Description: Bouzoukis, Octave Mandolins, and Citterns
Amongst many luthiers and musicians the Irish bouzouki is considered to be part of the mandolin family, other instruments of which include the mandolin, mandola (called "contralto mandola" in Europe), octave mandolin ("tenor mandola" in Europe), and mandocello. But for others this new family of instruments is separate. At any rate, since the genesis of the Irish bouzouki in the late 1960s, luthiers have incorporated so many aspects of mandolin construction, particularly when building archtop Irish bouzoukis, that for most it is a moot point.
For many builders and players, the terms "bouzouki", "cittern", and "octave mandolin" are more or less synonymous. The name cittern is often applied to instruments of five courses (ten strings), especially those having a scale length between 20 and 22 inches (500mm and 550mm). They are also occasionally called "10 string bouzoukis" when having a longer scale length. The fifth course is usually either a lowest bass course tuned to C2 or D2 on an instrument with a long scale, or a highest treble course tuned to G4 or A4 on a shorter scale. Luthier Stefan Sobell, who coined the term "cittern" for his modern, mandolin-based instruments, originally used the term for short scale instruments irrespective of the number of their strings, but he now applies "cittern" to all 5 course instruments irrespective of scale length, and "octave mandolin" to all 4 course instruments, leaving out bouzouki entirely.
Mandolin-family luthiers producing an octave mandolin are more likely to use mandolin tuning machines and reproduce the details and styling of their American-style carved top mandolins. Some luthiers choose to refer to their clearly bouzouki-style instruments as octave mandolins, or even as mandocellos, despite the GDAD tuning. The octave mandolin is usually regarded as having a shorter scale length than the Irish bouzouki, in the vicinity of 20 to 23 inches (50 to 59cm), while the scale length of the Irish bouzouki most often ranges from 24 to 25 inches (60 to 65cm). Some instruments have scales as long as 26 or even 27 inches (66 to 68cm). These longer-scaled instruments are generally acknowledged to possess greater volume, sustain, and tonal richness but some players find the stretches involved in fingering too difficult and so prefer shorter scale lengths.
There may even be a trend towards calling all medium scale four course instruments "octave mandolins" in spite of their tunings and especially if they have carved/arched tops, as well as applying "Irish bouzouki" to any medium to long scale instruments, especially if they are tuned GDAD and have flat tops. Calling all five course instruments "citterns," irrespective of their construction and tuning and in spite their very tenuous connection to historical citterns, does also seem be a trend.
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