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 The Angel Guitar
In the early 70's I was fascinated by Indian classical music and also inspired by Indo-Jazz fusion.
I also really liked the sustain on guitar produced by using a echo plate so I set out to design an instrument which would alllow me to have all these sounds in one. The result was a series of instruments which explored the refinement of the principle, to a stage where the current angel guitar is a reliable and well used addition to my list of studio instruments.
It comprises two 'wings' each with 13 strings tuned as required using zither pegs and violing fine tuners. They are ususally in some familiar harmonic relationship, but I have experimented with microtunings for both sides. The central neck is a convetional wide necked 12 string guitar, with pickups on all three ranks of strings. There is also onboard EQ, compression/limiting and a line driver.
In practice the instrument can be played like a conventional guitar, in which case the sides produce a harmonic reverb with adjustable response and tuning, with a decay of about 3 - 5 seconds. Alternatively the sides can be played like a Hammer dulcimer or in many other percussive ways, with hands, fingers, metal ovbjects and so on, to produce a huge variety of sounds.
Additionally i found that orienting the soundbox the the wind at the correct angle produced a strong and enlessly varying Aolean effect, whcih I liken to fractal melody - which thanks to the pickups and electronics is very usable. This formed the backing for the CD of glissando pieces I did with Daevid Allen called 22 Meanings.
I have also used the instrument in a number of experimantal pieces and on the album Migration as a melodic and drone instrument. Because of the massive construction of the instrument it is very stable , which is fortunate, but the weight made me make a universal mount for it which allow it to be positioned isimply at any angle . This is expremely convenient for live performance.
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