Pirates of the Caribbean IV...mandolin?

[KristinEliza]

Could it be? Could there be a mandolin in this installment???

I just recently started playing the LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean game, and in the segment based on the 4th movie there is a character (in the game) that you meet in a tavern who carries what appears to be a mandolin (well...it only has 4 tuners...but it is not a guitar, even though the sound file does not sound like a mandolin). It is flat backed and kinda 'A' shaped - so definitely not a uke.

Of course...you can swing this 'mandolin' around and bust things up...and the character has so far continued in the game's storyline.

So I'm keeping my fingers crossed for some mandolin action in the movie...and maybe a small public interest boost for our fine little instrument!

[Rvl]

I saw the movie yesterday
It looks to be a longer scale than a mandolin
It looked alot like my octave mandolin

[PseudoCelt]

I agree that it's larger than a mandolin. I'd guess a mandola, but it could be an octave mandolin. The tune "Tripping Upstairs" played on a mandola or OM could be heard at one point.

Patrick

[KristinEliza]

Cool...I plan on seeing it this week!

[zoukboy]

I saw it last night (that's 2.5 hours of life I'll never get back!).

It looked sorta like a Neapolitan mandola to me. I think the desire was for it to give a lute-like appearance.

Interesting that the sound behind the tavern scene sounded like a lute sample played on a keyboard.

Later, when the same character "plays" the instrument on board ship it sounds like a Portuguese guitarra in the soundtrack.

[KristinEliza]

In the video game...it definitely sounds like a guitar.

[zoukboy]

Haven't seen the game, but there is definitely a lot of nylon strung guitar in the movie soundtrack (Rodrigo y Gabriela) but not in the scenes with the mandola-like object.

[journeybear]

Yes, there is certainly something mandolinesque in the movie. First in the tavern scene about ten minutes in, then later on board the ship, about 53 minutes in, during what passes for a romantic scene. It is larger than a mandolin, not as long as an octave I don't think, so my guess is it is a mandola with a deep bowlback, and a pegboard like a classical guitar - but definitely four double courses. In the second scene I heard but didn't see another instrument as well, as zoukboy says. I cannot testify with any certainty as to what was producing the audio, and I did not see any mandolin-type instrument mentioned in the credits.

[journeybear]

Here is an enormous bit of PR material for "Pirates Of The Caribbean IV." In it we see the list of songs, but no mandolinists listed in the credits. However, later on in the blah-de-blah, the following:

The Queen Anne’s Revenge was not only the setting for numerous scenes of action and supernatural mayhem, but also for a moonlit dance of romance, deception and double-dealing between Captain Jack and Angelica, choreographed by Executive Producer John DeLuca to mandola music played by Stephen Graham as Scrum. (Graham actually learned how to play the mandola for his role with several preproduction lessons.)

So those of us who guessed mandola get to pat ourselves on the back.

Here are the songs featured in the movie; the first two feature the mandola:

MUSIC/SONGS
“Tripping Up the Stairs”
Traditional
“Jolly Sailor Bold”
Arranged by John DeLuca, Dave Giuli and Matt Sullivan
“Mermaids”
Written by Hans Zimmer and Eric Whitacre
“Tango”
Written by Eduardo Cruz

BTW, trivia note: Hans Zimmer, the film's composer, was in The Buggles, known for the song ”Video Killed The Radio Star,” the first video played on MTV.