Ale Carr - solo cittern.mov

[@philipatoz]

In the early 18th century, J.S. Bach wrote about his family's legacy, which included so many accomplished musicians. And in it, he noted that his great-great grandfather, a baker / miller, was known to have played a cittern whilst awaiting the grinding of the mill. This was sometime around 1600 and would seem to have been the first musician that could be traced back in Bach's remarkable musical family.

[@wiblius9870]

I never would have guessed this was Swedish folk music. It has an Eastern sound to my ear. You have a new fan. Thank you for sharing.

[@Heimrik01]

Voilà un très joli morceau, merci pour le partage !

[@lawrencewitt7548]

Beautiful

[@authentix4010]

Bravo bravo bravo! Where can I buy such a pleasant archaic instrument ? Goosebumps...

[@deberinaemelander5623]

WoW! Beautiful playing!! Thank you for sharing your acoustical talents!!

[@crystaliss]

Beautiful! I have to listen to this on repeat for a while to soak it all up.

[@nicolafattorini3841]

this guy should join Dreamers' Circus

[@alecarrmusic]

Nah, they have a guy just like him already :D

[@bombi012]

Wonderful, congratulations I rally loved this instrument!

[@skittfrogg]

Absolutely enchanting.

[@beadedguitar]

Wow! Well done.

[@artzy_daydreamer2786]

I just saw this dude on BBC proms! Damn...

[@alecarrmusic]

That was a fun gig :D

[@JosMorn1]

Tremendous! Inspired me to add a cittern to my collection/pursuits!

[@StMikkeli]

Gorgeous sound!!

[@JohnSelma]

Modern citterns are really mandolin/mandola family instruments, and only acquired the name because Stefan Sobel (instrument maker) wanted a name for the ten string version. They have only a superficial resemblance to the renaissance cittern.

[@deberinaemelander5623]

Ok, thank you for that explanation. Up until today, I had never heard this instrument! What a beautiful sound!

[@paavobergmann4920]

Don´t they have flat bottoms? Would they be close to renaissance citern with all-metal strings?

[@binary132]

@@paavobergmann4920no, I think modern citterns are round-bodied.

[@Ah01]

@@binary132I`ve got three citterns and two of them (a Nordwall and a Folkfreunde) are totally flat bottomed and the third (a Wetterstrand) almost flat.

[@BartVeerman1]

Simply wonderful, thanks so much for posting this! Greetings from Canada.

[@bearshield7138]

sweet job

[@henkwesterik]

Stunning performance

[@strumstering]

I love your solo work.

[@konstantes]

Best mandola solo that I`ve heard ..

[@ludocross16]

👍

[@tipptoggy]

The bloke asking about Celts and the banjo.. well no, The banjo came into American music via Africa, was developed by an Irish American musician Joel Walker Sweeney in the 19th century, Went into jazz as the Tenor and then much later from the 1920s came into Irish music in Irish American dance bands, then became dormant. It came back into prominence in the 1960s because of Barney McKenna of the band the Dubliners. Ancuent Celts played wind instruments and harps. Long necked instruments came into Europe via Arabia during the crusades.

[@chiron14pl]

this sounds very medieval, I like that sort of modal tonality

[@HaileISela]

Hej Ale, I stumbled over your videos the other day and lord, I'm glad I did! Such wonderful music! Tack så mycket för underbart musiken!

[@Morachnyion]

this is so wonderful!...it may be swedish in orgin but it sounds like it has roots in other countries.. i'm really digging the piece you did.. it makes me want a Cittern even more.

[@bjurv]

this is very swedish trad.folk sound - there are different styles of "swedish" sounds. but you are right - folk music is always connected with other folk music. there will always be influences and connections

[@frtpwr]

holy moly this is badass

[@konstantes]

Very nice !!!!!!!

[@TimothySweeney]

fantastic

[@bonzodog7177]

Great!

[@kermitraviolino1065]

Wonderful tune and instrument! Are there only metal strings? It sounds like they are not all metal

[@patrickcahill6150]

Nice playing ale..who is the maker of your cittern..

[@alecarrmusic]

Thanks Patrick! It's the one and only Christer Ådin.

[@Alundrael]

Thanks a lot for the music sheet ! Let's goooooo ! :-p

[@louisrelf5903]

Makes me want to break out the tambourine 😊

[@jslloydedgmond]

Wonderful - a real inspiration - I play cittern tuned GDGDG or GDADG but this tuning is nice - worked out lowest string is F?. I think - how are you tuned - your fingers work fast and it is difficult to work out your tuning. Havent been playing long but see why people fall in love with this instrument.Many Thanks - Jon

[@MrProgrock]

Fantastic! Absolutely fantastic! I have to ask, is that mandola built by Christer Ådin?

[@lefeufollet1607]

beautiful playing! and a truly magnificent sounding instrument. why does it sound so deep and rich but nice and flat rather than reverb-heavy? Is that the type of woods used or the preamp?

[@altareggo]

WOW!!!!! This rocks HARD!!! Did you compose or arrange it? I don't recognize the piece at all although it sounds Celtic. You sir, are an accomplished musician. You have the chops (and looks, lol) to do some hard-core cross-over arrangements and break into mainstream culture with this.... would LOVE to turn on the radio some day and hear this wonderful sound!!!

