The Chapman Stick totally rocks!!!
I’m learning a new music instrument here, The Chapman Stick. It’s so fun because on the stick you can play both bass, comping chords and melody lines at the same time. The stick has twelve strings divided into two groups of six and each group has its own set of electro magnetic pickups and output. In this recording I’m playing it that way, in dual split/stereo, so I can have different amplification assigned to each side. What you hear is an improvised live looping session using the stick to feed the software looper Mobius hosted in Apple Mainstage. No fancy PA or studio – just the stick, a laptop and a MIDI control pedalboard.
The Stick was invented by musician Emmet Chapman in the late sixties to be used by himself as his “custom instrument”. However, many folks that heard him play also wanted sticks so Emmet started manufacturing in -74. I feel honored having an instrument actually built by the inventor. Thank you, Emmet!
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Here’s where you can read more about The Chapman Stick.
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Per really neat – such a great instrument, if I wasn’t up to my ears in instruments it would be on my list maybe still should be. Dig the feel of slight reggae here.
Jim