Fueling imaginations

El Cascabel

Originally recorded on his "Ship of Fools" album, this song illustrates John's arranging approach where he combines three ideas: double stop harmonization on the center strings, melodic motion along the strings (instead of across), and the outer strings as pattern picked rhythmic drones. This synthesis of British Isles source material, American pattern picking, European harmony and North Indian chordophone technique is a distinctive feature of his guitar style.

Here is the original song he is teaching.

This is the third musical instrument controller I have prepared for Maker Faire. This one combines lessons learned from the previous two: the tablo e-textile controller and the large koto/guitar hybrid from last year.

Premiere Partie
J'introduis la these paradoxale de l’identité de la guitare comme outil d’imitation sonore et musicale avec illustration historique et une exemple actuelle d'instrument imitative a base de traitement de signale hexaphonique.

Deuxieme Partie

Experimental surface sensing for fingerstyle players

Recent attempts to extend organology to add useful classifications of electrophones and music controllers have rightly focussed on music performance gestures . The naive approach of classification by gestural types (strum, pluck, hit, slap etc..) fails because gestures say more about musicians and their music than their instruments.

The Fingerboard Instruments: Reframing Lutherie without Strings, Freed, Adrian , 3rd Music and Cognition Conference, McGill University, Montreal, (2010)

Joy of Hex and the Cordless Guitars of the Future, Freed, Adrian , Identites de la Guitare Electrique, 05/18/2009, Paris, France, (2009)

"Classical huapango is characterized by a complex rhythmic structure mixing duple and triple meters

which reflect the intricate steps of the dance . When the players sing
( in duo , on a falsetto tone )
the violin stops, and the zapateo
( heels rolling on the floor ) softens.
The huapango is danced by men
and women as couples; the men sing, the women do not.

The only fretted chords in this classic Son House bottleneck blues are barres with a 7th added on the high string.