Is a Tiple like guitar or mandolin?
Richard Clingman
in the latest Martin catalog an instrument that looks like a little
guitar called a tiple. It has 10 strings that are paired together in 4
courses in a weird way. The 2 string courses on the top and bottom of
the neck are doubled, but the 2 courses of strings in the middle are
triple!
What is this? How is it tuned. Are the double strings octaves (like a
12-string guitar) or the same (like a mandolin)? What are the triple
strings (octave, the same, both)????
Is there a style of music that utilizes a tiple?
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Mike Bagneski
Venezuela and Colombia.
The tuning is: cCc e'ee' a'aa' d'd'd'.
I have no idea how it's played, but I suspect it's strummed.
Hope this helps!
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Brent Graves
<M...@mci.newscorp.com> wrote:
> The tiple is an instrument that is indigenous to South America, specifically
> Venezuela and Colombia.
>
> The tuning is: cCc e'ee' a'aa' d'd'd'.
>
Actually, the tiple is basically a 10-string ukulele. The four strings of
the ukulele appear in two groups of 3 and two groups of 2. Therefore, the
tuning (if my memory serves me correctly) is C-G-E-A (or some such
combination of those notes). Martin made tiples for awhile (they were not
very popular) and a more complete description can be found in the Martin
history book by Mike Longworth.
Brent Graves
Mike Bagneski
Well, apparently there are tiples, and then there are tiples! <G>
My source was "Guitars From Renaissance to Rock:music, Consruction and Players" by
Tom and Mary Anne Evans.
I'm not about to dispute Brent's info. I'm sure he's right, also. I guess that the
tiple went through some changes as it made it's way into the USA. In all probability
the Martin tiple is tuned along the lines of Brent's message, rather than mine.
Just don't want to look like too much of an idiot! :-)
Mike
StringSing
>I have no idea how it's played, but I suspect it's strummed.
check out the solo in Luka by Suzanne Vega. It is a tiple.
Brent Graves
<M...@mci.newscorp.com> wrote:
>
> My source was "Guitars From Renaissance to Rock:music, Consruction and
Players" by
> Tom and Mary Anne Evans.
>
I guess that the
> tiple went through some changes as it made it's way into the USA. In
all probability
> the Martin tiple is tuned along the lines of Brent's message, rather
than mine.
>
My apologies if I came off as a know-it-all. I guess that I am a good
example of the axiom that "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing." Mike
researched his response more thoroughly than I, and my post should be
considered an addition to his, rather than a contradiction. Is there
anyone on the list who actually plays a tiple? And how is this done?
Brent
Jim Kraft
: Apologies if this is an incorrect group to pose this question. Noticed
There are two tiples. The 10 string and the 12 string from
Columbia. I have the latter and have been looking for strings for some
time now. If any one has a source for the 12 string version please let
men know.
--
From over the Blues, the east side!
/^\/^\/^\/^\/^\/^\/^\/^\/^\/^\/^\/^\/^Jim Kraft Eastern Oregon State College
jkr...@eosc.osshe.edu 503-962-3781
Harry Katz
Brent Graves (bgr...@nmu.edu) asks:
Is there anyone on the list who actually plays a tiple?
And how is this done?
I happen to have picked up a copy of the Martin tiple made by a
Japanese firm, K. Yasuma.
It is about the size of a large ukulele and Martin still does make
them and strings for them. They are supposed to be tuned like a
ukulele, but I had it tuned to C E A D when I played it because I did
not have the Martin literature, so I followed a book that listed the
South American instrument. (But I suspect they got it wrong, as
suggested in the next paragraph.)
By the way, the South American tiple is a twelve string instrument
with four courses of three strings. It is similar in size to a
guitar, perhaps a wee bit smaller, and is tuned D G B E like the top
strings of a guitar. (Or it could be C F A D -- which would retain
the same interval relationships between strings -- but C E A D does
not, and I did see it in one book.)
But the Martin tiple has two courses of two strings (the outer two)
and two courses of three strings (the inner two). All but the top
course are tuned in octaves.
I played the tiple with a flat pick and I was able to do melody runs
that sounded very much like runs on a twelve-string guitar,
interspersed with chords. Since I play lots of Lead Belly stuff on
12-string, I figured out how to play some of it on the tiple. The
tiple I have is extremely loud for its size and does sound like a
12-string when you get going. But, since it lacks the bass of a
12-string, it is much more chime-y.
I suspect that the Latin American version is mostly used for the
intricate rhythm work that Latin music requires. But I think you can
make just about any kind of music you want on it.
--
Harry Katz
Daniel Sternlicht
Looking at the liner notes of my hawaiian music albums, I notice that
the tiple is at times mentioned along side the ukelele.
In hawaiian music probably
tuned the same way - unless we talking slack key...
- dan
--
Dan Sternlicht ------------ Marine Physical Laboratory - Ocean Acoustics ----
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
dste...@sdcc3.ucsd.edu University of California at San Diego
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