The Bending Iron

Why the GuitarViol?

2011-07-31T10:25:00.000-07:00

"What the &%#* is that?" "Is that some sort of viola?" "Why not just take up violin?" "Didn't Jimmy Page do that?" "Why?"

Being the creator of a curious instrument called the "GuitarViol" (bowed guitar, guitar formatted viola...), you can imagine I get a lot of that. Bowed Guitar, it seems, is an oxymoron. But, that is also part of what makes it so damn fun! I never tire of seeing bemused faces whenever one of my rather heretical instruments appears in public. One of the questions I am asked all the time is "What made you want to do this?". Honestly, I don't know. Perhaps it's potent ADHD and being able to envision or care about things few others can see. All I knew was that I wanted this instrument so badly I had to do it. Apparently I was the one who would have to make it happen. Others opinions would do nothing more than seek to distort my vision. I knew exactly what I wanted. Part of it's appeal to me is a lot of people just could not understand, get their head around it, and probably thought I was just wasting my life on some instrument that, if it was a viable thing, someone would already be doing it. Even if there were once upon a time similar instruments like Viola da Gambas or Arpeggiones (few of today's musicians know about these), none of them were exactly as I required or would fit the vision of how I wanted to play it. After all, this was for my own musical expression and not anyone else's. I am amazed at how people want to criticize what they don't understand. It is almost like those who lack imagination take it personally or even are offended that I am doing this. How dare I create something other than a traditional guitar or violin! Others, many others, are just fascinated and even inspired. My initial inspiration came from my love of Guitar and Violin and I just thought it would be so cool to have a guitar formatted viola that I can approach from my native guitar fingerboard harmony point of view. An alternative stringed instrument I could understand. I did not want to be just another electric guitar shredder playing Paganini or Vivaldi with loud Marshall stacks. Rather, I love being able to play Nouveau Romantic, Classical Baroque themes with the unscripted improvisational mentality of a Blues, Rock, Jazz musician. If this is crazy, so be it. This is the flavor of my joy.

An understanding of my philosophy of music is essential to understanding the spirit of the instrument I created. First of all, I am a poor "utility musician". I am the wrong man for an ongoing top 40, wedding band, Jazz standard combo, "playing to the charts" (though I do read/write music). I just do not live in that universe without being bored and unhappy out of my scull. Just writing pop hooks is not what music is to me. That stuff is great and I respect those musicians for what they do. Really, I can't do what they do and remain sane. To me, music is far deeper. I don't write stuff to dance, cheat on wives by, for the homies in the hood, or to sell Viagra. That has it's place, just not where I live. To me, Music is a deeply spiritual and poetic expression of sound that words can not adequately express. Just as each day is different, each time I play even the same (or new piece) is different. A sonic painting that is ever developing and being drafted by the moment. The GuitarViol just happens to be an essential paintbrush (ingredient in the recipe) of my sonic artistry.

It seems that I live in a similar musical mentality as many film composers do. The GuitarViol has proven quite compatible to their needs for a "special musical paintbrush" . As such, it has taken me on a journey of advanced luthiery (the art and craft of stringed instrument building).
I never intended for that to happen (to become one of those bearded luthiers buried in saw dust), all I wanted was to have my instrument and play it. Ironically, I do not play it as often as I would like these days because most of my hours are consumed by building them for this clientele. (Yes, this is a good problem!) So, this "bowed guitar thing" some frowned at years ago is my livelihood. I must say, it is quite surreal going to movie openings with my family and hearing my creations (even accompanied by orchestras!) on a growing number of movie scores. I should point out that building exotic and expensive instruments is not a way to be rich. (Would you like fries with that?) However, I experience a satisfying quality of life few others experience and I am grateful for it. Why the GuitarViol? I don't know. I just can not imagine another life.....

Q&A with Erdem Helvacioglu

2011-07-02T10:28:00.000-07:00

Q&A with Erdem Helvacioglu - July's featured TogaMan GuitarViol artist!

Photo: Alanistanbul Tünel

Electronic Musician/Producer/Composer Erdem Helvacioglu has been making far reaching waves (sound waves that is!) on his TogaMan GuitarViol .... all the way from Istanbul Turkey. He has received numerous international awards including prizes from the Luigi Russolo and Insulae Electronicae Electroacoustic Music Competitions. Further, Erdem is now expanding his reach into the US markets.

Growing up in Turkey, how did you get your start in music and what initially drew you to it? Were your first encounters with traditional Turkish music or was it popular music?

