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Three unique mandolin sets, manufactured in Italy by Aquila Corde, following different approaches to the instrument.
The Neapolitan Mandoin RED SERIES set for the first time introduces strings that are produced with a revolutionary technique.
The Neapolitan Mandolin set has been designed following the historical setup made by Fouchetti (Paris, 1771)
The Cremonese/Bresciano Mandolin set (popular from the second half of the 18th century until the first decades of the 19th century) now offers a historical and also a modern version of the strings for the mandolin.
RED SERIES FOR HISTORICAL NEAPOLITAN MANDOLIN
A unique feeling and a strong, consistent sound. RED SERIES sets provide superior performance over traditional strings for musicians who love bright sounds and powerful voicing across the full scale of the instrument.
Until now, it was necessary to increase the gauge of a string for it to produce a lower-pitched note. But increasing the string’s diameter also increases internal dampening. That makes the string less bright, less responsive and more muffled; the thicker the string, the duller the sound. This revolutionary new approach owned by Aquila Corde, changes the specific weight of the material, increasing it progressively to leave the gauge almost unchanged.
The tuning for this set is ee, aa DD, GG (e, a, D: red series; G red wound)
technical details
- STRING: Synthetic and wounded strings
- NOTICE: The strings inside the package are labeled according to the following legend: 1e=RED; 2a=BLUE; 3D=GREEN; 4G=WHITE
- WARNING: This set is suitable for Baroque and Modern Mandolin only. Do not install it on Country Mandolin.
NEAPOLITAN MANDOLIN SET, HISTORICAL SETUP ACCORDING TO FOUCHETTI (PARIS 1771)
This set is manufactured following strictly the data provided by Fouchetti (Paris 1771). It is therefore a setup useful for those who want to rediscover the original sound of the 18 th century Neapolitan mandolin. According to the research made by Aquila Corde, the Parisian pitch of the time was around 390 Hz so we recommend that you tune the instrument to this pitch. It is also possible to tune the mandolin to the modern baroque pitch of 415 Hz.
For the fourth string they choose the combination in octave described by Fouchetti. Considering that it is a reconstruction strictly based on the original data this setup cannot be subject to changes in gauges and type of strings. For the first course, however, we preferred to use a synthetic nylgut string, which imitates at best the performance of the gut strings.
The tuning for this set is ee, aa DD, GG ( e:Nylgut a,D:brass, G: silk core wound with silvered copper wire).
technical details
- STRING: Synthetic, brass and wounded strings
- NOTICE: Designed for pitches a=390Hz or a=415Hz
CREMONESE / BRESCIANO MANDOLIN
The Cremonese or Brescian mandolin became popular from the second half of the 18th century until the first decades of the 19th century, and its definition is due to Bortolazzi, author of the first German-language mandolin method, published at the beginning of the 19th century (Anweisung die Mandoline, Leipzig, Breitkopf & Härtel, 1805).
The research on the original instruments that survived until today show that they had vibrating lengths around 30-33 cm, and certainly used four single strings tuned in fifths (like the Neapolitan mandolin or the violin: e, a, G, D), with 9 to 10 frets on the fingerboard (source: http://lippi.net/il-colascioncino-antenato-del-mandolino-cremonese-o-bresciano-nel-xviii-secolo/ ).
This mandolin has a particularly valuable repertoire, thanks to authors such as J.Hummel, L.V.Beethoven and B.Bortolazzi.
technical details
- 4 single strings – e, a D, G
- Full string length: 60 cm
- Vibrating string length: 30-33 cm
There are two setups available.
- HISTORICAL VERSION - 4M: The first is a historical reconstruction, based on the results of our research on the documentation of the time, and uses two gut strings, an open wound string (or demi-filèe) on gut core, and a silk core wound string with silver-plated copper wire.
- (e: gut; a: gut; D: open wound (demi-filèe) on gut core; G: silk core wound string with silver-plated copper wire)
- MODERN VERSION - 5M: The second is a “modern” version that seeks the same kind of sound as the historical one but using modern synthetic materials. It uses two synthetic New Nylgut strings and two copper wound strings on a synthetic multifilament core.
- (e, a: New Nylgut; D, G: copper wound string on synthetic multifilament core)
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STRINGS CATALOG
AQUILA - HISTORICAL MANDOLIN SETS
| Cremonese/Bresciano Mandolin - Historical setup (4M) | 60cm | €33,50 | In stock | |
| Cremonese/Bresciano Mandolin - Modern setup (5M) | 60cm | €13,50 | In stock | |
 | Mandolin - Red series - baroque and modern (1M) | €10,30 | In stock | ||
 | Napolitan Mandolin - Historical setup Fouchetti (2M) | 70cm | €35,80 | In stock |