Douce Ambiance - Django Reinhardt [Solo Mandolin]

It's been a bit since I put out a solo mandolin recording, and this seemed like the perfect week to do so. The folks at Eastman were kind enough to drop off one of their new ER-M so I could take it for a test drive. I put together this quick arrangement of Django Reinhardt's Douce Ambiance. Hope you enjoy!
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[@thepotato513]

Ooh, that's a nice looking mando 👀

[@BaktaBak3]

Thanks for posting this. Eastman did a fine job with this acoustic electric mando.

[@georgefenning4844]

That’s a lovely demo . Just what I was looking for ..good tone .

[@BaktaBak3]

Would be nice if other "brands" made more acoustic electric mando's with volume /tone pickup that keeps the "mando sound" and would also sound great acoustically.

[@kengoodman7719]

Awesome!
God Bless!

[@flamingnewt3339]

Gorgeous sounding as always!

[@half.blight]

Another great one!

[@russellzauner]

Frank Solivan playing an El Rey on IG brought me here.
*subscribed* thanks for sharing your works.

[@elliotthambrook1761]

Great work

[@Hollis6503]

Hey man you playing of the El Ray mando helped me to buy one last week. Most reviews were just un boxing and very little playing. The Godin A8 are still awesome for more acoustic sound. I have many $3 k ish acoustic mando's but for the user friendly on stage. These rock with most of amps.

[@georgefenning4844]

I agree .lovely tone. With the ER M ..however, I do like the Godin A8 but I cannot source one here in the UK.

[@carvingCode]

Quite nice.

[@ThreeChordGuitar]

Your pinky is impossibly long. I mean that in a good way. So do your... ah, never mind. Thank you for the video!

[@Formisdestiny]

Really great! Thank you.

[@thecreativeguitarist5298]

Sounds great, and lovely playing. Are you still playing the El Rey? I wonder what your thoughts are after having it a while?

[@Hollis6503]

If you are asking me. Yes I still play the El Ray at most gigs along with my National RM1 and now my used Pono octave mn 20 H an 8 stringer. K.R told me it was one of his hybrids prior to the current models. With a round sound hole.

[@connorgmcmahan]

Hi Alex, really beautiful playing! I'm thinking of getting one of these and had a few questions. Is there a bit more wiggle room on the tone control in the video to mellow out the high frequencies? Do you think it would hold up well for more of a legato/economy picking style like you can do on an electric guitar or is the string tension too high? (I'm coming at the mandolin from the violin and play guitar without a pick). Thoughts on stringing it like a mandola? Many thanks :)

[@AlexHeflin]

Hey! A few thoughts - first of all, there is definitely a good amount of tone control in the instrument and in combination with an amp you can get a nice dark tone.
If you really want to primarily do the legato and economy picking thing, the string tension is a bit high, but the real killer is the double coursed strings. I’d probably default to a 4 string if that were my primary goal.
It should have no problem with a mandola tuning as long as you buy the right strings. That said, you could definitely get a custom four string with a slightly longer scale length if that was your goal.

[@connorgmcmahan]

@@AlexHeflin Thanks, all of this is great to know :) As an aside, I loved hearing you perform one of Riner's tunes on your channel! Got the chance to play with him a few times this year when he was helping out with the Caltech Jazz Band and he's such a great musician and person.

[@gabriel_scar]

Damm I missed Solo Mando videos, I just didn't realized until know. Btw Alex, what are the chances of a Tom Jobim's song become a cover? Myself as a brazilian would be pretty happy to watch it :3, especially in this chord melodish(?) way. Cheers, and keep up!

[@AlexHeflin]

Chances are very high! I'm a huge fan of Jobim tunes. It's actually surprising I haven't posted one on this channel yet.

[@bwbillwilliamsbw]

I didn't think an electric mandolin could sound that good - thanks.
Terrific arrangement of Douce Ambiance too - inspired me to work on the tune as its a regular at our local jams.
Any update on this El Rey?

[@Hollis6503]

Yep the e strings Were a little quite but I just raised the treble side of the pick up.

[@ParadigmStudios]

Super nice. What kind of rig were you playing through?

[@AlexHeflin]

Just a fishman loudbox! The only effect I have on there is a touch a reverb (from the amp) and a little compression on the ProTools side.

[@ParadigmStudios]

@@AlexHeflin great stuff. Thanks!

[@WysteriaGuitar]

Beautiful playing, was wondering can this be played unplugged as well?

[@AlexHeflin]

The mandolin is primarily electric. It's loud enough to practice on quietly, but it's not loud enough to play with anyone else without being plugged in.

[@Matt-oc3nh]

Hey man! I find your cover super huge! Can I take it as a sample for an hip-hop production? The track will be chopped a lot and shifted on a different key :)

[@AlexHeflin]

Yes indeed! Just credit me in the description and link back to this video! Also shoot me an email and I’ll send you a high quality wav file.

[@Endeaj]

Are you still planning on making songs from games like don’t starve?

[@AlexHeflin]

I am indeed! I have the Don't Starve Hamlet theme and Summer Jobs in mind. I have five or so other songs I have to finish first though!

[@Endeaj]

Good to know, I’m really looking forward to your rendition of summer jobs

[@derekellis4170]

I expected it to be good

[@MisterAppleEsq]

So you were proven right?

[@derekellis4170]

@@MisterAppleEsq very