Excuse me... What's in the case?

[CeeCee_C]

All -

I'd like to hear others' experiences and how one concisely describes a mandolin to an adult stranger of indeterminate experience/intelligence.

Children deserve more patience. This might be the experience that starts them down the path to mandolightenment.

Objective? TUEGO Avoidance (TUEGO: Time Until Eyes Glaze Over)


Of course, now we can just mention the Geico commercial. But what about people who haven't seen it? What did you say before the advent of the commercial?

Here's what I get most of the time.

Person: Excuse me. I don't mean to bother you, but what's in the case?

Me: A mandolin.

Person: A what?

Me: It's called a mandolin. Then as I start to explain...

EITHER:

Person: Is it like a little guitar?
Me: No... tuned like a violin... picked not bowed... Bill Monroe? Ricky Skaggs? blah, blah
Person: TUEGO

OR:

Person: Is that like a....
Me: Please don't ask me if it's like a little guitar. Because it's really very different. Let me explain. <See above>
Person: TUEGO

[Carl Robin]

It's a mandolin. --a blank look, or what's that?-- 8 strings, tuned like a fiddle, played with a pick, lots of fun. These encounters seem to happen a lot at the airport. I point out that it's just the right size to carry on, not like a guitar, that has to be a checked bag.

[dcoventry]

What's in the Case?

A Giraffe, he's very uncomfortable, so I should go......

[Tobin]

I've found that no matter how hard I try to describe it, some people continue to think it's a ukelele. They really don't understand the difference, and don't really want to. The only way to get their brains on the right track is to play something for them that's really bluegrassy and couldn't possibly be confused with Hawaiian music, grass skirts, etc.

[Mike Arakelian]

If asked more than once, I might reply to the comment about the little guitar by saying...."sorta, my missus is expectin' and I want to get the little 'un started early"! Then smile and walk away.

[Clement Barrera-Ng]

I usually tell them it's a machine gun inside the case, a la El Mariachi

[CeeCee_C]

I usually tell them it's a machine gun inside the case, a la El Mariachi

Ummmm. Not in an airport, which is where it happens most.

[CES]

What's in the Case?

A Giraffe, he's very uncomfortable, so I should go......

I'm using this one...and am reminded of the commercial a couple of years ago featuring the miniature giraffes...can't for the life of me remember what they were advertising...Pepsi, heine? Who cares, I want me one those miniature giraffes!!!

I've found that the resonator mandolin really blows peoples'minds...

[belbein]

I guess I've had the opposite experience. A bunch of times (including at the airport) I've had people ask me what's in the case. When I tell them, they don't always know what it is, but when they find it's a string instrument, a lot of times people say, "Oh! I play the _____ in an ______ band!" and then we talk music.

On the other hand, when I say "It's a machine gun," they say: "Let's talk Guantanamo..."

[OldSausage]

I always say it's a banjo.

[Toni Schula]

I usually tell them it's a machine gun inside the case, a la El Mariachi

The machine gun story usually saves the most time ;-)

Here in Europe its even harder to tell the truth:

- What's in this case?

- A mandolin. But not an Italian one (people here don't understand Neapolitan or Bowlback). Its American style, developed by Gibson..

- Ah Gibson, the electric guitar company

- No its purely acoustic, it sounds like ... O.k., forget it... (People here don't know Bluegrass nor Old Time)

[John Radcliffe]

The only way to prevent eyes glazing over in 95 percent of the population would be pull out the mandolin and play something. There, that is what this thing is. (Arkansas Traveller, would be my choice for something pleasant and recognizable)

[catmandu2]

I always say it's a banjo.

Yep--easiest answer

re: machine gun, I've had some awkward experiences and have learned--never call your bouzouki by its name when traveling (or shipping it), nor your concertina--to which folks' first association is concertina wire (complicated by the fact that a concertina looks very suspicious upon x-ray); guitar-thingie and accordion thingie, respectively

[bohemianbiker]

I have had some interesting conversations develop out of the "what's in the case" question. Last Thursday when I said it was a mandolin, the follow up question was: "The Chinese are really good at that, aren't they?" What I felt like saying "no, that's ping pong, and they use a smaller case for the paddles," but instead I said something along the lines of not knowing what the mandolin scene was in China, and we parted ways before the convo could develop further.

