21st Century Guitar - Evolutions and Augmentations

Richard Perks

21st Century Guitar - Evolutions and Augmentations

Richard Perks

2023, 21st Century Guitar - Evolutions and Augmentations (eds. Perks, Richard and McGrath, John)

https://doi.org/10.5040/9781501373329

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In the 21st century, the guitar, as both a material object and tool for artistic expression, continues to be reimagined and reinvented. From simple adaptations or modifications made by performers themselves to custom-made instruments commissioned to fulfil very specific creative needs, to the mass production of new lines of commercially available instruments, the extant and emergent forms of this much-loved musical instrument vary perhaps more than ever before. As guitars sporting multiple necks, a greater number of strings and/or additional frets become increasingly common, so too do those with reduced registers, fewer strings and fretless fingerboards. Furthermore, as we approach the mark of the first quarter-century, the role of technology in relation to the guitar’s ever-changing identity is proving key. On-board processing units, external synergies with computers and the use of ultra-modern peripheral musical devices – ranging from EBow and effects processing, to engagement with laptops, robots and AR headsets – are allowing players to augment their performance setup and, in doing so, exponentially expand the guitar’s corporeal and timbral functionality. Such wide-ranging evolutions and augmentations of the guitar reflect the advancing performative and expressive needs of the modern guitarist and simultaneously afford them new creative potentialities; ultimately creating a feedback loop between artist and device, which further propels the guitar in fresh directions. This collection comprises an assortment of contributions from academics, performers and dual-practitioners which examines the diverse physical manifestations of the guitar across the modern performative landscape and explores the creative possibilities these new forms afford. Musicological insights spanning performance practice, contemporary organology and technological augmentation are interwoven with interviews featuring leading practitioners from an array of performance cultures from around the world, with each chapter exploring a different model of – or approach to performing with – the guitar from the emic perspective of the performing musician. Published in Bloomsbury’s Music & Sound Studies Series, this volume provides significant insights into the rich array of guitar-based performance practices emerging and thriving in the 21st century, and in doing so, invites the reader to reassess the guitar in terms of its identity, physicality and sound-creating potentialities.

‘The thing about the guitar is that it has to be constantly re-imagined, deconstructed, then re-constructed if it is to continue to be a vital force in music’s future landscapes. 21st Century Guitar is the new grimoire in this quest for the instrument’s ongoing reinventions.’ ‘This important collection combines rigorous scholarship with knowledge gained from practical experience involving a wide range of musical explorations, from microtonal music to the use of augmented reality – a welcome and significant contribution to the literature on the guitar.’ Kevin Dawe, author of The New Guitarscape (2010) In the 21st Century, the guitar, as both a material object and tool for artistic expression, continues to be reimagined and reinvented. From simple modifications and custom-built instruments to large commercial production lines, the extant and emergent forms of this much-loved musical instrument vary perhaps more than ever before. As guitars sporting multiple necks, a greater number of strings and additional frets become increasingly common, so too do those with reduced registers, fewer strings and fretless fingerboards. Furthermore, as we approach the mark of the first quarter-century, the role of technology in relation to the guitar’s protean nature is proving key, from the use of external effects units to synergies with computers and AR headsets. Such wide-ranging evolutions and augmentations of the guitar reflect the advancing creative and expressive needs of the modern guitarist and offer myriad new affordances. 21st Century Guitar examines the diverse physical manifestations of the guitar across the contemporary performative landscape through a series of essays and interviews. Academics, performers and dual-practitioners provide significant insights into the rich array of guitar-based performance practices emerging and thriving in this century, inviting a reassessment of the guitar’s identity, physicality and sound-creating possibilities. 21ST CENTURY GUITAR Joe Satriani, guitarist With contributions from: John Schneider, Tolgahan Çogulu, Charlie Hunter, Nels Cline, ̆ Richard Perks, John McGrath, Milton Mermikides, Cenk Erdogan, ̆ Bill Thompson, Tom Williams, Katalin Koltai, Robert Strachan and Amy Brandon. M U S IC Cover design: Louise Dugdale Cover image by Milton Mermikides ISBN 978-1-5013-7329-9 Also available from Bloomsbury Academic www.bloomsbury.com 9 781501 373299 9 0 1 0 0 Edited by Richard Perks & John McGrath Richard Perks is Senior Lecturer in music performance at the University of Kent, UK, and Associate Professor of music at the Institute of Contemporary Music Performance, UK. A leading exponent of the fretless electric guitar, he has performed all over the world and published widely. John McGrath is Senior Lecturer in music at the University of Surrey, UK, and deputy director of the International Guitar Research Centre. He is the author of Samuel Beckett, Repetition and Modern Music (2018), is an active guitarist, and his compositions have been aired and screened internationally. 21ST CENTURY GUITAR Evolutions and Augmentations Edited by Richard Perks & John McGrath

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