My initial start to music was the popular music of the 80s. I have been a big fan of 80s hard rock bands and 80s synth-pop music. The big sonic world and the great production quality of the bands such as Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, U2, Van Halen have really inspired me to play the guitar and to think more about music technology. I remember writing letters to the fan clubs of various bands asking which pedals and fx processors their band members have been using for the album productions. It seems that I have always been a fan of interesting timbres and good sound quality. Although I have always heard traditional Turkish music in my life through radio and music television, it has never been my main interest until recent times.

What was your very first instrument?

My very first instrument was a cheap classical guitar. I have started playing when I was around 11 years old. My first electric guitar was a very bad Japanese copy of Gibson Les Paul.

In your work, you tend to embrace the best digital media has to offer while at the same time utilizing natural and manually induced sounds (as opposed to canned library sounds). Do you see sound design as something that goes hand in hand with musical composition?

I do not like using library sounds for creative music. I think they are good for jingle type mainstream styles but not as good for album work or interesting film music. Sound design, texture and timbre are one of the most important elements of contemporary music in my opinion. We can see this phenomenon everyday in our musical lives. The best example of this is the sonic difference between the current film, pop music and the works of the 50s and 60s. In today’s music world, a unique timbre is as important, if not more, as a good melody. I love the combination of a great playing on an instrument with the advanced sound design. For me that is the best of both worlds.

Is there a body of work (a particular album) that you feel best embodies your scope as an artist on all levels? How would you define your work if you only had 20 seconds to do so?

It is not easy for me to define my work since I compose in many different genres. But what I can say about it is that it is cinematic music with a combination of the latest innovations in sound design and hybrid instrument technologies. “Altered Realities” album is based on the unique use of live electronics with the special software Audiomulch and acoustic guitar while “Wounded Breath” is based on contemporary sound design and electroacoustic music on of which all sounds were created with softwares such as Metasynth, Soundhack and Audiomulch. “Sub City 2064” is a combination of sound design and hybrid instruments while the “Black Falcon” album is based on the subtle use of hardware electronics setup and world music.
I have finished recording three new albums that I am very proud of and excited about. “Resonating Universes” is a 60 minute work for ceng (Turkish harp), concert harp, electric harp and electronics. It has been released by the prestigious British record label Sargasso. The harpist on this album is the acclaimed Turkish harpist Sirin Pancaroglu. The other album “Timeless Waves” will be released in August by the Belgium label Sub Rosa. This is a 50 minute work based on the sounds of Togaman guitarviol, sine waves, various analog pedals and hardware fx units. The third album is a work that I have done with the American sound artist Bruce Tovsky. This is an album of Togaman guitarviol, electric lapsteel and live electronics. It is a very cinematic album and I think it presents the capabilities of the guitarviol and hardware-software electronics setup very well.

We live in a brave new world of technology. For instance, you and I became connected through the specialty instrument I built for you (The GuitarViol). Yet a world away (Istanbul and Los Angeles - and unbeknownst to each other at the time) we contributed tracks to the same video project! (Borderlands). What are the chances of that? It seems in some ways borders and distances have become nonexistent to some degree through cyber-technology and digital recording media. Global collaboration in this industry Matrix seems to have no borders. How important is physical location to you in the business?

It is really interesting and wild that we are on the same video project! Physical location in our business has lost most of its importance. With the Swedish composer Per Boysen, we have released the album “Sub City 2064”. We finished the whole album without seeing each other at all. We have recorded material in our own studios in Stockholm and Istanbul, then edited and mixed the whole project through the internet. But on the other hand, I think it is still important to meet people face to face before starting a big project. Also for certain projects and aesthetic like the contemporary film music and sound design you need to be at certain cities like London, NY, Los Angeles for some part of the whole year. That is where you will get your new inspiration and connections.

And finally, you play TogaMan GuitarViols. Where do these fit into your life as an artist? I imagine it is quite a conversation starter when you do live performances from Istanbul, Turkey to looping festivals in Santa Cruz California. How did the GuitarViol wind up on your radar and was bowing a guitar something you attempted before?

