If you want to be a good mandolin player....
I've been around the Mandolin Cafe for a while. Don't post much but read a lot.
(my dad always said that you learn more with your mouth closed...)
I think that people worry too much about tone guards and armrests, expensive strings and boutique picks, varnish vs. lacquer, import vs. domestic instrument...
Really it all comes down to this.
Yup. Put a rattlesnake rattle in my mandolin. Just like Mr. Monroe.
The mandolin is more powerful, lots of mojo, and I grew hair on my head.
YMMV.
Kirk
Re: If you want to be a good mandolin player....
Cool. Is that a varnish finish?
Re: If you want to be a good mandolin player....
While they're pricey, I've heard that Blue Chip rattles are the best.
Re: If you want to be a good mandolin player....
It only works if you catch the snake yourself. Oh yeah, you have to bite the rattles off while it is still alive. Then you get the Mojo.
Re: If you want to be a good mandolin player....
Yup. The rattlesnake rattle is where all the mojo comes from. I'm a firm believer myself. I put one in my Ellis within days of purchasing it.
Rattles are easy to drop into the f-holes of a mandolin. Unfortunately, fiddle f-holes are too small to fit a rattle through, so they can only be put in when the back is removed. Hence, none of my fiddles have rattles, and that should obviously explain my lack of mojo when playing fiddle.
Keep that skillet good and greasy all the time!
Re: If you want to be a good mandolin player....
Fiddle takes years of real commitment if you want to get good. You have to put the snake in the fiddle when it is a baby, and then feed it through the F-hole.Originally Posted by Tobin
Re: If you want to be a good mandolin player....
According to Wikipedia there are 36 different species of rattlesnakes. How do I know which one to use?
Living’ in the Mitten
Re: If you want to be a good mandolin player....
Per Steve Ostrander: "According to Wikipedia there are 36 different species of rattlesnakes. How do I know which one to use?"
Well first you have to decide if you want an "A" or "F" style. Then if you want varnish or lacquer. And, of course, whether you want U.S. made or Pac-Rim. But ultimately you have to try several out to determine which rattles best for you.
Re: If you want to be a good mandolin player....
But otherwise, yes, it all comes down to just this. That's all. All you need is the mndln, and the snake. And that's all.
...and this chair, and . . .
Re: If you want to be a good mandolin player....
Get all 36 of them, throw them in a snake pit, and they will sort out who has the most mojo. That's the one you want.
Keep that skillet good and greasy all the time!
Re: If you want to be a good mandolin player....
I don't want any part of any snake anywhere near me or my mandolins. Mojo be danged.
"Mongo only pawn in game of life." --- Mongo
Re: If you want to be a good mandolin player....
Of course. RAS.
Re: If you want to be a good mandolin player....
You failed to mention. You put the rattle in, and then you play and practice and jam until the rattle itself disintegrates into dust. It takes a bunch of years. But, as if by magic, your playing will be vastly improved.
Re: If you want to be a good mandolin player....
The rattles are cool. Creeps me out a bit but not as much as snotty tissues
Re: If you want to be a good mandolin player....
To really maximize the mojo, I feel a ceremony is in order.
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Re: If you want to be a good mandolin player....
Some old time banjo players put a sock in there.
That’s sort of creepy.
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Re: If you want to be a good mandolin player....
These folks definitely have some mojo goin on.
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Re: If you want to be a good mandolin player....
And I always thought the mojo came from how you played the darned thing!
Re: If you want to be a good mandolin player....
After all these years, who would have thought the answer was so easy...
Re: If you want to be a good mandolin player....
Actually, the original (Roman) saying is "si tacuisses, philosophus mansisses", meaning with your mouth closed you make others think you learn.
the world is better off without bad ideas, good ideas are better off without the world
Re: If you want to be a good mandolin player....
But, while the fiddle is a baby, aren't its holes even smaller?
the world is better off without bad ideas, good ideas are better off without the world
Re: If you want to be a good mandolin player....
That depends on what kind of music you want to play. If you like Irish music you're out of luck since there are no snakes of any kind in Ireland.
For wooden musical fun that doesn't involve strumming, check out:
www.busmanwhistles.com
Handcrafted pennywhistles in exotic hardwoods.
Re: If you want to be a good mandolin player....
As Judge Judy says, " There is a reason God gave you one mouth but two ears ".I've been around the Mandolin Cafe for a while. Don't post much but read a lot.
(my dad always said that you learn more with your mouth closed...)
I think that people worry too much about tone guards and armrests, expensive strings and boutique picks, varnish vs. lacquer, import vs. domestic instrument...
Really it all comes down to this.
Yup. Put a rattlesnake rattle in my mandolin. Just like Mr. Monroe.
The mandolin is more powerful, lots of mojo, and I grew hair on my head.
YMMV.
Kirk
Re: If you want to be a good mandolin player....
Here's mine,,and I earned it (not bought),and I even ate it also...
Re: If you want to be a good mandolin player....
This, of course, explains why some Irish trad players use those "Celtic" mandolins with oval soundholes instead of f-holes. No worries about a rattle falling out.
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