this is 3rd bridge tabletop guitar (kind of like a zither) being played with a 'bow' (single guitar string, basically a diddly bow). the bowing and the pickup are on opposite sides of the 3rd bridge. the guitar string is wound, so it's constantly striking the strings, drawing out the little, sparkling overtone sounds. the track is kind of quiet, unfortunately - you'll have to crank it to hear it fully.

Tabletop guitar recording

37 minutes of action on a 6-string, 3rd bridge table top guitar. effects pedals used: boss super overdrive, a big muff, and an ibanez analog delay. frequently the guitar is played clean. implements: partially threaded metal rods (the bell sounds are usually those, and the wacky vibrato effect is caused by those as well), a binder clip (makes the low buzzing sound), a wooden dowel (for the computer-synthy sound, ironically), and maybe some other things. most segments are about 2-3 minutes, so if you don't like something, fast forward it a little. recorded in the afternoon on september 23, 2012, with the studio door open (hence the birds, cars, etc). this is an exploratory sampling, hasn't been fine-tuned as any kind of 'release.'

this is a huge file, so for people who want to pick and choose, it breaks up like this: 

first few minutes are loud and kinda ridiculous, then it settles into a rolling, overdriven thing where you can hear tons of overtones (this is that long, big bit in the very beginning of the file, if you're looking at the visualization)

then (where the sound clearly gets lower, about 3:00), i'm tapping out fake synthy sounds with a dowel, and rolling a hex-head rod on the strings. it builds up, and about 1/5 of the way into the file (8:00 or so), i turn on the delay and do a bunch of percussive stuff. this goes to about 1/4 of the way into the file. 

at 12:00, i get out a dowel that's rigged up with a guitar string, and get the big, scraping/icy sounds with overtones (there's another sample of this kind of effect on my soundcloud page). the pitch shift happens by pulling the 3rd bridge into a new position. that goes on til about 1/3 of the way into the file. 

after that i wedge a rod into the strings on one side of the bridge, and fix the binder clip onto the other side. the effect has to be refreshed every now and then, and eventually i start banging on the rods a little more, dragging them around, til about halfway through the file. 

at 16:15, i put the big muff pedal on again, and do lots of short bursts of extreme sounds - my favorite part of this is that both pickups were on, so even though there's all this harsh stuff happening on one side, it's being answered by gentler, incidental sounds on the other side. i'm using metal rods to make the dragging/sliding sounds. eventually i deliberately work both sides of the bridge. 

2/3 or so into the file (19:40), i divide the strings in a place where the open strings on either side have an interesting harmony. the first spot's kind of cool, the second one (20:49) is magic (like, aspiring to la monte young's 'magic chord').

you can see after that i turn the high gain on again (about 23:00), and start making the grossest sounds i can. scraping, rubbing, sliding. 

3/4 of the way into the file, i turn the high gain off (again, this change is visible on the soundcloud file's graphic, about 26:15), and drag harpsichord wire (basically like an unwound guitar string) up and down the strings. it sounds oddly organic/electric, pleasant/repulsive at the same time.

About 4/5 in (29:00), i figure out this thing where i wedge a rod into the strings and then tap the rod with my knuckle. it creates this electric bell sound, with a borderline-goofy vibrato accompaniment.

The spike in the volume at about 30:30 is me turning on the analog delay and dragging the bridge all over the guitar. not exactly advanced technique, but with both pickups on and the delay it's kind of cool...

After that, I start dragging stuff across the strings again. kind of searching not exactly finding.

The final leg (starts about 34:15) of this is the binder clip. it's wedged into the strings in such a way that when struck it vibrates very quickly, for a long time, and it allows me to do other things on the guitar at the same time.

9-23-2012

(playing both sides of a 3rd bridge guitar at the same time)

sam-k