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Today Randy Strom and I took a few minutes to chat with whurley about what's in store for Warr Guitars in 2008. I gave an overview of what a Warr Guitar is and how they’re played and Randy provided a live demonstration of the instrument.
I must say what a pleasure it was to meet with dedicated, studied musicians who all share a common interest in the touch, tap, hammer-on/pull-off, two handed style of guitar playing. It's so gratifying for a guy like me, getting my first Stick® over 30 yrs. ago (1976), to see the techniques taken to heart by people with talent and ambition–and making it their own. I will always hope that other veterans and originators who did the early work, will find similar satisfaction and gratification in the propagation, evolution and advancement of our art.
Our fearless leader was Jim Wright. I found him very generous in the way he shared his art. Showing his techniques, he was able to readily impart his fingerings, phrases, stylized basslines and independent guitar parts to all. His morning session poly-rhythmic, sub-divide metronome exercise got our our fingers and time keeping brains going every day. As a lifelong player, he was able to speak on many topics from experience. I especially like his take on "fitting in" with the real working musician's world... a tap/touch players role(s) in a band, playing cliche parts and styles of popular music, and basically making our unusual instruments fit into traditional and practical working situations.
Speaking of fearless, we had Brian Kenny Fresno imparting his take on modes and helping me direct my group scale-tone chord and scale-tone sevenths chord scale exercises. Any fan/student of BKF can always be inspired by the fearless (there's that word again), unbridled enthusiasm with which he performs. This kind of infectious energy is what we all need to bring to our gigs. It engages and entertains. It makes me want to connect with my future audiences on a new level.
Teed Rockwell made the day when he played/showed his beautiful take on Indian music. He and Jim got everyone going for hours on poly rhythmic jams with ragas on top. Wow! That's swimmin' in some deep groove water. Fantastic!
I must congratulate our host, Daniel Minoza, who dealt with many obstacles including; logistics, venue change and unfortunate interference from those who would rather not see us be successful.
And of course, our attendees are the ones who made this event really work. Thanks to all, what a pleasure to meet and work with you guys,
Randy Strom
I just posted the new warrguitar.com web site. I hope all will like
the improvments. For all those who are iPhone users, warrguitars.com
was designed to be iPhone compliant.
If you see any errors feel free to post it in the comment section or
email warrblog@warrguitars.com
Thank you and enjoy!
Not only was this post sent via my iPhone, WarrZONE.com is margin
compliant for easy browsing on your iPhone!
Sent from my iPhone
Accomplished composer and instrumentalist, Bill Burke finds his vehicle of expression in the Warr guitar - an 8-stringed instrument which allows him to play multiple part compositions simultaneously. Insisting that the development of a composition is a discovery, Burke pursues the truly novel rather than attempting variations on an already existent music.
Visit Bill at http://www.billburke.net/
His work with the Oak Ridge Boys has brought him a CMA Award as a member of the 1986 Band of the Year. In addition he has played on four Grammy winning albums and a host of other interesting projects.
Visit Ron at http://www.ronfairchild.com/
INDEPENDENCE DAY by Randy Strom
I have had the good fortune to work with a great keyboard player in our town by the name of John Raczka. He can play (on the B3) a bass line with his left foot, comp with his left hand, and blow any kind of bebop to blues solo with his right hand. He can even play with the right hand playing behind the time (creating a laid back swing feel) or with the right hand playing free time over the groove. I strive to emulate this kind of freedom and independence in my Warr guitar playing (although its kind of hard to get the foot involved).
The question is, how do we get to a place with our playing to make this kind of groove+head+soloing become second nature? Here are a few things I do.
First, I set my sequencer (drum mach, metronome) to a strict straight 8ths feel and play quarter-note octaves in the left hand, while playing scales in the right hand (mostly diatonic but also harmonic minor, whole-tone, dimished, blues and bebop) and start with strict 8th-notes over the left hand quarter-notes. A slow tempo with very even time and articulation is a must. Then I change the right hand to 8th-note triplets and finally to 16ths and 16th triplets. In this way, I'm working on my time and memorizing scale fingerings simultaneously.
