octave tuned DAEA

[gortnamona]

anyone playing their octave tuned this way ? if so , would be interested on hearing the pros and cons with traditional Irish music in mind , thanks.

[Johnozouk]

I had a mandola that I tuned DAEA. Same as a GDAD zouk with a capo at the 7th fret. Great for playing melody using mandolin fingering without having to reach down the neck for the high notes.

[steve V. johnson]

It would be fun with a mandola, I think. I play bouzouki in GDAD and as Johno' says I capo at the 7th from time to time. It's great fun, but I've not tried it with more room on the neck. Give it a shot. I think you may want to consult one of the online string
tension charts to match the string gauges and tensions to the pitches for your scale length. It would put the low G at the fourth fret,
yes? Pretty intriguing.

Try it, let us know how it goes?

Cheers,
stv

[Steve L]

Are you spelling the tuning from the low string to high?

[zoukboy]

This is the sort of discussion where the use of octave numbers comes in handy. Do you mean DAEA below octave mandolin tuning? Octave is G2D3A3E4 so DAEA below that would be D2A2E3A3. But if you mean DAEA higher than octave it would be D3A3E4A4 in which case you would need a short scale instrument to reach that A4 on the first string.

C2G2D3A3 mandocello
D2A2E3A3 ?
....G2D3A3E4 OM
........C3G3D4A4 mandola
........D3A3E4A4 "high mandola"

If you mean D3A3E4A4 you could just drop your OM's E to D and then capo at VII, as John said.

[gortnamona]

my question stemmed from considering ordering an octave from this builder

http://www.mcloughlininstruments.com/mandolas.html

[ptritz]

Nick Apollonio built an instrument for me that's similar to what you have in mind. The scale is 19.5 inches, and I tune it to DAEB. I use it mostly for traditional Irish music (melody mostly, not much chording) and I like it a lot - great-sounding instrument with plenty of volume.

Pete

[Rob Zamites]

my question stemmed from considering ordering an octave from this builder

http://www.mcloughlininstruments.com/mandolas.html

If his OM sounds anything like his 'standard model' 'zouk and mando, you're gonna have a damned fine instrument. Plus, you could drive to Co. Mayo to pick it up!

[gortnamona]

the road trip would indeed be a bonus Rob

[Rob Zamites]

the road trip would indeed be a bonus Rob

I can see it now, you with your new OM, sitting for a pint and a jam in a little pub in Westport or The Tavern in Murrisk, right below Croagh Patrick!

[foldedpath]

I had a 16" scale mandola that I kept tuned in DAEB for playing Irish traditional tunes. Since the vast majority of Irish trad uses only the top three strings of a fiddle (or the range of the keyless "Irish flute"), you can easily play those melodies an octave down on the DAE strings, with a nice B note on top to avoid the pinky stretch. Same thing for most OldTime fiddle tunes.

The only disadvantage I found for that tuning, with that particular repertoire, is that there are a few tunes that do have notes on the G string of a fiddle or mandolin, and those present a problem. Usually it's the more recent compositions; tunes written in the 20th Century or later. Sometimes the notes can be "folded up" an octave or just bypassed without killing the tune, but there are others like the Castle Jig ("Sean Ryan's") that don't sound right if you skip those notes. So I just didn't play those tunes on the DAEB mandola.

For what it's worth, I've since sold the mandola because using it that way didn't offer enough advantage over my 22" scale OM and my mandolin, and it bothered me not being able to play a few tunes I enjoy that need a lower reach. Your mileage may vary. DAEB on a mandola is certainly a viable approach for most Irish trad and OldTime fiddle tunes.