Togaman guitarviols have been the most inspirational instruments that I have played in a long time. I have always been interested in the sound of bowing and I have tried that on electric, acoustic and classical guitars, but have never been happy with the results. Togaman guitarviol has completely changed that. It is not just a great instrument for film, theatre music work but also works great in commercial music formats as a great alternative to actual quartet recording. Other thing that I like about the instrument is that it is not just a bowing instrument; it is also great for percussive sounds, responds to overdrive beautifully and has a great electronic part to it. I use high quality preamps like the Millennia STT-1 and Grace Design M-101 with it and the sounds I get are so transparent and amazing that I nearly do not need to do any eqing during the mixing stage.

•

Thank you for sharing with us and your time!
Jonathan Wilson
© 2011 GuitarViols Inc. www.guitarviols.com

For more information on Erdem:

www.erdemhelvacioglu.com

www.myspace.com/erdemhelvacioglu

Agent : Esin Uslu

esinuslu@gmail.com

Off Z Cuff

2011-03-18T13:37:00.000-07:00

Doomsday GuitarCello

2011-02-28T22:07:00.000-08:00

Nouveau Spartan with Stealth Frets

2011-02-04T07:46:00.000-08:00

Dave Bricker & the Dance

2010-12-23T13:45:00.000-08:00

Deep down in the land of Gators, Everglades, exotic boat harbors, clothing optional beaches, enticing Cuban cuisine, and “open palms” that welcome tourist dollars, Miami’s Dave Bricker is definitely a bird of another feather. He a professor at the Miami International University of Art and Design, a marketing consultant, a specialist in experiential web design, an avid tinkerer, Gypsy Jazz Guitarist, GuitarViolist, Sailor, and Novelist. His latest novel “The Dance” (and soon follow up entitled “Waves”) are published on his own label Essential Absurdities Press.

Guitar. Graphic arts. Sailing. Teaching. Tinkering. Now, these days you are authoring both fiction as well as "how to" self publish books. How and what age did these things develop in your life? Are you carrying on traditions passed down from your parents or were these pursuits merely serendipitous discoveries you made yourself growing up in the wondrous land of South Florida?

I've always been easily captivated by ideas and art forms. Typically, I get very interested in something, learn quite a bit about it and then it will either stick and become a permanent part of the things I like to do, or it will fade into the background chatter that informs my perspectives on the things that do stick. For example, I got really into fixing antique pocket watches for a few years after I bought one on eBay for $20 and wanted to understand how it worked. I have a whole collection of watch books, antique watch tools and a cabinet full of parts and a collection of watches that “almost” work, but at this point in my life, I'm not doing anything with them; there are just too many other things competing for my attention.

On the other hand, Guitar playing is something that grabbed me when I was 16 years old and just stuck to me. I play every day and love it.

Sailing is something I got pulled into when I was 18. I don't do much of it any more, but it's part of my life and perspectives. I'll definitely get back to that one, but tacking around the bay won't cut it. I enjoy passage-making; sailing more as a lifestyle than as something to do on a Saturday afternoon. Certainly, that interest was catalyzed by living in South Florida, but I'd have to go with "serendipitous discovery" rather than "tradition" to explain my inspirations. What my parents did was maintain an atmosphere where there was a lot of wordplay and a focus on curiosity and investigation; I wasn't expected to accept anyone's pat explanations at face value, so I grew up questioning, testing, discovering, trying things out.

As for the writing, when I got into sailing, there were great adventures and colorful people who came along with that. I knew by my early twenties that I'd have to write about this stuff one day, so I took notes and photos, paid attention and tried to live a life worth writing about. That approach got me into and safely back out of all sorts of wonderful trouble I might otherwise have avoided, and now, in my mid-forties, I guess that material has finally ripened to a point where I'm ready to start harvesting it.

Teaching…the fact that I became a teacher is one of the world’s greatest ironies. I learn best on my own with a book, but another one of the things I fell into that stuck was graphic design. I bought a Mac in 1987 (no hard drive, 1MB RAM) and never looked back, fell into the right jobs in the right places at the right times and have made my living as a designer ever since. I settled on that path after a gig one night when I had to put my guitar, my gear and my clothes on my patio to let the tobacco smoke stench dissipate. Bad graphic design can be as tasteless and poorly-rendered as bad music, but it smells better.

Anyway, I taught myself web design, flash, etc. and there were art colleges around who needed people to teach that stuff. I got the call, went in and eventually learned the craft from the academic side and got my MFA. I’ve been a teacher for ten years now—it still amazes me, but I try to push my students towards a certain kind of mischief and a certain kind of excellence.

You are also involved in various Gypsy Jazz ensembles that perform at irregular intervals. Tell us about your journey leading up to your involvement in Gypsy Jazz. Was it first a Rock-n-Roll thing (to get girls) as a kid or were you always more drawn to acoustic guitars?