Now this exercise is a bit boring, as it has no musical content. So, for the second step, I like to choose a left hand groove pattern (swing, latin, funk, etc.) and a few simple chord changes and sub-divide scales, arpeggios etc. with the right hand over the top of that. Staying strictly with the "click" or maybe just a frogs' hair behind. Never get in front.
The third step is of course, choose a tune, a standard, an original, etc., and keep a steady, strong left hand (stay with the click) and an expressive free grooving right hand playing the head, comping, and soloing.
This is my goal, to make every day a touch-style Independence day. I wish the same for you, especially on July 4th (barbeque, beer, fireworks, etc.).
RS
Randy Strom has been an innovator and key player in the touch-guitar world since 1976, and has many impressive credits as a musician, composer, performer, and in the field of music production.
For a complete list of his credits, please visit http://www.myspace.com/randystrom
Of the Legendary rock band “King Crimson”.
Visit Trey Gunn
Visit Trey's multi-dimensional story project "Quodia"
Composer, producer, recording artist, teacher & awesome Warr Guitar customer service technician!
Visit Jim at http://www.myspace.com/warrguitarist
Brian Kenney Fresno is a madcap VISIONary armed with a Warr Guitar!
"If Zappa and Christo had a love child...."
"Brian Kenney Fresno makes music that is complex and brilliant, ... but it's all fun!"
Dr. Demento
Visit Brian Kenney Fresno
TUNINGS FOR WARR GUITARS.
Here are more than 26 tunings readily available on Warr Guitars. Other custom tunings are possible.
The lowest practical open pitch is an A, below the low E of a standard 4-string bass. The highest possible open pitch is a D, one whole step below the open high E on a standard 6-string guitar. With our 24 fret necks, this means that the highest possible fretted note is a D, the same pitch as the 22nd fret on the 1st string of a 6-string guitar.
All tunings are written as though the guitar were in a stand, with the headstock pointing up, and facing you. String #1 is always the farthest string to the right. The letters represent the open string pitch.
Keep in mind that most players will have a mute at the first fret, so the open notes will not sound.
<>indicates where the split is found on stereo models.
8-STRING TUNINGS
Warr 8-string guitars can be mono, or split stereo 4x4.
1.
Bb F C G D A C D
This is a Crafty guitar tuning that covers the entire practical range on a 34-inch scale. String #8 is the lowest, as on all 8-string tunings. The strings ascend in 5ths from a low Bb, with a minor 3rd between strings 2 and 3, and a major 2nd between strings 1 and 2.
2.
B E A D G C F Bb
This is an all 4ths tuning, which is the logical extension of standard 6-string bass. It can be lowered up to one whole step to low A.
3.
E A D G C F A D
This tuning is like standard 6-string guitar on the upper 6 strings (though a whole step below in pitch), and continues down in 4ths to the same low E as standard 4-string bass.
4.
Bb F C G<>B E A D
This is a stereo split with upright 5ths bass, and 4ths guitar.
10-STRING TUNINGS
All 10-strings are stereo, and split 5x5 or 4x6. The low strings must be strings 5 and 6 on 5x5, and 6 and 7 on 4x6.
The 5x5 split is most common.
Usually the player plays the bass strings with the left hand, and the guitar strings with the right, though some players use both hands to play only bass or guitar lines.
1.
E A D G C<>F# B E A D
This is a standard 10-string tuning for touch guitar. It is called a crossed tuning, as the left hand usually reaches over the guitar strings to play bass, and the right hand reaches across the bass strings to play guitar. The bass side is in inverted 5ths, and the guitar side in upright 4ths. String #6 (the C), is the lowest pitched bass string. String #5 (F#) is the lowest pitched guitar string.
2.
E A D G C<> E A D G C
This is the same as the above tuning, but with the guitar side a whole step lower. This makes the note patterns very consistent from one side to the other.
