A Mandolin Trio Playing a Tune for Pipe Organ by Brian Ebie

A Mandolin Trio

by Brian Ebie

Organist and composer Josef Rheinberger (1839-1901) composed a series of Trios for pipe organ.  I've always found Trio 1 in G Minor to be among the most beautiful of the set with it's aria-like melody and beautiful left hand counter melody.  Several months ago I was noodling around on my mandolin and started playing the melody for the Trio 1 in G Minor.  I realized just how beautiful it could be when it was played on mandolin.  Soon thereafter I thought that if the melody sounded that good on mandolin, it would be a good fit for the three voices of the mandolin family--mandolin, mandola, and mandocello. 

The mandolin family, like the violin family, has all of the voices of a choir--soprano, alto, tenor, and bass.  Violin--Mandolin. Viola--Mandola.  Cello--Mandocello.  Bass Viol--Mandobass.  The instrument tunings correspond as well. 

Using the Acapella app for iPhone, published by Mixcord, Inc., I was able to record each of the three parts of the organ trio on the mandolin, mandola, and mandocello.  Acapella is a mobile app that allows users to layer different videos together in a single layout. It is meant to be an easy way for people to create a cappella videos, but both singers and musicians can enjoy creating music with the app. 

It was easy to record using the Acapella app.  I picked the screen layout I wanted from within the app.  I laid down the first track, in which I played the melody on a mandolin.  To record the second track on mandola, I used my earphones and the app plays back your first recording, along with a countdown screen to the beginning of the recording.  This helps you really play in sync with your original track.  I followed the same steps for the final step on mandocello.  There are onboard mixers and filters as well as a graphic equalizer, giving the user control over each track in terms of volume, reverb, pitch, and so forth. 

In conclusion, I enjoyed my first experience using the Acapella app from Mixcord.  Everything worked very well and it was fun to create a mandolin trio where I could count on the other two musicians!!

Thanks for watching!

Brian Ebie