As with other things in my life, I’ve gone through musical phases. I started off with hard rock (before they had “heavy metal”), but a few months later, I got disappointed with music I was able to play after a few months of practicing. As I’ve grown older, I’ve come to see the merits of simplicity and good composition, but as a 16-year-old, I thought, “if someone with ten weeks of playing experience can hammer these riffs out, this music must not be too sophisticated.” That led me to Jeff Beck, Mahavishnu Orchestra and eventually into jazz; George Benson, Wes Montgomery.

When I got into sailing, the electric guitar gave way to an interest in acoustic music that’s never faded. I still have my ’73 strat that I bought used in 1981, but the acoustics get played every day. I followed that into Leo Kottke, flatpickers like Tony Rice and David Grier and then one day, the Django Reinhardt sound captivated me. I was already in my later thirties, I think, and maybe I was just ready to “get” what he was doing? I’ve been stuck on the Gypsy Swing thing ever since; it’s a wonderful blend of the sophisticated poetry of jazz with that sound you can only get from an acoustic instrument.

You own a few hand built acoustic guitars that you were involved with designing (such as the Bauhaus, Wowhaus etc.) Tell us about them ...

Years ago, a friend stuck a JLD Bridge System in my cheap-o acoustic guitar (back then, the product was

called the ‘Bridge Doctor’), and the difference in volume, sustain and sound quality just blew me away. It’s a simple, adjustable wooden sound post that bolts into an acoustic guitar, makes a right-angle turn a few inches beneath the bridge and pushes against the tail block. I had to figure out why this totally counterintuitive device didn’t kill the sound of an acoustic guitar, but actually improved it. That led me into a friendship with its charismatic inventor, and also into years of reading and experimenting with acoustic guitars. I learned a lot about guitar acoustics and about the catch 22 of marketing; people won’t try something new if they already know they don’t like it. Some of the world’s top luthiers promised they’d try it, but I think it disproves too many useful, workable notions that otherwise provide a good thought model about how a guitar works. Easier to just look at it in the package and claim it can’t work than to install one and figure out why it does. Regardless, I learned a lot about tone woods, bracing systems, adhesives, building techniques and other aspects of lutherie which gives me a knowledge edge when it comes to working with guitar makers as marketing clients. How many ad agencies or designers know what a go-bar deck is?

I’ll leave guitar acoustics for another discussion, but my custom guitar designs grew out of opportunities I had to work with luthiers like Michael Keller and Michael Dunn who contracted me to build their websites. I commissioned instruments from them, and had the pleasure of designing some instruments and having them built by experts who were directed to have the final say in everything; I didn’t want to be one of those clients who tell their dentist what drill bit to use. I didn’t want to design something aesthetically beautiful that would compromise the sound of the instrument.

The Bauhaus guitar grew out of the philosophy that simple, functional objects can be beautiful and elegant. There’s no inlay or ornamentation on that guitar at all, but the asymmetrical body shape, offset sound hole, 4/2 peg head and fanned-frets provide a unique appearance. Michael Keller made the body of relatively unfigured, but well-quartered Brazilian rosewood, and the construction is somewhere between a ladder-braced Selmer guitar and an archtop; the top is heavily domed Engelman spruce. It’s extremely loud and punchy. The Wowhaus guitar is its evil twin; same dimensions as the Bauhaus, but X-braced and made from African blackwood. It’s a wonderful fingerstyle guitar.

Michael Dunn built me the “Double Whiskey” guitar. All of his Selmer-style configurations are named after Django tunes, and in spite how it fit my name, we decided “Bricktop” wouldn’t bode well for the instrument’s sound. Most guitarists have never actually played a Selmer, but they’re the loudest guitars on the planet—louder than a good archtop.

Dunn has taken the design of the original Maccaferri internal sound box to a new place, and it’s as he describes it—the higher you play, the louder you get. I asked him there was any reason the top seam had to be cut straight down the centerline, and sent him a drawing of a guitar based on angled woods. From there, I let him run with it; he’s a wonderful artist and designer and I left him with only that one little seed of an idea. The result is wonderful and unique. He saved serial number 503 for me, the same number as Django’s own Selmer guitar.

Were there any leanings towards industrial design and engineering? Sailboat design perhaps? Do you see a connection between what you teach at the college and your tinkering pursuits?