3.
G D A E B<>F# B E A D
This is like the standard tuning above, but with the bass in inverted 4ths. Of course, it's possible to take the guitar side down a whole step as in #2.
4.
E A D G C<> C G D A C
This is a Crafty tuning for both the guitar and bass sides. All strings are in 5ths intervals, except the two highest guitar strings (strings1 and 2), which are a minor 3rd apart.
5.
G D A E<> C# F# B E A D
This is a 4x6 stereo split tuning with inverted 4ths bass. Inverted 5ths bass is also possible, and the guitar can be lowered a whole step.
11-STRING TUNINGS
These tunings usually emulate 10-string tunings, with an added lower guitar string on the guitar side. They are split 5 (inverted bass) x 6 (guitar).
1.
E A D G C<>C# F# B E A D
The 11-string tuning was developed as a way to get more range on the guitar side of the instrument, when compared to 10-string tunings.
2.
E A D G C<>B E A D G C
This is like the standard tuning, but with the guitar down one whole step. Another nicely symmetrical tuning.
3.
G D A E B<>C# F# B E A D
This is an 11-string tuning with inverted 4ths bass.
4.
G D A E B<>B E A D G C
The same tuning as #3, but with the guitar down one whole step. This makes nice symmetrical fingerboard patterns.
12-STRING TUNINGS
12-strings are usually split stereo 6x6, but can also be split 5 (inverted bass) x 7 (guitar). 5x7 splits are not available on Phalanx models. Remember, bass tunings can go as low as A for any of these examples.
1.
B E A D G C<>C# F# B E A D
Standard 12-string tuning. Inverted 5ths bass and upright 4ths guitar. Strings 6 (C#) and 7 (C) are the lowest on the instrument.
2.
B E A D G C<> B E A D G C
The same as above, but with the guitar one whole step lower. This has a nice symmetry to the fingerboard patterns.
3.
C G D A E B<>C# F# B E A D
This is like standard tuning, but with inverted 4ths on the bass side.
4.
C G D A E B<>B E A D G C
Same as #3, but with the guitar side down a whole step. All patterns have a mirror image symmetry between guitar and bass side.
5.
B E A D G C<>C G D A C D
This is a Crafty tuning for 12-string tap-guitar. String 7 is the lowest bass string, and string 6 is the lowest guitar string.
6.
B E A D G C<>B E A D G C
This is an Uncrossed 4ths tuning. String #6 (B) is the lowest bass string, and string #12 (B) is the lowest guitar string. Nothing is inverted. It is called "uncrossed" as hands are not reaching across one set of strings to play the other, as in most standard stereo tap-guitar tunings, such as tuning #1 above. The left hand still plays bass, but now the bass strings are strings 1-6, and not 7-12 as in tuning #1. Strings #1-6 have the same open string pitches as standard 6-string bass. Our Phalanx 12 models were designed with this tuning in mind, but it is available on any 12-string Warr Guitar. This is a very symmetric tuning, as nothing is inverted, and both sides of the guitar are an octave apart.
7.
C# F# B E A D<>B E A D G C
This is the same as #6, but with the guitar up one whole sep, to take advantage of the greatest possible range.
8.
C# F# B E A D<>B E A D G C (DOUBLE GUITAR)
This is a double-guitar tuning for uncrossed players. The right hand plays melody and chords on strings 12-7 (C#-D), and the left plays chords and counter lines on strings 6-1 (B-C).
There are many variations on the open string pitches, and Crafty tunings are also possible in this arrangement.
9.
E A D G C<>G# C# F# B E A D
This is a standard 5x7 split tuning with inverted 5ths bass and upright 4ths guitar. As in other standard tunings, the bass can be in inverted 4ths, and the guitar can be tuned one whole step lower.
14-STRING TUNINGS
All 14-strings are Phalanx models, unless a custom order is made. Phalanx 14-strings use the Uncrossed Upright 4ths tuning, though upright 5ths tunings are possible. They are all split 7x7.
