El Charango...

[Keith Erickson]

Yesterday after choir practice, one of our members approached and informed me that his son just purchased a "Charango" and he wanted to know more about it.

Well since I have an "inquiring mind", I decided to do a google search and found this page on Charango's.

I found more information on another Charango page from Argentina in Español.

Apparently the Charango is a decendant from the guitar and has it's roots in Europe. #Mostly these instruments are used in the Northern Provences of Argentina and in most of Bolivia.

The body of the Charango is made with the shell of an armadillo. ¡¡¡WOW!!! #That's a new one for me.

There are also some sound clips. #This kind of sounds like a Ukelele.

Even though it's not mando related, I thought that I would share.

Enjoy #

[jethrofan]

Our guitar player plays a Charango very well. He spent a lot of years as a youngster in South America, mostly Chile and Argentina. Personally, I don't like the feel and smell of the Charango. These are folk instruments, made in back street shops, which is part of the appeal, but they really are armadillo skin, and smell like old dead animals.

I prefer the sweet and musky smell of a vintage wood instrument.

[glauber]

Not all charangos are made out of armadillos; many are just wood.

[TommyK]

The thing about Charangos is that no two are alike. #They seem to be instruments that the natives made to copy either a guitar or uke. #Probably invented before S.America was industrialized, they are made from materials at hand. #My hats off to the guy who thought to use a 'dillo shell, odor not withstanding. #Many are available for sale on the net carved out of one hunk of wood. #Neck and body one piece. #It probably looks like a wooden ladel until they put on a sound board. #
Most have five double courses. #Although some may have one or two triple or single courses and some may have 4 or 6 or more courses.
Tunigs are as varied as the instruments themselves. Tuniing seems to be a village or regional standard. #The generally accepted standard tuning (whatever that means) is:
EE aa Ee CC gg
E=oct+ mid C. a= a above mid. C. – or –
Similar to a ukulele: Gceae. It just has an additional e on top and octaves for the middle course.


Maybe we could run a Charango making contest to see how creative we all are!

[glauber]

The thing about Charangos is that no two are alike. They seem to be instruments that the natives made to copy either a guitar or uke. Probably invented before S.America was industrialized, they are made from materials at hand.

Yep, this is true.

[Irénée]

... mine is retuned and reorganised in fifth with metal string (originally made for)... because mandolin player I am, and it's easier for me to play, and also because my hope was to have a 10 string mandolin with special penetrant sound...

[Charlie Bernstein]

Yeah, I used to live with a guy who had one. Apparently that particular armadillo hadn't been run over, making it likely that it hailed from south of the border, not Texas.

But if it was a Texan - imagine the ignominy of making it safely across the road only to get picked up and scooped out for the amusement of some shiftless musician!

In heaven there is no 'dillo,
That's why we squish 'em in Amarillo!

[allenhopkins]

As I posted in this thread, we're dealing with 13-year-old original postings here...

Ain't archives wonderful?

[thinnestman]

I tune my charangos as a 10 string MANDOLIN! Each course with an octave interval, cC gG dD aA eE. See my reply to the post by BILLKILPATRICK !

[Jim Garber]

I tune my charangos as a 10 string MANDOLIN! Each course with an octave interval, cC gG dD aA eE. See my reply to the post by BILLKILPATRICK !

Here is what he said. Saves you all some searching:

I tune my charangos (which I also sell) as a Brazilian mandolinist would, like a ten string mandolin, of course! CGDAE. I don't go crazy modifying it to hold steel strings, but I did have a custom made Daddario nylon wound C string made , so I could tune each course in octaves. The lowest course, the C's, are tuned like a mandola and a mandocello! The lowest C is CELLO PITCH, that is a major 3rd lower than the guitar low E! I tried tuning my MANDORANGO (CHARANGOLIN) in unison courses, but i much prefer the octave stringing, a fuller sound. I sold one to Joe CRAVEN who was also captivated by the low C sound! The scale length is close enough to mandolin to tune it that way but the high E is the thinnest nylon made, .018! SO, why not tune it as low as a Cello? The bass ukulele is not much longer and it tunes like a bass viol!

[CHASAX]

The only charango I have been around was in a community band in Moab, Utah. It was made with an armadillo shell.
It was very loud. The player was asked to play with less volume because he was drowning out
the entire band.