posted my ps I decided to peek and see if there was any new info about Schikele Mix. On the website I found another phrase that I love (but had forgotten). It offers the flip side of...

ps... I always loved Peter Schikele's twitting of the authentic instrument folks in the classical world. On his radio show he would illustrate tunes with his "authentic" instrument, a cheezy Casio...

Another thing - there are folks that believe that there are correct and incorrect instruments for playing a particular genera of music. We wouldn't have the bouzouki/cittern in Irish music if groups...

You know, I have mixed feelings about the whole "doing it right/doing it wrong" thing. On the one hand, technique errors can get you in a bind that keeps you from playing well. On the other hand, if...

Nice work, Andy. I look forward to reading through the various parts.

What a fun thread! I'll respond to some of Jim's original comments about playing mandolin in Irish Traditional music sessions.

Learning new music
I have been playing mandolin in local Irish...

I am utterly astounded by the treasure trove of wonderful old music. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Sheri! I have been playing with the idea of a reader's session in the Des Moines area. Now I have...

Hey, Greg. I missed your post earlier. Nice tune! Really cheery.

I just finished playing for this gig and thought I'd put a coda on this thread. Had to skip one Beatles tune (arranged for cello, violin and mandolin) - no regrets there. 1000 Years went OK -...

Thanks, Catmandu2, I found an accordion site with lots of musette lead sheets - http://www.818daily.com/musette.html - there are other good musical styles there, too. If I have the melody sheet I can...

An update:
Martin - the two PDFs you shared were GOLDEN! You knew exactly what we were after. I'll have to confess to a "DUH!" moment, though. I had totally forgotten that I have Sheri Mignano's...

Wow! Thanks for the great suggestions. We do have a few Edith Piaf tunes, but I'm going to have to do some arranging to make 'em work. The biggest chunk of that work will be to write out enough for...

HELP! My friend's HS daughter has been asked to put together a group to play an hour of "Paris Cafe" music for a wedding reception. She is a decent violinist, and I'm a mostly melody mandolin player....

I guess it never even occurred to me to use two sound holes. The main inspiration for the body shape was the French jazz guitar with the D soundhole, so that's what we started with in the design....

Jesserules, I tried a capo a few times, but at least for me, the physical cues were so wrong that it threw off my playing.

Jeff, thanks for finding the pic of the Fylde doubles. I'm glad to know there was someone else out there with similar ideas.

I became somewhat acquainted with Neil long ago in the comando listserv. I almost crossed paths with him at the Library of Congress in 1996, too. I spent a day studying old music there. On my return...

Oooo! Ooooo! Pick me! Pick me!

I saw on another thread that Neil Gladd poked his head into the forums. I haven't crossed paths with him in years. It's good to see the name of a role model from my younger mandolin days! Neil...

Good to know. I've tried to come up with restrung oddities over the years and it would be good to have someone knowledgeable to help out.

I agree with PJ - go with what you like. I have owned a few mandolins with a dark burst, and wanted a lighter one - so the wood was more of a part of the view. If the wood is beautiful, I hate to...

I, too like how the Thomastik strings feel and sound. On a 19" scale I can tune to the octave tuning with only the slightest bit of flabbiness to the g strings. I wish they weren't quite so...

While designing the instrument we played with the ergonomics of it by making a mockup. There's more about that in the web story (see the link below). It's easy to switch instruments other than having...

A followup for Jim on the bracing question. I double-checked with the builder on my interpretation of the bracing and bridgeplate, and I was correct about it being to handle the pair of offset...