Everything I do either gets connected to the overall creativity machine or tossed. In another life, I might have studied industrial engineering, but probably would have tempered that with the same outside interests, or found my way back to the same balance. The great thing about teaching is it eats up only three days per week, and the great thing about design is you can work at home with a single computer. I’m not sure I’d have that time and freedom from too many other combinations of professions, so I’m happy with where I landed and will keep dabbling in all the other stuff. Whether it’s music, graphics, watches, writing or anything else, it’s all part of the larger process of design to me.

Tell us about your novel(s) "The Dance" and soon to come follow-up "Waves". Any similarities to your own life in these books? Do you picture Hanns, Tino, Anna, and Kalimba cast in a Sundance bound film treatment (perhaps in German & Spanish with English subtitles? ;-)

The Dance is based on a friend’s true story. In 1970, he went to Spain to film a documentary about bullfighting and to find a replacement for a destroyed flamenco guitar. The dramatic scene in the book where the original guitar is destroyed is the way it really happened. I took my friend’s story, started writing and just let it run. Every morning, I’d wake up and knock out a half-chapter or so, and it was like having a sequence of dreams; I just let the story flow. Characters invented themselves, said things I never intended them to say. I honored the story’s loose ends by letting them stay in the manuscript and the night before I wrote the ending, it came to me and everything got tied together. It’s a funny, colorful, philosophical, whimsical story with many different threads running through it. I can definitely see it as an indy film that would leave viewers feeling strongly one way or the other about it, but I’ll leave that project to someone who has the time and interest.

Waves is not really a sequel, but relays another true story of the same main character. This book takes place in 1976 on a big trimaran headed south to the Caribbean. It’s an experiential adventure story where you can taste the salt and really feel what it’s like to be at sea or anchored in a dangerous spot, but it’s also an allegory for our times. Our own paradise is full of people who are trying to box it up and sell it, charge admission to it, cut all the trees or pave it over. It’s a darker book than The Dance, but suggests some positive things about the human spirit as well.

There’s a third novel that calved off the 600-page original draft of Waves, and I’m about 200 pages into a memoir (sort of) of my own sailing adventures that has a working title of We Were Sailors. Excerpts at http://www.essentialabsurdities.com

You also are a champion of today's self publishing culture (much like the indie music's self hustle culture involves...I imagine...). Do you feel that many would-be authors have to fight harder to be noticed in the big haystack or do you think there has never been a better time with more opportunities for the cream to rise to the top?

A million books get published every year, mostly by independent writers. The majority are hastily written, poorly edited and tritely designed but there are a few gems in there. I just spent three days at the Miami book fair and it was a real flea market, but that’s how I felt about the internet when I first saw it in 1995. Where there’s mediocrity, there’s opportunity to create better standards and better work. My websites aren’t made any worse by the fact that most of the internet still looks like crap.

Fiction writers are the equivalent of painters. Selling art has always been tough and it always will be. You may be the next Picasso, but that doesn’t mean you’ll get discovered or should quit your day job. But it also doesn’t mean you should quit painting or writing or welding dinosaurs out of junk auto parts or whatever it is you do. Art transcends practical boundaries and that’s all fine until you confuse it with being a viable product or a commodity.

At the same time, artists have an opportunity to reach target interest groups in ways never before available. The traveling anvil shredders and the Hawaiian nose harp players and the opponents of the sandpaper industry all have their own little places on the internet. Hell, there’s even a forum for people who play the GuitarViol! Whether your offering is artistic or industrial, you can find communities to join, engage with and put your work in front of. That’s a great thing and it suggests that, at least for quirky people like me, record labels and publishing companies may be obsolete. Unless they can reach communities you can’t get to yourself, they don’t have much to offer.

There are many needles in the haystack, and I haven’t found a way to publicly differentiate myself from them yet, but I’m writing, having fun, doing the best work I can and like a good sailor, I’m enjoying the journey. If the books sell, I can use the money, but if they entertain a few Jonathan Wilson-type characters, I’m good with that. It beats not having written them. For now—and maybe it’s just the romantic in me—I’ll just keep on trying to do worthwhile, well-crafted work and that’s success in itself.

How does the GuitarViol fit into your apparent "Renaissance Man" lifestyle?

