Commonly tuned GDAE in unison double courses, a
full octave below the standard mandolin or violin, the octave mandolin possesses
a pitch range comparable to a tenor banjo.It’s often employed in Celtic music, where it offers
expressive capabilities not found in any other instrument.I’ve designed my octave mandolins for a melodic role, able
to handle rapid single note passages yet capable of tender lyrical expression.
Toward this end, you’ll find a shorter scale length than the typical Irish
Bouzouki, lighter construction than most mandolins, a narrow neck, a large body
with a formed arched top and back, a floating bridge with a significant negative
neck set angle, and a fairly large sound hole.
Want to hear how this instrument sounds? Click the link
below for a recording!
(Note: You must have an Mp3 capable player to hear the
sample correctly.)
This
Octave Mandolin features a European spruce top, and cocobolo back and sides with
unusually straight grain. The tailpiece is a composite construction of
German silver and ebony. Mother-of-pearl inlays recalling motifs from the
early 1900's appear on the ebony fingerboard.
Eric
Darnton
f tender lyrical expression.
Toward this end, you’ll find a shorter scale length than the typical Irish
Bouzouki, lighter construction than most mandolins, a narrow neck, a large body
with a formed arched top and back, a floating bridge with a significant negative
neck set angle, and a fairly large sound hole.
This
Octave Mandolin features a European spruce top, and cocobolo back and sides with
unusually straight grain. The tailpiece is a composite construction of
German silver and ebony. Mother-of-pearl inlays recalling motifs from the
early 1900's appear on the ebony fingerboard. 