1.
F# B E A D G C<>B E A D G C F
This is similar to the Uncrossed 4ths 12-string tuning (#6), but with a lower guitar string, and higher bass string.
2.
G# C# F# B E A D<> B E A D G C F
This is the same as #1 but with the guitar side up one whole step, to take advantage of the full range.
Markus Reuter is a producer, musician, composer & sound designer with astonishing credentials given his relatively young years.
Born in 1972, Markus initially trained as a pianist before switching to guitar in the late 80's, and subsequently touch guitar in 1993. Soon after, he developed a unique skill for improvised composition, often employing loop-based technology in order to push the envelope of solo performance. In his teenage years, Markus studied music theory and composition with Karlheinz Straetmanns, in the tradition of Paul Hindemith & Harald Genzmer. In his twenties, he spent time with Daniel Schell studying his very special compositional techniques as well as some Indian music (with Ashok Pathak).
Visit Markus at http://www.myspace.com/olderthangod
October 24th, 2007 by James Gerraughty
Bill Burke: An interactive presentation of the Warr guitar Nov. 19, 2007 1pm-2pm EST
Saint Francis University’s Center of Excellence for Remote and Medically Under-Served Areas (CERMUSA) is proud to present acclaimed musician Bill Burke live via Internet 2 on November 19, 2007 from 1-2pm EST. Through lecture, live demonstration and performance, Mr. Burke will showcase various aspects of the Warr guitar, an 8-stringed instrument which allows him to play multiple part compositions simultaneously.
An accomplished composer and instrumentalist, Bill Burke finds his vehicle of expression in the Warr guitar. Insisting that the development of a composition is a discovery, Burke pursues the truly novel rather than attempting variations on an already existent music.
Bills’ music can be heard nationally and internationally on stations as diverse as NPR (NYC and Echoes), Australia’s FretNet, Siberia’s Penguin Radio, The Netherlands Radio Xymphonia, KMHD (Portland, OR) and numerous others.
During the session, participants will also have the opportunity to interact and ask questions. A full biography of Bill Burke can be found at http://www.billburke.net.
ABOUT THE INSTRUMENT (8 String Touch Guitar – Luthier: Mark Warr 1000 Oaks, CA - http://warrguitars.com/).
Mr. Burke’s presentation is a rare occasion for Saint Francis University, and we are pleased to share this session to remote audiences. There is a fee of $49 per site (payment due in advance) for registration. Please visit our registration site for registration and payment details. Registration is limited to the first 15 sites and is due no later than November 14.
Woods & Tone Qualities
When a Warr Guitar is ordered there are many choices to be made about the woods used in construction. This means that one can essentially sculpt the tone that will be produced in the final guitar, and the possibilities are virtually endless, considering all the choices Warr Guitars provides, most of which are at no extra cost.
All woods are stored in our shop under controlled conditions for at least several months, so that they are properly dried, and will not flex or shrink after construction. For this reason, some woods are not always available. This also means that if the customer wants a special wood, that we need to acquire before construction, the build-time may be greatly lengthened, as we will want to make sure it is properly dried.
It never hurts to ask us for advice about woods when you are ordering a guitar and you will find us helpful, as we want you to be happy with the final product.
Another important note: Tapping to produce a vibration in the string creates a brighter tone than plucking, so we generally advise that woods with ‘darker’ tones be chosen.
Here are the categories:
Body Woods: Usually mahogany, ash, maple are available. Sometimes we have walnut and padauk (extra charge). Poplar has a wonderful tone, and is readily available, but the appearance is not so nice, so you may see guitars made with this wood painted to hide the pale gray-green wood.
Body Top woods: zebrawood, maple, walnut, bubinga, sedua and wenge are commonly available. Sometimes we use purpleheart, blood wood (extra charge), and naturally we have high-grade wood choices for an extra charge, similar to what you might find at custom guitar shops. Woods like burl maple and buckeye, cocobolo, and possibly koa, though it is quite rare and expensive these days.