The GuitarViol is something different. The traditional guitar has a vocabulary of plucks and strums. You can choke a few other sounds out of it with taps and hammer-ons and pull-offs, but it’s fundamentally a percussion instrument. Adding the bow allows me to take all that left hand memory and leverage it towards adopting new musical vocabulary. The GuitarViol lets me play some of those sweet long tones, quote fiddles and cellos and just expand the way I think music. If you watch a symphony orchestra, all the bows move in unison; string players have their own way of attacking musical phrases. When a guitarist picks up a bow for the first time, that up-down picking technique just doesn’t translate very well, and there’s the matter of developing a feel for holding the bow at the correct angle. Without the left hand to worry about, the right hand technique comes along at a gratifying pace. It’s a joyful learning process. Spiritually, I like playing a piece of Jonathan Wilson art and engineering that goes beyond tradition to say, “here’s something new. I don’t care if anyone thinks it’s ‘legitimate’ or ‘proper’ or ‘how it’s supposed to be.’ It is what it is.” I have a nice Martin dreadnought, too and it’s a great instrument, but for me, it represents one pole on the stringed instrument spectrum and the GuitarViol represents the other. In between those two points is my musical playground.

The GuitarViol is something very few others have that telegraphs an important message that things can be done differently. It’s a simple reminder that we’re only stuck in this mess as long as we fail to imagine something new and different and powerful and positive. When I play the GuitarViol, someone invariably comes up and asks, “what is that?” The long answer to that question is a story worth sharing. [Click here to see Dave and Jonathan jamming on Bauhaus Guitar and GuitarViol @ 2008 Newport Miami Guitar show]

In addition to Mr. Bricker's apparent “renaissance man” lifestyle, he lives with his wife and daughter somewhere in the greater Miami area. You can learn more about his other activities at http://spotgrafix.com/

Willard MacGregor "Submersed Cathedral Legend"

2010-12-12T12:14:00.000-08:00

Clint Mansell - BLACK SWAN (2010) - Soundtrack Score Suite

2010-12-01T08:23:00.000-08:00

Medal of Honor - Suite - Music by Ramin Djawadi

2010-11-30T13:16:00.000-08:00

My assault on the instritution of education ...

2010-10-07T20:59:00.000-07:00

Do I have anything against education and learning? Absolutely not. Education as an institution, yes. But the same can be said about religion as faith versus as an institution. The latter camp I would say are the ones who do not "get it". It is like being able to recite the letter of the Bible chapter and verse without knowing it's true value or meaning. I'll be the first to tell you that there are many great teachers out there. In fact, I know some of them personally. But, they work under the rigid constraints of an educational system that was maybe somewhat relevant 60 years ago (at best). At worst, it overloads otherwise intelligent kids with meaningless (and useless) stuff that has no relevance to their lives. It is not the teacher's fault. It is the fault of a system which insists in some standards that have nothing to do with who the kids will become in life (or care to become). Calculus is great if you want to be an engineer or medical scientist. Is that really everybody? Education seems to operate under the smug assumption that a kid who scores high in all areas has more to offer than the kid who punts most but is a master in a special area. More prestigious colleges are offered to those who score high "across the bored" (intentional spelling) than those who score exceptionally in one area and poorly in others. This is like punishing a specialist for not being a generalist; like favoring the "jacks of all trades, masters of none" over true masters. It can be likened to the computer loaded exclusively with photoshop and Pro-tools programs being punished for being poor Excell and Quickbooks performers. It is like expecting those not loaded with the right software to perform things they were not "factory equipped" (God equipped) for and may never be no matter how hard they try. Why, we are not designed to be good at everything anymore than a phillips screwdriver is designed to be a good pair of pliers. The education system of politics and standards is anything but realistic. It rewards ones who are compliant with status quo and punishes those who have exceptional strengths in special areas. Independent thinkers, be damned.

I would like to impart my own experience: As a kid, I would spend hours in a library reading about things which interested me (and later became expert at those things-just not given an official degree for them). I did poorly at that which was prescribed. Why? I did not give a shit about what "they" wanted me to find important. (Ironically, college professors now consult me in my field). I did well at what I cared about and did not get good grades for it because it was not part of "their curriculum". My point? Do what matters to you and do it very well. Life is too important not to.

