Listen to the Mandonator™
The sound samples below were recorded using Mandonator™ serial #2. This instrument has solid mahogany neck, top, back and sides, Camatillo Rosewood binding, and a Beard resonator cone and spider. It has 5 strings tuned EADGC (high to low), making it both a resonator mandolin and mandola. The instrument is strung with light guage Elixir mandolin strings, plus a .053 Elixir guitar string for the low C.
All the audio was recorded in my little home studio. These samples will sound best if played through decent stereo speakers or headphones. Laptop speakers or the like will most likely not sound so great.
I didn't use any effects, compression, or equalization on any of the tracks, with one exception. I used a hint of compression on the guitar track for El Cumbanchero. I did this to get the guitar out of the way so that you could hear the Mandonator™ better. My goal was to give you as true a sense of how the instrument really sounds as possible. I played all the instruments, and I worked pretty quickly. I left in some little mistakes, because the music isn't the point here - the sound of the instrument is the point. Besides, I want to get back into my shop and build!
Here I play three C major scales across all five strings. The first scale is picked near the end of the fingerboard for a mellow tone, the next is picked halfway to the bridge, and the third is picked about an inch from the bridge for a nice twangy sound. The middle tone is probably the tone I use the most, though I like the neck tone a lot, too.
The classic Irish tune My Darling Asleep. I play the melody and a harmony line on overdubbed Mandonator™, and added a guitar backup. I think the Mandonator™ really shines for Celtic tunes.
3. Shopping
A swingy little tune which I call Shopping. It features Mandonator™ on melody. Backup includes string bass, guitar, and finger pops. I think the tone is perfect for this kind of music - almost like an electric mandolin.
"That Mandonator™ has some exceptional tone, especially on that swing. Excellent job. Looks great too." - Don Grieser
El Cumbanchero with guitar and bass accompaniment.
5. Rusty Bucket
My waltz, Rusty Bucket, played fingerstyle on solo Mandonator™. It's hard to play fingerstyle on a double-course instrument, but it works well on this single-course instrument! I use just the lower four strings in this tune; it's in mandola range.