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.The
Nucleus of Creation: Further Thoughts on Tapping...
When
I was approached to write this article on the Stick/NS Stick,
I had to think for
a minute; What should I write? What should I say?
Every experience
is different yet similar. I’ve already done articles
with regards to
how the Stick® changed my way of creating music,
with it’s liberating
technique of both hands on the fretboard, fingers
spread out, parallel
to the frets, crossing over from opposite sides
in a collaborative
dance of articulation and execution. That article,
titled “Thoughts
On Tapping”, was evenutally published on the Stick®
website.
.
I’ve written how
I had a dream about the Stick®, how I didn’t know what
it was but that
I knew how to tune it and play it, and that the very next day
I saw a Stick®
being wielded by Tony Levin on Peter Gabriel’s “Secret
World“ concert video.
.
Perhaps I could
write about how the love of the Stick® led me to create,
produce, and host
a podcast called Strada-Spere Radio which showcased
the music of the
Stick® family of instruments. Fellow Stickist Shane Carey hosted a
few of the latter episodes. I even produced a couple episodes
in Spanish. That
podcast introduced me to so many varied styles of
Stick® driven
music from across the globe. I even made a few friends in
in the process.
I could write about
the time when Don Schiff called me as I was in the
middle of recording
an episode of my podcast. Rather than edit out the interuption, I answered
the phone, but alas was not able to get the audio
from his end. He
had called to talk about recording rates. I had previously
interviewed him
for the original Strada-Sphere Radio website which
spawned the podcast.
In fact, I have
had the honor of interviewing several amazing Stickista like
Diego Souto,
Fergus
Marsh, Irene Orleansky, Jim Kam, Steve Adelson,
and Manny Tau...webmaster
of the officially sanctioned “Stickist” forum.
What about my 1st
internet purchase of long, long ago, which was Trey Gunn’s debut
solo album “One Thousand Years”? He played Stick® back
then and remains
one of my biggest musical influences. I can write about
how that album changed
my perceptions about being an artist. I can write something about that.
I can write about
conversations with Emmett concerning the experience of
playing my 1st solo
Stick® gig at the Orlando Museum of Art.
How it impacted
not only myself, but the audience as well. We spoke about
creating a show
that involved the interactivity of resonant, metallic sculptures
that would vibrate
sympathetically as I played, becoming my own "orchestra”
Each sculpture would
light up when it “sang” as I stood amongst them like
a gardner tending,
singing to, and with, the giant, metallic plants of his
sonorous garden.
We spoke about the weird looks I would get when I 1st
started playing
Stick® around town (not too many Stickist here in Orlando)
and, as many a Stickist
can attest to, how often it is met with wonder. I have
stated, half jokingly,
that I hope the sense of wonderment never ceases as
I am afraid that
if it ever does, the audience may be gravely aware of how
long I truly have
to go in becoming a competent Stickist.
The Stick® led
me on many a jaunt down jubilant roads. How about that?
Should I write about
that? Fellow Stickist Jeremy Birdsall and myself,
along with drummer
extraordinaire Reed Hayes, formed BL@H.
An all instrumental
and completely improvised live musical experience
featuring Jeremy
on 12 Grand Stick®, sitar, bass, piano and synths, Reed
on acoustic and
electric percussion, world precision, and myself on 10
string Stick®,
piccolo bass, and Native American Flutes. We changed
our name to StickCentric
and recorded a tune that was featured on the
Guillermo Cides
produced “Stickistas Dos” interactive album.
Jeremy and I also
put together a show called “The Chapman Stick®: Guitar
or...What?” as part
of the touring exhibit “Guitar: The Instrument That rocked
The World” during
it’s residency at The Orlando Science Center. Emmett
himself, along with
his brother film maker and producer Dan Chapman,
blessed us with
allowing us open our show with the trailer for “Emmet”,
a documentary about
the life of Emmett Chapman and The Stick produced
and directed by
Dan.