Neck laminate woods: usually the ‘mains’ or largest outer pieces are made from either mahogany or maple. Thinner laminate woods can be wenge, pau Amarillo, purpleheart, bubinga, walnut,
Fingerboard woods: Wenge is most common, and takes the place of ebony, which is very hard to find in pieces large enough for our fingerboards. Once it’s oiled, it is virtually black, and most of the guitars made by Warr have this wood on the fingerboard. Also available are pau ferro (ironwood) and goncolo alves. Pau ferro is very dense, and we use it when someone wants a fretless fingerboard. It has a nice wood grain to it. Goncolo alves is almost orange, and has a very nice tone.
TONE QUALITIES OF WOODS
Generally, woods that are light in color will have a ‘brighter’ sound than darker woods, meaning that the tones produced have more high frequency response. Maple (bright) is one extreme and padauk (dark) is another.
For example, on a bolt-on neck guitar, a maple body will produce a more ‘Fender-ish’ tone than a mahogany body, similar to the difference in tone of a Telecaster (usually an ash, alder, or maple body) and a Les Paul (usually a mahogany body).
We generally consider mahogany to be an excellent all-around choice for a bolt-on body, as it is light in weight, has a very nice, warm tone, and is readily available. A wide variety of tones can be produced, especially when one considers the varying choices available for tops. If you want a darker sound from a guitar, use a dark top like walnut or wenge, if you want to brighten the sound, maple or zebrawood will do the trick. Zebrawood has a bit of a ‘twang’ to it, as does ash. This gives a very ‘country’ attack to notes played on an instrument using these woods.
If you want a ‘Tele’ sound, get an ash body. Ash has great bottom, and a scooped midrange, its sound is unique as a body wood.
Neck-through guitars require a close look at the ‘mains’ or outer laminates used in the neck. These are the largest pieces of wood in the neck, and they will have the greatest effect on the overall tone of the guitar.
Choices are usually mahogany or maple, though we have used wenge mains, and bubinga. Be careful; as dense woods like bubinga can greatly increase the weight of the guitar (see About Padauk, below).
Once again, mahogany provides a very warm and even tone, and maple is a bit brighter, and creates a stronger attack to each note. Start from there, and use the other, smaller pieces in the neck to skew the tone in the direction you want.
All Warr guitars have seven laminates in the neck, except for 8-string guitars, which have five. Neck laminates greatly increase the strength of the neck, and keep it from vibrating and wobbling during playing, which means more sustain, and better tone.
Even on a bolt-on guitar, the choice of neck woods will have some affect on the overall tone, but on a neck-through guitar, choice of neck woods is crucial as they produce the bulk of the guitars’ tone.
Fingerboard woods will also play a role on the finished product, especially with the wider fingerboards found on touch-guitars. The overall affect on tone is small, but noticeable. Wenge is a bit of an exception to the dark/light rule, and has some nice high-end to it. We consider it well balanced, and that is why it is used so much for our fingerboards. Purpleheart is pretty neutral, and while it looks nice, we don’t have a great fondness for its tone. Pau ferro has an excellent tone, but is not always available. Goncolo-alves also sounds very good, and has a unique look due to its grain and bright colors.
ABOUT PADAUK
We get a lot of requests for padauk due to the almost exclusive use of this wood (with wenge) in Trey Gunns’ instruments. It has a striking orange /red color when first cut, which slowly fades over time and UV exposure to a nice rich, brown. However, padauk is extremely dense, and can make even a small guitar quite heavy. Padauk should not be used if weight is an issue. We have an extra charge for padauk, as it is quite difficult to work with and can be difficult to find. For this reason, the build-time on padauk guitars is a bit longer.
The tone is very dark, and we usually suggest a small amount of lighter-toned wood in some part of the guitar to bring out the high end.
Bill Burke performing on his 8-string WarrGuitar.
