Underwater Mandolin

[Dr H]

It's been out for a couple of years, so maybe it's already been posted, but it was new to me:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kWE6y5xkzA

Would have liked to hear the mando actually played underwater, though...

[OldSausage]

This is the sort of thing we should all be doing.

[Charles E.]

I would say that shot is a "one and done", for the mandolin, that is. Lets hope it was a junker.

[dmcginnis]

Too bad it was not a carbon fiber mandolin!

[Stephen Porter]

This is the sort of thing we should all be doing.

I've heard this speeds the "opening up" process.

STP

[Dr H]

Somebody, somewhere must have made at least one mandolin out of plexiglass.

[Steve Lavelle]

STP- actually it does just the opposite and tightens up. Wood swells when it absorbs water, just ask any boat builder.

Beyond the absurdity of bringing a wooden instrument in the water, wouldn't playing a mandolin in a noncompressible fluid be difficult to hear? The water would damp any vibrations in the top and the sound chamber and sound wouldn't travel very far at all in water. And then there is the whole problem with what would happen to my nicely calloused fingertips in this environment if I tried playing there.

[Jim Garber]

I think it was a Suzuki mandolin FWIW. He did not take his Kerman for a swim. This pic from his web site.

[Astro]

It helps to be fearless in art I suppose.

Sometimes you make a splash, but sometimes you just come out all wet. I think this one is a case of the latter. Sometimes the concept doesn't manifest in the reality. Lighting is poor, composition is poor, subject display is uninteresting, it needed a shorter depth of focus to blur the background details of pool grout, and it doesn't say anything about anything. Fasion models photographed submerged in pools were a pop art rage a few years ago but kind of passe now. Its been done and done way better. The image of the camera and photographer were more interesting than the subject.

Hey, brave of them to try though and happy you posted the link. The video of the project was interesting and the music was good. And maybe these photos were just documentary sketches and were not the final product ? Hope so. I'm accustomed to putting my foot in mouth so it rarely surprises me when I do.

[mandolinlee]

Talk about high humidity!
Lee

[TheArimathean]

Talk about high humidity!
Lee

Finally someone said that!

[Dr H]

STP- actually it does just the opposite and tightens up. Wood swells when it absorbs water, just ask any boat builder.

OTOH, if it's made with water-soluble glue . . .

Beyond the absurdity of bringing a wooden instrument in the water, wouldn't playing a mandolin in a noncompressible fluid be difficult to hear? The water would damp any vibrations in the top and the sound chamber and sound wouldn't travel very far at all in water.

Actually sound travels quite well in water; the speed of sound in water is more than four times the speed in air. Compressibility isn't the issue; density is.

And then there is the whole problem with what would happen to my nicely calloused fingertips in this environment if I tried playing there.

Now that could be a problem.