Maybe I’ll just
write about, that, after years of playing the Stick®, and bass,
I came upon an opportunity
to acquire an NS Stick® in a trade in 2017.
I had played this
very NS on several occasions as it belonged to a good
friend of mine,
who would often bring it to gigs with the sole purpose of
allowing me to play
it onstage. I would, but only as an extended range bass
and not straying
too far from conventional techniques. That wonderment
factor on full effect.
But the second time around, once I became the new
owner and was able
to forge a bound with the instrument, I began to realize
in myself a new
sense of courage as a musician. Well, perhaps “cockiness”
is a better description.
I decided to bring the NS on shows and play it only
on songs that needed
a low B, leaving my 5 and 6 string basses at home.
This accounted for
a whopping 3 songs of my band Jupiter Groove’s setlist.
The plan was to
play bass for about 80% of the time and the NS for the other
20%. What happened
was that I ended up playing the NS for about 90% of
the time. The tone
drew me in. That growl and clarity was amazing.
Still playing it
as an extended range bass, I did manage to venture into
augmenting my bass
lines with punctuations of slurs, trills, and some easier
2 fingered tapping
in the upper register to punctuate the chordal progressions
of the song. And
again people would “ooh” and “ahh” at the strange “bass”
I was now donning.
Just bringing it on stage was enough. In time I grew more
comfortable with
the NS as it was intended to be; a multi-modal instrument.
But there was more.
So much more.
.
In the following
email correspondence between Emmett and myself,
I speak upon, with
a certain level of reverence, of the impact that the
NS Stick® has
had on me.
30 June '19 - Juan
Leõn to Emmett:
Once again I
feel like a new musician! As though I discovered a secret hue for my ever
expanding canvas. It goes beyond the bass for me, and in some ways,
beyond my (10 string) Stick as well. It truly is a multi-mode instrument.
Once I adjusted the truss rod to get that amazingly low action and
straight neck profile, the instrument came to life for me. Ergonomics is
a big deal for me, in the studio, on stage, at work, in my office, car,
you name it. Perhaps it is the marriage of two studies of the human aspect
reflected in the design. These two studies are the scientific, or practical
self, and the creative self. The scientific side comes into play with it's well
thought out placement of ideas, like chess pieces on a board which enables
one to be both the defense and offense as any good chess player should
be. The creative
side speaks of taking the scientific experience and bending it beyond the
perceived. The NS/Stick's design is that vision made flesh which enables
one to fully morph into the total artist where the creative self is allowed to
speak and converse, effortlessly, with the scientific self. And this is where
the magic and (dare I say it?) the mystical aspect of the NS/Stick resides
for me. It has awakened in me, in my particular spirit and being, the subconscience
and self awareness of being a musician. What you and
Ned have done with the NS/Stick is design and create a wonderful balance
that has allowed me to connect with my artistic, subconscious self. The
mathematics of music, with it's spacial relationships, it's cycles,
vibrations, subdivisions and consistent order can now be manipulated to
great effect by the marriage of science and creativity. There is more
to the wood and metal here." ..
That email sums
it up for me. I suppose I could have just presented the
above correspondence
and left out the personal “history”, but I tend to
be loquacious even
in the written form.
Over the years of
being a Stickist, since 1st buying a used polycarbonate
10 string in 2005/6,
10 years or so after my “dream”, and recently as an
NS Stickist, I have
been exploring the labyrinths of my creativity.
As an artist I often
wonder if my wanderings are in vain.
Do I want to find
the path in this maze that leads me to my goal?
Or do I continue
traversing this landscape in search of the exit that,
I presume, would
lead me to that desired haven of musical revelation
where I can feel
accomplished, content?
No. I choose to
wander. For in that wandering I find wonderment.
And that wonderment
is the nucleus of creation.
.
Yeah, that’s it.
I’ll write about that.
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