Mandolin-banjo became more popular. In the heyday of mandolin orchestras and banjo bands (late 19th–early 20th century), all sorts of instruments were produced. The mandolin-banjo is one of the hybrids that resulted. It enabled mandolinists to produce a banjo sound without having to learn that instrument's fingerings. The instrument adds the banjo's volume to the mandolin. The banjolin is different from the banjo-mandolin in the number of strings that it has. Banjolins today are supposed to have four strings instead of 8 strings (in courses or pairs). However, that distinction is not universal; the "banjolin" name was patented in 1885 by
Mandolin least one Mandolin Orchestra. One professional musician to use the mandolin is Sumru Ağıryürüyen who is known for singing and playing many styles of music including world music, Klezmer, Turkish folk, Balkan folk, blues, jazz, krautrock, protest rock and maqam. The Mandolin has been played in Ukraine, and pictures of it being played today can be found online. One famous former resident of Kiev was Dave Apollon. Other photos dating back to the early 20th century show Ukrainian Mandolin orchestras in Canada and the United States. One of the offshoots of Ukrainian immigrants to North America is the Toronto Mandolin