I think we should tell them that guitars are like big mandolins ... bb

[Neoclinus]

The machine gun story usually saves the most time ;-)

Here in Europe its even harder to tell the truth:

- What's in this case?

- A mandolin. But not an Italian one (people here don't understand Neapolitan or Bowlback). Its American style, developed by Gibson..

- Ah Gibson, the electric guitar company

- No its purely acoustic, it sounds like ... O.k., forget it... (People here don't know Bluegrass nor Old Time)

I've had the exact same conversation dozens of times in Europe. Those few that have heard of a mandolin inevitably go "oh, the little Italian instrument". Um... Yeah. But no. TUEGO usually sets in right about when I start trying to explain the Loar divergence from classical style mandolins. And no, I don't know the 'Godfather' theme. Now I usually just say it's like a plucked fiddle.

Once when playing with a friend at a pub in England, a listener came up and asked what he was playing. Pointing to my instrument, then his, he says slowly "man-do-LIN... man-do-LA."
*Confused look* "I don't get it"...
So he points to two other members of the session: "Vi-o-LIN... Vi-o-LA".
*More confused look* "Oh..." *walks away*

Sometimes there's just no winning.

[stevedenver]

...yes, like a little guitar, but it sounds and looks different....

[Jesse Weitzenfeld]

I always say it's a tiny little starter guitar. One of these days when I get good enough I'm going to upgrade to a full size. They either get the joke or they don't. Both are satisfying in their own way.

[DataNick]

When I tell people it's a mandolin, the usual response is "Cool Dude!"...
Of course this is SoCal where everything is "Cool Dude!"...

[Gary Hedrick]

Oh I like the flip side of this. I have been 2 different airports over the years and found someone carrying a mandolin. One time it was a teens F4! The shock when I ask and then know a fair amount about the instrument.

[Elliot Luber]

Attempt 1: It's a mandolin, like Zeppelin's Battle of Evermore or Rod Stewart's Maggie Mae.
Attempt 2: It's a mandolin. Did you see the Godfather? The theme was played on mandolin.
Attempt 3: I lied. It's a little guitar.

[catmandu2]

I confess--a perverse inclination toward obfuscation in these matters: the conversations are typically so banal, I like to spice them up. 90% of the time, it goes: (name of instrument); then follows the invariable "a what?" This is the moment of opportunity. I like to call my concertinas "accordians with peccadillos." Then of course there is the charango discussion involving actual peccadillos, after which someone typically makes reference to peccaries of some sort, etc.. My explications may typically turn toward the biological or ontological. The more obscure the instrument family...the more obscure you can get with an instrument family--the more interesting one can make of these things..

[Misty Stanley-Jones]

I get this with my trumpets and ukuleles. Everyone seems to think everything is a violin.

[Elliot Luber]

WHen I played violin, everyone asked if it was a Tommy gun. I told them I would play them a tune on it.

[EdHanrahan]

...yes, like a little guitar, but it sounds and looks different....

Since most of the uninitiated don't have a clue about tuning, I find that the "little guitar" explanation is close enough.

FWIW: When I was 11 or so, an older gentleman waiting for a train stopped to watch our football practice, carrying a really odd-shaped suitcase. As we stopped for a break, we asked what it was and he responded "Have you ever heard of a cello?" Next thing ya know, he's giving a 2-minute demo to a dozen slack-jawed kids, and we're thinking that maybe playing an instrument isn't quite as terrible as we think it is. After all, I had just successfully combated the dreaded "Mom wants me to take piano lessons" issue!

Of course, today that demo might get him arrested, but...

[Matt DeBlass]

About two thirds of the time people at least pretend to understand when I tell them it's a mandolin. The rest of the time I just go "yeah, like a small guitar but tuned like a violin" and let it go with that. If I'm not busy I'll happily pull it out and play a tune, which settles it nicely.