Rollin’ Youtube
I always wanted to be a lead guitarist and rock star! This original piece imitates an electric guitar with a distortion effect produced entirely on the violin through bow placement, similar to what string players call ponticello. View it here: http://youtu.be/cl79zelhEfg .
As usual with what I call “digital acoustic,” this entire piece is a single pass-through, created live only on an acoustic violin. The digital part is that as each violin part is performed, I use foot pedals and a computer to record and play back (similar to ‘looping’) each part. This version layers about 5 parts, with liberal improvisation and harmony parts interspersed. By having complete control over each parts I can build up the orchestration behind my improvisations, and create changes in energy level exactly the way I want.
Remember, nothing is pre-recorded before I begin. The pizzicato is transposed down 2 octaves by the computer to create the bass lines. Hopefully the end result captures the spirit of screaming guitar solos!
The video camera work is done by my wife Melissa. I think she did a great job capturing the ‘musicians’ view, where you see the nice close-ups of the bow, fingers and foot work. Enjoy!
Nothing is pre-recorded before I begin. I create the bass drum part by tapping on the bridge and electronically transposing it down 2 octaves, and the bass line by plucking in the normal range, and transposing the part down 2 octaves. The snare-like effects come from “chops” with the bow. It’s satisfying to watch live and know that everything is real-time. Most of the piece is improvisation, and every performance is quite different. You get a quite different sense of what is happening musically when you can see everything happen in real time.