Re: PREPARING INSTRUMENTS for LOOPING (and any other performance)

[ditch wrestler <ditchwrestler@yahoo.com>]

If you find the latest issue of Fretboard Journal (Kim Thayil of Soundgarden is on the cover), look inside for the pic of Fred Frith, a master of jamming crap in his guitar strings.  Go here for a pic: http://www.fretboardjournal.com/features/magazine/fred-frith and zoom in on the pic

To add to Rick's list, Fred's got a paint brush, metal chains, foot roller, and pieces of paper...

And don't forget Keith Rowe!  Nice pics here of the odds'n'sods he brings to the table: http://preparedguitar.blogspot.ca/2012/11/keith-rowe.html

As a double bassist, I've put multiple skewers in between the strings and then bowing between the skewers, put small u-clamps on a harmonic nodes, and use split rings (key rings).  I saw Janet Feder use split rings; go here for some clips & audio - http://www.npr.org/2012/07/22/157169369/janet-feder-an-avant-garde-artist-takes-a-real-risk

I also have a piece of wood that I've notched with the crudest saw I could find for 'col legno striato'...  Run that over your strings and you'll get a great sound.

 

I've also look every now and again for a battery-operated drink stirrer - saw Eddie Prevost attach one to a gong and he got some great overtones; his solo gong (tam tam to the Brits) cd is Entelechy and it's pretty good...

 

 

 

the other ted

 

Or would you sing somethin' different. Somethin' real. Somethin' *you* felt. Cause I'm telling you right now, that's the kind of song people want to hear. That's the kind of song that truly saves people. It ain't got nothin to do with believin' in God, Mr. Cash. It has to do with believin' in yourself. Sam Phillips, "Walk the Line"

From: Tim Mungenast <tmungenast@verizon.net>
To: "Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com" <Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com>
Sent: Saturday, February 9, 2013 12:35:43 PM
Subject: Re: PREPARING INSTRUMENTS for LOOPING (and any other performance)

Great and useful info, and for most of these you took the words right out of my mouth (lol). The only addendum I can think of is rubber objects, which make some odd sounds when used as a bow. A kalimba held against a resonant guitar may sound good, especially with the guitar's gain jacked up, but I have not yet tried this and have no idea if the reality will live up to the hope.


 
Tim Mungenast
Editor/Writer/Proofreader: www.linkedin.com/in/timmungenast
Guitarist/Composer/Vocalist: www.reverbnation.com/timmungenast


----- Original Message -----
From: Rick Walker <looppool@cruzio.com>
To: LOOPERS DELIGHT (posting) <Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com>
Cc:
Sent: Saturday, February 9, 2013 9:14 AM
Subject: PREPARING INSTRUMENTS for LOOPING (and any other performance)

Tony's post about Bart Hopkins new book on Guitar Preparation got me inspired.

I have experimented with a lot of different ways to "prepare" instruments for unconventional
performance.

I thought it would be cool to assemble all the different creative ways everyone on this list has
figured out how to 'prepare' an instrument.


My own tiny arsenal for guitar and other string 'preparation':


1)  large and tiny alligagor clips   (the size has a huge impact on the resultant timbre so try lots of different sizes)
2) Magnets-   from very tiny (Bucky Balls) to very large ones (these are very hip, especially when attached to alligator clips)
3)  Martini skewers  (I particularly love a set of blue plastic Tiki ones that I found because they have
     incredible bounce characteristic (not unlike hammer dulcimer mallets) and you can turn them over
     and use them as tiny plastic 'slides'  to change the pitch of the instrument
4)  Suzuki 1/16 sized bows..................amazing and only  $25 USD for a wonderful approach to any string instrument
5)  E-bows and, better yet,  multiple E-bows..............make any multiple string instrument with metal strings a fantastic drone instrument
6)  Metallic Chinese 'health' balls (the ones that have little chimes inside of them).............try rolling these guys down any string instrument
       for random pitch shifting experiments
7)   Brushes of all kinds:
       a)  vegetable brushes  (they come in varying 'stiffnesses' so their texture is different
       b)  metallic (careful, these eat up strings on good instruments)  I love the kinds used , specifically, for flea eradication on pets
       c)  the ones that come off of temporary hair dye products (specifically on 'Dye Hard' products or Hot Topic 'Temporary Dye' products
       d) any drum stick or mallet you can think of (I particularly love velcro-ing different kinds of bells and rattle sounds to strikers like this)
8)   Slides of any kind  (glass, metal, ceramic, bottle caps, backs of finger nails,  any damn thing)
9)     Vibrators  (again, anything--- back massagers, dildos, clitoral vibrators,  anything that vibrates a string potentially)
10)   Drills (again, anything that attaches to a drill that can cause rapid re-playing of the string---Eddie Van Halen, notroriously used
          guitar picks inbedded into a drill bit that allowed for hyper, faster than human,  picking techniques.
11)   Okay, there are more but I"m running out of steam...
12)   What the f*ck else?

Rick Walker