2010-06-29T21:11:00.001-07:00

Academia seems more concerned with overloading kids with stuff they will never use than stuff that really matters. Make damn sure they can solve high math but not invest wisely. Make damn sure they can work effectively in florescent light cubicles and make damn sure they do not pursue the arts or music; bettering our culture. In fact, frown on it in an austere fashion. Leave culture to the street thugs.Make students great cubicle workers willing to tackle big piles of meaningless paperwork. Dumb them down and bore them to death, make them compliant docile citizens who question nothing. Those who hate school will fall from the tree. Make them better consumers from their boredom. Just Bore the Poo out of them so they buy meaningless stuff for their empty souls. Make them feel inferior or stupid if they want real meaning. Induce depression to those that thirst for the "brush or the musical note". How dare they make priorities of such frivolous things. Make them feel so useless for their true callings in life, they'll wind up on drugs (or therapy at best). So, if they struggle with "core" curriculum, punish them by taking art and music away. In fact, if the budgets are cut, make sure to cut those things out first. After all, Roses can grow on the dark without sunshine, right?

Sarcasm Inc.

Why Beauty Matters....

2010-02-10T07:52:00.000-08:00

Hello all,

been a while! I have been swamped with so many details involved with running my GuitarViol business. This one is going to be short but will be linked to some worthwhile viewing.

A few weeks back, a friend (Figurative Painter Eric Armusik) turned me on to a series by philosopher Roger Scruton entitled "Why beauty matters". I have watched the series (originally aired on the BBC) over and over. Scruton hits the nail on head as to many of the feelings I have had about modern art, design, architecture. For some reason, I feel like an old soul pining for values found in pre 20th century art and music. I won't ramble. Scruton so eloquently puts all this in perspective in this series. Seriously, watch this 6 part YouTube series "Why Beauty Matters"

Enjoy !!

Niche: Thinking BIG by thinking small.

2009-10-01T10:11:00.000-07:00

I was just reflecting on how much I love what I do. For many years, I can not say this was the case other than the years I worked at different "day jobs" served as some sort of training. And when it comes to new products, it is funny how so many people jump right to the "mass market" "big numbers" mentality whereby everything has to be a "big deal". But, doing what one loves to do does not always mean it has to be a "big deal" in terms of numbers. The act of "doing what you love and are meant to do" is a Big Deal in and of itself. Being a (bowed guitar) builder (a very rare thing!), I have often heard the phrase "why don't you mass market it?" "open up a factory, or make them over seas?". The other comment I have heard over the years is "oh, it is very cool what you have, but it is a very small market...." (They are right but it is not a bad thing like they think it is). I'm no Harvard MBA but I am here to tell you that having a narrow market is indeed a good thing if viewed another way. If you have a unique specialty with a very tiny (but active) market and you are virtually the only one (or one of the few) in the world who does it (and are fortunate enough to have enough work coming in to happily work full time at it) then why not? I'll take that scenario over a position in a thankless corporate cubicle prison. Sure, there are moments (being self employed) when you go "what the hell did I get myself into?" and are wondering how you are going to pull it off during a lulled month. Living day to day, more often than not, it works itself out. There is a satisfaction which no corporate ladder rat race job can give when it does.

Not all niches are viable. For instance, I am not sure (could be wrong) if there is a world wide market to support custom neon glow tubular room surrounding Salamander sanctuaries. But hey, there may be a guy working at the pet store who's moonlight activity becomes a full time gig ..... Point is, that there can be true life satisfaction where it is not all about money or getting your idea in every Wal-Mart. There is a pride (soul satisfaction) in having a special rare thing that is yours. Limited market? Yep. More interesting? You bet! There is a great treasure to be had in "Limited Markets" "Niche Markets". (It would not be so "special" or "unique" if it were mass marketed, right?). Being a "specialist" can be a very special thing indeed. It all depends one's values.

We have found out in recent times that all the "safe, secure, steady" jobs are anything but that. Many are hitting the pavement competing for that same miserable slot on a rat wheel to nowhere. (Many safe 9 to 5 cubicle jobs have been farmed out to India. The cashiers at your favorite big chain hardware store have been replaced by machines that don't call in sick or demand benefits). Other greed based careers (don't get me started) have put our nation into the precarious state it is in today. (In California, one out of 10 people are without a job). Yet, what made our nation great in the past was our ability to invent cool new things of quality and have viable (unique) "village" businesses . But, these businesses have to be driven by passion for the product/service more than mere spreadsheet points or they are doomed form the gate. Sure, you do need to make a living (margins). But, if you are not excited/driven about your "thing" then why should your market be? We need to return to that "passion of excellence" spirit if we are to thrive. Otherwise, we are merely competing commodity for commodity, service for service. Apples to Apples. In this scenario, the cheap apple (not the better one) wins . On the other hand, the opportunities for niche markets have never been better. Why? The internet and word of mouth can make a small village business an international one if it is well promoted and leveraged. If there are enough people around the "global village" in your tiny market to keep you busy full time, what more would you want? I am just thankful for each day I get to do my thing for cool people around the world. So, What's your thing (niche)?

