Here are a couple of tunes played on my Almuse four string electric mandolin. I am happy enough with the playing, but not so pleased with the mix which is a bit squashed. It's particularly noticeable when the drums come in, and then the bass.  All the individual tracks were routed to the LP64 Multiband, and the mastering (lighter) preset selected.

The mandolin and bass were played through Guitar Rig, and I used Session Drummer 2. No other effects were used.  Grateful for any feedback! 

http://kiwi6.com/file/06nd6iqynz

Cheers, 

Bill

Only four strings? Doesn't that make it a ukulele? Haha. Just kidding. Nice picking. I do think the tone was a little bright compared to the other instruments, and a bit too loud. It sounded a lot more like a bagpipe than a mandolin, not that there's anything wrong with that. The distortion was an interesting effect but I think some of the more subtle phrases were lost in the harsh distortion.

My Internet connection is pretty slow right now so I could only listen to Bind Mary. I'll have to try the others later.

Luv this kind of music. Very well played.

Sounds like a distorted electric guitar hooked up to a bagpipe. Lovely tuneage though!

Thanks for your kind words guys. Here is the beast I played it on....this really is a mandolin!

That's a weird instrument. Not a traditional Mandolin that I would recognize.

I agree with Chappel, it kind of stands out from the rest of the mix. I like how it speeds up.

Nice happy tune. :)

I am not sure what Turlough O'Carolan would make of your version of Blind Mary but I like it and also Far From Home. Great tunes works in any genre and your musicianship really does make that mandolin sing. I would love to hear these at an Irish Ceilidh - it might even tempt me to do a jig!

Best Regards
Malcolm

malcolmb


I am not sure what Turlough O'Carolan would make of your version of Blind Mary but I like it and also Far From Home. Great tunes works in any genre and your musicianship really does make that mandolin sing. I would love to hear these at an Irish Ceilidh - it might even tempt me to do a jig!

Best Regards
Malcolm

Malcolm, much appreciated. I'm going to try to tone down the distortion on the mandolin a little by following Craig Anderton's article in Sound on Sound this month:


http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jul11/articles/sonar-tech-0711.htm

Sounds like I should be on the highlands with William Wallace, The Bruce and Rob Roy, my face painted blue and brandishing my bum to the enemy.

Well played, the drums are a little thin, the bass gets in the way of the kik. I'd try rolling off some of the low end of the bass to fix that.  For the drums I would parallel compress.  I would stear clear of the multiband compressor, it's really a tool for correction (like if you have a bad mix, or you are mastering a tune that has already been mastered, this is called restoration).

Peace

This is an interesting sound for a mandolin -- the more I listen the better I like it.  Great playing by the way.  I like the tune and also like the surprise change-up/speed up.  On my cheap system the bass sounded a wee bit buried.
Nice one. 
 
Freddy J