Mando-bling

It's been a bit of  big day for Mycroft. First headed down to Hillcrest to try out and buy an armrest. Considering most of the demand is in the States, I was very surprised to find that one of the few people making them is right here in Brisbane (well, almost). David at King Brown Mandolin Armrests was awesome and knocked together a bit of a selection for me to check out. I settled on the standard  design, but he also does some over the tail-piece armrests and can add a lovely little inlay if one so desires.

They look good, but the best part is of course what they add to the playability of the instrument. I find it much more comfortable on the forearm, and don't end up with a massive indent from the edge, and I believe it does open up the tone a little too.

After this purchase I headed back into city territory to The Guitar Shop at Paddington to pick up a hard case I had ordered. This is something I probably should have done sooner considering how clumsy and uncoordinated I am, but thankfully no disasters befelled Mycroft while he was housed in a soft case. Sigh of relief now that I've got the hard case.

So here's little Mycroft, all dressed up in his new mando-bling. Now we just wait for the strap. Oh, and the strings. Looking forward to trying some nice new Elixirs.

Bach again

Right, here we go again. The Bach is almost up to speed now, but still with mistakes. Stupid nerves.

Temporary solution to the crap strap problem: use it like a necklace! Gets the mando into more or less the right position, but that thin round braid really cuts into the neck. I ordered a beautiful flat braided strap to arrive from Lakota. Can't wait for it to arrive.

Finding the balance

Okay. I think I've finally sorted out this strap business and I've come to the following conclusions about my particular mandolin strap:

a) It's crap
b) It's too long
c) It's too thin as a round braid
d) It's crap
e) It's got about as much grip as a thin, lubricated snake

Did I mention it's crap? So, it doesn't position the instrument correctly as it's too long, and as it's thin and gripless the headstock is irresistibly drawn towards the ground. It even creaks when you have the intended loop around the scroll! Need I add that this thing is seriously crap.

I have, however, managed to tweak it so that it works more or less like a mando strap should, by feeding the loop back on itself and wrapping it around the scroll again. This solves the "too long" issue and then presto - what folks have been saying on the mandolincafe forum starts to happen - I can more or less keep the mando in position just with the pressure from my right forearm. Drop the pressure from the right forearm, though, and the "no grip" issue takes over, sending the headstock not quite so far groundwards.

But...

FREEEEEDOME!!! I can move! I'm not stuck in this awkward seated position while playing and I can even go for a wander around the house while I play if I want. Jury's still out on whether or not I actually play any better standing, but it feels better. That's important, right?

I'll replace the strap, I think, because it's now actually a tad short and the thin braid kind of cuts into my shoulder. Folks on the cafe have made some very useful suggestions, and I will try to follow their advice by getting a thicker, flat strap, preferably with a bit of grip. The straps made by Lakota (from elk) look absolutely gorgeous and importantly are soft, from what I've heard, and last an age so I may just give in and cough up the dough to ship in one over here.

Moral of the story? Straps are awesome. This strap isn't.

Strap Fail

So, I have been playing my mando in all kinds of awkward positions in the attempt to keep the neck at a comfortable angle whilst avoiding having the left hand bear too much of the weight. I have played with my feet up on a laundry basket, I've played in the car with one foot planted into the compartment below the stereo (surprisingly comfortable and effective, actually!). But always seated. I thought that the best solution for this might be to get a strap, and this would fix everything... I was quite wrong.

This is one of the sucky things about living in Brisbane: music shops don't stock mandolin stuff. They rarely even stock more than one or two token mandolins, let alone straps, strings, picks, tone guards and all that jazz. So how am I supposed to try stuff out and see if it works for me? I can't. Just have to order stuff online and hope for the best.

My strap arrived from the US and here's what happened.

Well frak. That's pretty much the opposite of how I want the weight distributed...

How the heck do I make this work...?

Guess I could get used to playing like this. Not.

How are people supposed to use these things?! Is my mando just weighted weirdly or is the strap somehow not functioning how a strap should? I guess it's a little slippery, but surely even with a little grip this would not be enough to stop the mando falling the wrong way. Grrr. The quest for a good playing position continues.

Progress at one month

I've been playing mandolin for a little over one month now, so I thought it was time to share how I'm going with the Bach again. It's still nowhere near ready, but I've more or less memorised all of the notes now. A few mistakes, and I'm suffering from a bit of alzheimer's towards the end, but I hope to work on this in the coming weeks.

Can't seem to stabilise my pick-grip, which is a bit annoying, because it makes a surprisingly big difference to the tone. The one I'm using in this take is probably a bit unconventional... oh well, call the mando-police! I might just keep experimenting.