Mandolin other examples of songs with mandolin. Modern day musicians include Antony Surendra, V. Hemapala Perera, Ananda Perera, Dinesh Subasinghe, Susantha Kariyakarawana, Sarath Fernando, Nalaka Sajee, Haasriza Imran and Buddhika Perera The mandolin has a history on Tobago and Trinidad as the bandolin, dating back before World War I. It was a small instrument, approximately 20 x 40 centimeters, strung with 8 strings in four courses of two each. Before the war, it was commonly a round-backed instrument, made of strips of wood. The flat-backed version appeared after the war. Occasionally a turtle shell would be used for the back of
Mandolin Orchestra (possibly the oldest mandolin orchestra in North America), which claims Ukrainians as among its founders. The orchestra's web site said of mandolins in Ukraine, that the instruments were popular in the early 20th century, but never reached folk-instrument status there. Ukrainian immigrants of the period took the instruments with them to their new countries. The instrument has had to compete in Ukraine with native instruments that have been revived, such as the kobza. The orchestral variant of the kobza is similar to the Mandolin, having four strings and being tuned in fifths. The mandolin has been used extensively in