Sure I use them often. I keep a mandolin tuned GDGD - like fiddle crosstuning AEAE only a step down to reduce tension on the strings and potential damage to the mandolin.
I also use ADAE,, or down a step.
The main reason I do it is to preserve fiddle fingerings. It's great for that, but I confuse myself now and then when I play the same fiddle tunes in GDAE standard mando tuning.
Overall I think it's a beneficial thing to do. People get too locked in on one tuning, like there's only one way to play the instrument right, and they can't wrap their minds around the possibilities of having different open drone strings and different fingerings.
I play guitar in 4-5 tunings,, fiddle in 3+, banjo in 5, and mandolin in 3 variations on standard. It causes me little trouble and helps me make joyful noises.
Be yourself, everyone else is taken.
Favorite Mandolin of the week: 2013 Collings MF Gloss top.
Bookmarks