An introduction.

[rounDSound]

I stumbled accross this forum while researching the mandolin a few days ago, and decided it might be a great place to stay a while! I am a 19 year old musician currently studying sociology in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

I started playing about 3 weeks ago when I decided to rent a very cheap A-style Epiphone from the local music store for 16 dollars a month. I think I've progressed fairly well, and hope to buy my own mandolin soon.

Here are a few clips I've recorded in the past few days of some tunes I've written on my little Epiphone. I've just been learning by ear, playing what I could figure out. It's not traditional in any sense of the word, but I am proud of my progress.

http://download.yousendit.com/E611AE430E6A79EE
http://download.yousendit.com/7E0E9B4F57FFBF16

I look forward to learning a lot more about this unique instrument, and hearing feedback on my playing so far.

Andy

[JEStanek]

Nice clips Andy. Welcome to the Cafe'. Plenty of good sociological watchin' to be had here for sure. You could probably write a paper on the similarities and differences of a virtual and real communities based on interactions, amount of anonymity (even if we know a poster's gender and name) and the different norms used in both areas.

Annnnnndddd... you can get carpet bombed with information on mandos, music recommendations, instrument recommendations, anything. If it's even vaguely mando related you'll get what you're looking for an more here.

Welcome.

Jamie

[Bill Snyder]

No offense but I have never heard of yousendit.com and know nothing about you so I am reluctant to download your video. Is there no way to watch your video without downloading it?

[rounDSound]

No offense taken, I appologize for not having a better way to do this. I've been trying to set up a soundclick account, but I can't seem to complete the registration process. yousendit is just a file server that you download from. #If I can get soundclick thing to work, I'll replace the links. It's really nothing special, given my brutal inexperience, and it's not something I can imagine traditional mandolin players enjoying.

[pathfinder]

Nice job, Andy! At the end of your second clip, did you try some fingerpicking?

[steve V. johnson]

Bill, YouSendIt is a free FTP site, where folks can put files for others to download. It's simple as a hammer and completely 'clean'.

I'm an audio recording engineer and I often use it to make music files available to players, producers, etc., etc. My wife is a book and graphics designer and she uses it as well. We've never had any problems with any files, viruses, unwanted attention (spam) coming from any YouSendIt activity. It's a very good tool. I don't work for YouSendIt, nor do I have any other interest in it, I just mean to be reassuring.

Soundclick is simpler for folks to listen to, tho.

Now... Welcome, Andy! Congrats on your entry into Mandolin Valhalla! <GG> Just a note... keep in mind that good entry-level
mandolins can be had for under $200 US, so you might want to set the timer on your rental at less than that... <GG>

All the best,

stv

[rounDSound]

That is indeed some fingerpicking you hear. Making the transition from fingerstyle on an acoustic with wide finger spacing to this tiny thing is quite an adjustment. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif The frets on it are absolutely terrible, you can hear it buzzing like mad on certain notes.

Thanks for the kind words about my little songs!

I really think mandolin is something I want to focus on for a while. Instead of spending money on a budget instrument, I may invest in an intermediate mandolin so that I won't have to replace it within a year or two of playing.

I think an eastman would sound really good next to my martin and heritage. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif