Loudness with Chris Thile CT 55 Bluechip pick?

[SincereCorgi]

Just how big are these groups? And why are the fiddles playing when you're taking a break? It sounds like you're fighting a losing battle here. I've been to those jams where you can hardly hear yourself play. When it gets to that point I either break off somewhere with a smaller group or I pack up and go home. Life is too short and music is too much fun to jam with people that don't understand proper dynamics.

Some of the jams here run pretty big- the local fiddle association here has a largish monthly gathering that gets at least fifty people, most of which sort of mill around and form amorphous blobs (say, seven or eight people to a blob) that occupy the gray-blue area between bluegrass and old time. People are very nice, but it's a lot of noise, especially on account of the number of fiddles. (Ivan's Irish session experiences sound eerily familiar.) Still, I bet Mike Marshall wouldn't have this problem- I'm going to work steadily on trying to beef up my volume for a while.

[jasona]

Still, I bet Mike Marshall wouldn't have this problem

No, because he uses a mic and PA system. He plays really quietly and works on maximum tone since mics are so good these days.

[Rob Gerety]

I doubt there is any problem with you technique or your mandolin. Mandolins are not as loud as fiddles and banjos and so you no matter what you do it will be a struggle.

[foldedpath]

I'm going to agree with "it ain't the mandolin, the pick, or your technique; it's the situation."

I was at a workshop run by Tim O'Brien a couple of years ago, and the topic of mandolin volume at jams came up. He said (paraphrasing from memory here) that he used to fight to be heard, when the jams got big and loud... playing as hard as he could. But then he realized it was just limiting his technique. So he backed off. He accepted what the mandolin can, and can't do in those situations. This is a guy that doesn't lack for chops, or a fine mandolin with a strong voice.

Bill Monroe didn't choose to play the mandolin because it works so well in a large jam. He chose it for the way it works in a small acoustic ensemble, where everyone is taking turns in the spotlight, and making an effort to blend together as a band.

Big, casual jams just aren't like that (unless you're very lucky). They always tend to be dominated by the folks playing the intrinsically louder instruments. Or they'll dominate by strength of numbers. A guitar alone isn't that loud, but get enough guitar players at a jam and the "wall 'o guitars" will drown out anything.

I was at an Irish session last night (the kind Ivan is talking about, with simultaneous melody). We had... let's see... four fiddlers, a treble recorder player, another mandolin player (mostly doing chord backing), and a concertina player. I spent my time about 50/50 between backing on guitar and melody on mandolin. That's not a huge group, but once you go past about three fiddlers who know what they're doing, the mandolins start to disappear into the background. It just adds a little "ping" on the leading edge of the melody line. That's okay, as long as I can still hear myself, and even that goes away if the group expands to six fiddlers or more. I've stopped fighting to play extra-loud in these situations. It's enough if I can just be heard well enough to kick off a set. The Lebeda F5 (and with, YES!, a Blue Chip pick!) works fine for that.


P.S. if not a kickback, we should at least all be getting a discount on future orders for all this Blue Chip promotion....

[Barry Platnick]

What is the difference in sound or playability between the CT 55 and the TAD's (50 or 60)?
Any one AB them?

[SincereCorgi]

What is the difference in sound or playability between the CT 55 and the TAD's (50 or 60)?
Any one AB them?

I've got the CT 55 and my father has a TAD 50 for his dulcimer... they are very similar, although the CT feels a tetch heavier and darker and I think the bevel might be a little different.

[yankees1]

I've got the CT 55 and my father has a TAD 50 for his dulcimer... they are very similar, although the CT feels a tetch heavier and darker and I think the bevel might be a little different.

So which do you prefer?

[hank]

I swapped one of my extra CT 55's out to try a Tad 60 but didn't like it as much(the way it handled not much change in audio). I later experimented with rounding one of the points with horrible results. To me the stock CT 55 with its sharper bevel and points is like driving a sports car compared to the more rounded tips and shorter bevels a bread truck. Another unexpected by product of rounding the tip and bevel on the Tad 60 was a tendency for the slippery pick edge to glide over the strings instead of pushing into them(I'm having a hard time describing how a pick feels to me hence the similes).
Every now and then when I grab a pick out of my tray I get the Tad instead of the CT and after playing immediately throw it back and dig a little deeper for the CT. My fingers tell me Mr.Thile got it right without looking and bringing my mind and preconceived notions into play.

[Mainer73]

I had the same experience, and it's not my right hand either! I do like the CT55 but it does draw a noticeably more "delicate" or "less full" tone and lower volume from my mandolin compared to the similar (almost identical profile) Dunlop Primetone (both smooth and textured) picks. It's not necessarily a bad thing but there's definitely a noticeable difference...

[Phil Goodson]

Congratulations on finding an 8 year old pick thread to comment on.

[Br1ck]

Some mandolins are louder, some a lot louder. I recently went on a mandolin sampler spree, I'm not seriously looking, honest, and I was struck at how little volume most had compared to what I have. But sit five feet from four fiddlers playing unison fiddle tunes and you'll see the problem.

[sgarrity]

Always interesting to see what BS I was slinging 8 years ago.....

[UsuallyPickin]

Well ….. I can say with surety that no one to date has said they couldn't hear me play with a CT-55 ……. R/

[Mainer73]

I never even noticed the age until now Phil! Haha!

[Chuck Leyda]

Always interesting to see what BS I was slinging 8 years ago.....

Isn't that true. I cringe a bit when I look back at my "never gonna sell this mando/octave/bouzouki" that is long gone.

[Chuck Leyda]

I will say that Wegens give very good volume. I haven't found a pick that has as much headroom and still sounds nice. I'm using Wegens on everything right now. Not sure if that will hold true 8 years from now

[Mainer73]

Better yet, how many of us will even have these same picks in 8 years! 😁

[mandotool]

Sept 2008 Vintage ...first generation BC TAD60-3R ...almost 11 years of severe abuse and still going ...