Octave Mandolin
The octave mandolin is one of the names given to an instrument which in construction is almost identical to a mandola but is slightly longer in scale and is tuned an octave below the mandolin (GDAE). It is an instrument of 4 double courses, each tuned a 5th apart. Usually the courses are all unison pairs but the lower two may sometimes be strung as octave pairs with the higher pitched octave string on top so that it is hit before the thicker lower pitched string.
Almost certainly this is a modern invention like the Irish bouzouki. It is based on earlier instruments but is not easily placed in the instrument family as this configuration (length and tuning) did not previously exist. The founding instrument is the mandora or mandola which was itself a small lute with an almond shape. From this an even smaller soprano version developed - the mandolino or little mandola. In this sense, an octave mandolin is a misnomer because it contradicts the sense of the mandolin being smaller but the octave being bigger. Nevertheless, many luthiers and retailers use the term as exactly equivalent to the octave mandola. Strictly speaking, the mandola is an alto instrument, and the slightly larger instrument is a tenor mandola.
There is no clear divide between the terms being used in one part of the world or another. Jimmy Moon, a Scottish luthier calls his version of the instrument by both names and Paul Shippey, an English luthier uses the term octave mandolin. In the US, the term octave mandolin seems to be commoner than octave mandola.
The confusion will continue to reign for some time to come as the terms continue to be used interchangeably.
The scale length of the true mandolin is around 350mm to 370mm and the octave mandolin has a scale length typically of 530mm to 580mm. The mandola, which is the original instrument in this family has a scale length of 430mm to 480mm and is tuned CGDA.
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