[@alecarrmusic]

Thanks for your comment and the kind words! It's an improvisation on a traditional tune from Sweden. You can listen to my bands Basco and Dreamers' Circus if you want to hear more!

[@kevinakimou9811]

It's more or less the same as an Irish bouzouki with an added fifth course: already a hybrid between a Greek bouzouki, and a flat-backed mandola (which would usually have a shorter neck). Irish musicians took this instrument up in the 1960's.

[@musicmasterliam]

I love the Cittern playing AND your name!

[@Alundrael]

Apparemment tu es français alors je tente la réponse dans cette langue : je pense que cette sonorité - qui m'a époustouflée moi aussi - vient de cordes fines sur une grande longueur vibrante. Et d'un très bon micro, aussi, qui capte même les sons les plus doux. Ale joue beaucoup en pull/hammer, ce qui donne un jeu riche en ornementations, et de plus le cistre nordique est un instrument riche en harmoniques (il y a quand même 3 chœurs accordés en D, ça doit résonner un max !).

[@TirikitaBlogspot]

That edit at 3:02; that face says it all. 8-0 Great playing, though.

[@heesofi]

the internal source disspapeared , it seems !

[@meandermyself61]

+Ale Carr I came across this whilst browsing. Absolutely fantastic. I myself play (predominantly irish music on the low whistle) - in fact my former band (Choonz) almost did a joint tour with Rune Barslund's band Kasir, whom i see you've done some playing with. Well, I love your playing. Wild, with a deftness of touch. It feels quite close in spirit to the music I play, and recently, I've begun appropriating tunesfrom the scandinavian traditions, like svampmannen and vilse in betlandet from vasen into my playing. Really makes me wonder how old the respective musical traditions really are, and how much norse music has influenced the traditions on our islands. (apart from the more obvious examples like the Shetland island traditions). Incidentally, do you have the sheet music for this piece, and a name for it? Feel embarrassed to ask - i nearly always learn by ear, but i find it harder to pick it out when the melody line is on cittern/ bouzouki etc.

[@MrFair]

You can find the basic melody here www.folkwiki.se/Musik/274

[@dirkmahling3168]

Ale, what is the name of the tune? Or did you compose it?

[@tammanaq]

Hi there. Is the bass strings with silk core just like a classical guitar? It sounds so much softer and authentic than most other cittern videos I've listened to. Thanks

[@alecarrmusic]

Hello. Yes, the bass strings are nylon strings. The D is a Hannabach string for acoustic bass guitar, and the G is a D'Addario for classical guitar. I'm glad that you perceived it that way, as that is what I'm looking for :-)

[@elliotbryant3459]

does your cittern have an internal preamp and microphone?

[@elliotbryant3459]

Hey, thank you for the reply! I'm thinking about making a cittern this summer and wanted to include some kind of internal audio out so this helps a lot!

[@SanguineYoru]

@@elliotbryant3459 His reply is gone, what did he say?

[@elliotbryant3459]

the response is no longer in my email but I copied this reply from somewhere and put it into my notes. I'm pretty sure this is the only place I would have copied it from. "internal system Highlander IP-2 w/ internal DPA microphone, with a stereo output with the two sources on different channels. I split them up into a Felix preamp and EQ where they mix together before they go on to the mixing console"

[@TommyNever]

So what strings is Ale using here? They sound like gut or nylon guitar strings. No idea what tuning he's using either.

[@JonathanVanMatrePersonal]

It's a mixture of steel strings and nylon classical strings. He gives some details about it here: www.mandolincafe.com/forum/showthread.php?101646-Ale-Carr-great-Swedish-cittern-player&s=7db5b636738d6a685ef9f28d5be760c7&p=1236358&viewfull=1#post1236358

[@JonathanVanMatrePersonal]

Also see Erik Larsson's comments on this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mWevqXaee66JiMk , particularly the one that starts with "As follows (low to high)", for more about how this type of stringing can be put together.

[@MrProgrock]

Hur är den stämd?

[@Binze86]

Hi there. Can anyone figure tuning?

[@MrFair]

DGDAD

[@lawrenceballack5506]

I can.

[@arvedbohn6133]

Does anyone know what tuning he's using?

[@alecarrmusic]

I use DGDAD!

[@NerdyGurdyGuy]

Sådan vil jeg også lære at spille!

[@johnkenethvandruff]

This would make a great drinking song..

[@johanheden9517]

John VanDruff, almost all swedish folk music derives from a dancing culture. This is not drinking music it's a polska and a very special rythm for dancing.

[@dropthewalls]

@@johanheden9517 are you implying that dancing and drinking do not go hand in hand?

[@johanheden9517]

It's a polska and very swedish.

[@DMSBrian24]

tuning?

[@jebuff]

Tuned in 5ths with a high B.

[@christophersheeler7173]

Sounds sort of Mid-Eastern

[@alecarrmusic]

Thanks Christopher! It's quite uncommon to play Nordic ornaments on citterns, so I see why you would get the middle-eastern reference. We use many of the same techniques.

[@lawrenceballack5506]

What's a fine white Irish lad doing playing this Ali Baba music??

[@alecarrmusic]

Hello Lawrence. I'm Swedish, and the music you're hearing traditional Swedish music, played with traditional Scandinavian phrasing and ornamentation. If the music reminds you of arab music, one can only conclude that the world isn't as different as you might think :-)