Unless it happens to be some unnamed original jam, I'd love to know what the tune he starts playing in this video is, it's absolutely beautiful!
Unless it happens to be some unnamed original jam, I'd love to know what the tune he starts playing in this video is, it's absolutely beautiful!
Beautiful!
I believe it is called "Watch Me Play Fast."
That is James from The Mandolin Store. Nice guy and obviously can really play. I've talked to him on the phone when deciding what mandolin to buy from them. But, I don't like his demos. All speed.
They have another guy named Adam that does demos. He varies the speed and style in his demos and, I think, gives you a better chance to hear the character of the mandolins he plays.
I really like the tune played in the first 70 sec of the clip, which is clearly not an improv (IMHO). After that, the bluegrass shredding improv on the rest of it seems kind of beside the point#it’s a -mandola- demo. I’m thinking of getting an archtop dola next, and I want to hear how it rings on the slower parts, not having played an f-hole dola that I can recall. (I have a cedar flattop, nice instrument, very mellow—want something I can drive perhaps like this!)
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Mandoline or Mandolin: Similar to the lute, but much less artistically valuable....for people who wish to play simple music without much trouble —The Oxford Companion to Music
I don’t know the tune, either, but agree it’s a nice one, and a very good sounding ‘Dola!
I’ve only had the chance to play a couple of mandolas, and I’ve never been able to get a sense for what sonic possibilities it has that I don’t already have covered with mandolin, OM (+/- capo), Uke, and guitar. My one trip to TME in Boston was to try out a Kimble 2 point Dola that was a spectacularly built instrument, but after playing a 20 inch OM that’s what I ended up buying (we were there moving my daughter into law school, but I managed to carve out an hour or so at TME). I’ll probably bite at some point (the Collings that just hit the TME site and classifieds has me drooling a little), but probably not til all the kids are out of college/grad school, lol…
Oh, and, if I could play that quick and clean, I’d do it all the time, lol. But, I get what you’re saying as far as it making it a little difficult to evaluate sustain.
I sort of agree with this. I'm always thoroughly entertained by his demos because damn, I can't play like that, but they feel a bit samey and are not a great way to really get a feel for the range of the instrument. I'd also love more detailed commentary.
Shame about the tune though. Maybe it is original after all? .....guess I'll give transcribing it by ear a shot, heh.
Diego
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Someone thinking of buying would be interested in tone, playability, action, intonation, volume comparison etc. I agree with other comments that this demo (and others) seem to be all about speed. Although it's always interesting to see/hear that aspect, IMHO that's not the purpose of an instrument demo.
+1
The first thing I want to hear is all four strings, one at a time slowly to hear what they sound like. Then something slow to hear the instrument. If you want to play fast some that's OK, but not all the time. I can play fast, but if I want to hear the sound of my mandolin, I play slow. I also want to hear a lot of the G string in a piece. Seems that string varies the most on mandolins and for me I want the G string to sound a certain way. Most demo's don't even play the G, or if they do it is quick or with a full strum.
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Adam who used to do the demos, is also very talented and a nice guy. Nowadays, he is a member of the bluegrass band Joe Mullins and the Radio Ramblers.
Randy Mallory
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