I will part with this quote from Theodore Roosevelt:

In the battle of life, it is not the critic who counts; nor the one who points out how the strong person stumbled, or where the doer of a deed could have done better.

The credit belongs to the person who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; who does actually strive to do deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotion, spends oneself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who at worst, if he or she fails, at least fails while daring greatly.

Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those timid spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.

Guitar Rape

2009-09-26T14:44:00.000-07:00

Hello folks! First blog. I am the guy who builds unusual bowed guitar like instruments calledTogaMan GuitarViols. You have likely heard my instruments used for many TV/Film underscores. (300, Watchmen, Day the Earth Stood Still, CSI Miami - CBS, True Blood - HBO etc.) I began this adventure many years ago when I read about the "Arpeggione" (a six string fretted cello tuned like a guitar and invented by Johan Staufer in 1823). My earliest prototype (early 1990's) was called the Electric Arpeggione. I never marketed or reproduced as I was soured on the idea after being disillusioned by working on it the through someone Else's hands and became frustrated. (I won't go into other personality, ethics issues other than to say, it did not work out) Pan ahead to 2001, I got the bug again after battling ergonomic issues on my first prototype. The next prototype was built by my hands exclusively and was completed in the fall of 2002. It was designed so that I could reproduce it. The problem I had was "What do I call it?".

So, What do I call this new Arpeggione/bowed guitar thing? How do I brand it? The problem was that an instrument initially inspired by Staufer and called the "Arpeggione" sounded to much like frozen Italian dinner. I thought of "Violatar" (Viola-Tar) but that looked too much like "Violator" on paper. "Viotar" was trade marked by a guy who had a guitar tuned violin (not the same thing). So, what would describe it? I came up with "GuitarViol" because it blended Guitar and Viol (like it's Viol, Viola Da Gamba ancestor centuries before the Arpeggione). Okay, so I went with GuitarViol. Sounds okay, right? Well, I produced these as "GuitarViols" for about 7 years. All is well. After all, the GuitarViol was a major feature of the movie 300 score. I have since found out that there are film libraries specifying "GuitarViol" for certain parts. Pretty cool, right?

Well, I am not a French scholar, but I have come to find out months ago that "Guitar Viol" translates to French as "Guitar Rape" or "Raping a Guitar". Now, if I added an "e" to GuitarViol making it "GuitarViole" it would translate better. **sigh** there you have it! The name is stuck now... go ahead, Google "GuitarViol".

So, what's up with the brand "TogaMan?" Well, that is another story... The problem with marketing an instrument like the GuitarViol is that most people can not get past the iconic violin or a guitar aesthetic. The concept is unthinkable to tradition bound snobs who view such an idea as "oh, how could you..". Many are blissfully unaware of the guitar family's past as a bowed instrument. In 15th century Spain (The birthplace of guitars) there were early guitar incarnations known as Lutes or Vihuelas. The Moroccans invaded and brought their Rabab bows along. Yes, they did the "Jimmy Page" bow trick to those early guitars and the first Viol (or Viola Da Gamba "leg viol") was born. There were references to "Vihuela de mano" (of the hand, plucked) or "Vihuela de arco" (of the bow). So, the idea is so old it is new. In today's indoctrinated view, it is either a "Fretted instrument" or a "String instrument". (When I Exhibited at the NAMM convention, I checked both boxes). That said, it is necessary to re-educate those who can not get past the concept of a Guitar-Viola morph with a history lesson.

The famous Veronese painting "Noces de Cana" (Biblical water to wine scene exhibited at the Louvre in France) features a Toga-Tunic wearing fellow bowing a viol in a Guitar playing stance.

There's a smoking gun and a visual history lesson. Well, my last name being "Wilson" sounds like sports equipment or next door neighbors on sit-coms. Plus, there are other luthiers named "Wilson". So, the "TogaMan" from the Noces de Cana painting is the icon ....

This makes me wonder: If I were to throw a Toga Party at the Louvre, would the Paris Police go after some nutty guitar bowing cult and arrest them for "Guitar Rape?" Could be an international scandal. They may not be as friendly as Inspector Cleuseau ...

Check out my Video "Bistro Blogs" http://www.youtube.com/guitarviols