How to choose a tiple or a bandola? What to check earlier
A tiple or a well-calibrated bandola will play with far less force. We have something to review with a new instrument, from luthier or inherited.
A good tiple or a good boulder to start with doesn't have to be a concert, but it does have to be well calibrated: the right mast, the ropes at a comfortable height, the matching scares and the bridge firm onto the cover. With 12 or more metal strings, an poorly tipped instrument hurts his fingers and discourages his fingers in a few weeks.
That's why, more than looks or décors, the important thing to buy with someone who can watch: a luthier, your teacher or an experienced Andean string musician.
To sum up
- The tiple goes with scattering and chords, and the bandola carries the melody with a prectro. It chooses depending on how much role you have in Andean music.
- The height of the strings is what most influences comfort: with so many metal strings, a few more millimeters feel a lot.
- Check that the bridge isn't leaking and that the cover isn't pounding behind and sink ahead.
- A luthier instrument can be adjusted to your hand and order calibration before you have them.
- A tiple inherited may be worth it, but first a luthier should check.
Tipple or Bandola: what changes when you buy
Both are metal string instruments grouped into orders - string groups that step and play together as if they were one - and form, with guitar, the Andean Colombian trio. But they play different roles and that changes what you have to review.
| Aspecto | Tiple | Andean bandola |
|---|---|---|
| Paper in the music | accompaniment: scattering, chords, bambucco rhythm and corridor | Melody: tipting, ornaments and trumolos |
| Cuerdas | 12 metal strings in 4 orders of 3 | 12 or more metal strings grouped into orders |
| How to play | Fingers: scrape and tipting | with pellet |
| What to check with more care | bridge and cover, with high tension and with a height of strings for chords | Parallel and good tuning challenges at high positions, where many melodies are touched |
| If you come from the guitar | His tuning relates to his first four guitar strings | Plectro's new technique, but your diapason will be familiar with you |
If you don't know what to choose, think about the music that moves you: if you figure by tipple, and if you figure out how to get a corridor and a bandola. why to learn tiple and bandola We talked more about each other.
Rope height: what's felt most about his fingers
The height of the strings, or action, is the distance between the string and the scares. At the tiple, each chord presses twelve metal strings at once, so a high action converts every change into an effort. It's the most difference that it makes for a beginner and the most bad for instruments that have been hung in a display.
- Look at the string at Stretch 12: if there's a big space up to Stretch, the action's high.
- Put a simple chord into the first scares. If you have to have a lot of force to clear up the three strings of each order, something's bad calibrated.
- Check the cebula, the piece where the strings come out to the clamp: if their slots are high, it's hard to play at first things. If they're bad and separate, the same order's strings are pounding with each other.
- He asked if the seller or luthier could set up the height before delivery. In an instrument of luthier, they could most often be.
Mast, scattering and bridge
The tension of so many metal strings puts to the test the structure of the instrument. That's why, in tiples and banners, it's worth a quiet review of each of these parts:
| Parte | What to review | Warning sign |
|---|---|---|
| Mast | That looks straight at him from his sewer. | Retiring forward or twisting |
| Trastes | That they are equal and well established | Stretching or scattering straps |
| Puente | That's glued to his whole edge | A paper leaf goes under the edge of the bridge |
| Tapa | That's flat and without cracks | Boring behind or sunk in front of the bridge |
| Clavijero | That the nipples turn together | Skates or rusted gears |
| Filling | Filling to air and comparing with Stretch 12 | Large differences, especially at the bandola |
The cracks at the cover and at the rings usually appear with sudden climate changes, for instance when an instrument moves from hot ground moist heat to cold savannah. Check with a flashlight, also inside his mouth, and ask if any cracks have been repaired.
The ropes also count
Many tiples and banners come with strings that have been in the glass for months or are bad for them. To change them with a new game is usually the first thing that recommends a teacher.
- He buys games made for tiple or for bandola. Guitar strings have no calibres intended for their tension.
- In the tiple, some commands combine smooth and jammed strings and as they change them, check that each one remains in place.
- If the ropes have dark and rudder spots, they sound opaque and they don't have a good tuning: they have to be replaced.
- The new strings are stretching in the first few days, so tuning at every time is normal. For tiple, follow the guide how to tuning tiple.
Of luthier, factory or inherited
In Colombia, a great share of tiples and banners come out of light workshops with a great tradition, and Chiquinquirá, in Boyacá, is especially known for the production of tiples. Purchasing directly from a luthier has benefits: you can try several instruments, ask them to suit the height of the strings to your hand and come back for maintenance.
| Option | Ventajas | Please note |
|---|---|---|
| Luthier instrument | Custom and maintenance with whoever did | He asked if the cover was solid or laminated and requested calibration before delivery |
| Factory or serial instrument | Easy to get and to replace | Factory calibration is usually basic and has an adjustment |
| Instrument inherited or used | It can be good wood and have a family value | He almost always needs new ropes and bridge review, and scattering and cracks. |
With a family tiple - that of his grandfather, who had been put up for years - don't rush to put new strings and put them into a place: first get him to a luthier to check his bridge and cover. Many times it's worth restoring.
Questions to put to the seller or to the luthier
- Is the cover made of solid or laminated wood?
- Can you title the height of the ropes and cebula before delivering them?
- What's his ropes and how long have they been changed?
- Do the mast have an adjustable soul?
- Do you get an instrument for review if a problem appears in the first few weeks?
Take your teacher or send him a video by playing the instrument closely. If you haven't had him yet, you can start [tiple classes]](/clases/tiple) or [Andean bandola]](/clases/bandola-andina) and decide how to buy with his advice. When you have the instrument at home, check how to care for a tiple and a bandola.
Frequently asked questions
Is it easier to learn tiple or baddola?
They are different challenges. The tiple requires force in the left hand for chords and good scrag management and the bindola requires precision with the plepter and with the left hand. If you play guitar, the tiple will be familiar with its tuning.
Can you put guitar strings on a tiple?
The tiple needs games made for him with the calibres and jammed strings that demand his orders and other strings change the tension and can affect the bridge and cover.
How do I know if a tiple's well calibrated?
If you can make simple chords without much force, the strings do not get broken and tuning remains as you play high, it's well calibrated. If you doubt, a luthier checks them in a few minutes.
What's best to start with, tiple or guitar?
It depends on how much music you have to play: guitar is more universal and tiple is the voice of Colombian Andean music. We compare it with [guitar or tiple]](/blog/guitarra-o-tiple).