MANDO
[ THREE REASONS TO TAKE YOUR MANDOLIN WIRELESS | Tyson Bryant ]
“Give me liberty, or give me death,” quoth away until I get it right. way, and when I’m done I have a much better
Patrick Henry as he vainly struggled to free his I visit the keyboard player during a soft, low- feel for how my own parts are locking in with
encumbered legs from the instrument cables dynamic interlude to see what kind of pad she is the rest of the band’s.
connecting his mandolin and pedal board. playing and perhaps have a quick conversation
Ok, perhaps that is a little bit of revisionist
about what register to play my tremolo in to 2. TONE CHECK
complement the chord position she is using. Let’s face it: for all the cool electronics we can
history. One might argue that Patrick’s original
use with our mandolin, it is still an acoustic
context was on a more somber and important I make regular stops to the front corner where instrument and it needs to sound like one. If
topic. The principle is still sound, though. we stash our lead guitar player. This helps us you are lucky your sound guy will also be an
Previously we explored different pedals and coordinate which of us will be coming in and experienced mandolin player who knows what
effects that are handy for a hard-working out of fills in the verses or hooks after the a mando should sound like. But for the 99.9%
mandolin player. The icing on top of the cake is chorus. It lets us communicate and practice fun of the rest of us, it wouldn’t hurt to verify that
the freedom of taking your mandolin wireless - elements like doubled or melody-and-harmony your tone in the PA is coming out the way
both the instrument and your in-ear monitors (if lead lines together. you intend. During one of the songs (again,
you use those).
at rehearsal--I recommend against trying this
I’ll usually stop in to say ‘hey’ to the bass player during the service) walk out into the auditorium
I believe that wireless is the way to go for any on occasion too. I don’t generally need to know and listen for how your instrument sounds. If
musician, but here are three reasons why a what he is doing in the song, but it feels bad to some things like EQ or gain need adjusting to
wireless rig is especially great for mandolin leave him out. get the sound that you intend, no problem!
players.
1. COLLABORATION
In the Nov/Dec 2016 and Jan/Feb 2017
issues of [WM] I wrote about challenges and
strategies related to playing mandolin in a
modern worship setting. Key to the entire
approach is communication with other
band members. Many stages are large, and
the band is distributed across it. Some of
the musicians (guitars, bass) have only a
10-foot radius on the instrument-cable-
leash they are tethered to. Others (drums,
piano, keys) have no freedom of movement
at all. If I want to find the right spot in the
arrangement I have to be able to talk to
these people, and my wireless rig allows
me to do just that--especially during band
rehearsal.
You’re already wireless, so just wander back
[ Sure, maybe you
shouldn’t wander all
over like you did during
rehearsal, but give
to the sound guys and have a (respectful)
conversation with them!
3. ENERGY
The mandolin is cool and adds energy to
the arrangement. Reinforce that visually by
not standing in one place through the whole
yourself the freedom worship set. (For this same reason, I wish we
to bounce to the beat, another topic.)
interact with the band... Sure, maybe you shouldn’t wander all over
physically demonstrate the freedom to bounce to the beat, interact
that you are excited to
saw more keytar players in church--but that’s
like you did during rehearsal, but give yourself
with the band, and otherwise physically
demonstrate that you are excited to be there
without the worry of getting caught up in your
be there... ]
cables.
I wander over to the drummer during some
There’s no question that going full-wireless for
songs to watch him play his kick/snare patterns My wireless rig lets me visit each of these stage your mandolin is a bit of an extravagance cost-
if I need to better work out how to support the stops multiple times for a single song if need wise, but it is worth considering if you are ready
rhythm. I’ll stand there next to him and ‘chunk’ be. Arrangements get built more quickly that to take your game to the next level.
August 2017
WorshipMusician.com
61