The Chapman Stick is one of the last musical instruments designed, in chronological order, to have enjoyed widespread popularity. A specific playing technique was developed for this instrument, responding to a specific technical and performance need (wider polyphonic possibilities for traditional plucked instruments). Furthermore, the development of this technique inevitably led to new timbre articulations (even for traditional instruments).
The composer's and performer's timbral vocabulary has thus expanded to meet new compositional needs. Once again, the invention of new instruments is a response to a creative need.
The Chapman Stick is a string instrument designed by the guitarist Emmett Chapman in the early 1970s. He intended to create an instrument specifically designed for the two-handed technique called tapping, which he claims to have invented in 1969; however, this is a question that deserves further investigation. In reality, the tapping technique can be found in embryonic form already in music. Niccolo Paganini (1782-1840), but has even more ancient origins.
In traditional Turkish music it is performed on a typical instrument called bağlama
In more recent times we find it in the performances and compositions of the Brazilian guitarist Paulinho Nogueira.
When in the nineties in an interview he was asked if he knew Eddie Van HaleHe said he didn't know this guitarist but he had known this technique since the 50s.
Jimmie Webster (1908-1978) made recordings in 1950 using the two-handed tapping technique he described in his 1952 “Touch Method for Electric and Amplified Spanish Guitar.” Webster attended a demonstration by the guitar pickup designer Harry deArmond (1906-1999) who, to demonstrate the validity of his product, performed some two-handed legato techniques. From here, Webster came up with the idea for this technique, which was used to promote these pickups mounted on historic guitars. Gretsch.
Even the jazz guitarist Barney Kessel (1923-2004) gives a brief demonstration of this in a 1964 video
Meanwhile in 1973, therefore before the first stick was marketed in 1974, Steve hackett he uses it in the song Dancing With The Moonlit Knight, taken from the album Selling England by the Pound of the genesisHackett's tapping technique actually involved the plectrum hitting the string on the fretboard rather than a finger of the right hand.
Tapping finally became popular among string players from 1977 onwards thanks to the song Eruption composed and performed by Eddie Van Halen.
Returning to the debate over the origins of this technique, Chapman himself admits that there were guitarists who used it before him. But he also clarifies that he wasn't aware of its existence at the time, and that previous techniques required the right hand to be moved from its traditional position toward the fretboard and the playing of only one note at a time. With his technique, however, both hands are perpendicular to the strings and permanently positioned on the fretboard, facing each other and both ready to strike multiple strings simultaneously. Indeed, this way, the technique is definitively perfected.
Much attention has been paid to the birth and development of the tapping technique because, as already pointed out, it is the real reason why the stick was invented.
In summary, the aim is to extend the instrument's polyphony, to be able to simultaneously play bass lines, harmonies, and complex melodies on a single instrument, similar to a piano or organ. It also facilitates virtuosic passages characterized by very wide intervals. In reality, it is the evolution of the legato technique, extended to the fingers of both hands playing simultaneously on the keyboard. The string is made to vibrate, no longer by plucking it with the fingers or a plectrum, but by striking it vertically and sharply directly with the finger responsible for setting the pitch. This hammering of the fingers directly on the string, causing it to hit the frets of the keyboard, produces a sound with a much more pronounced attack and a greater noise component in its attack transients. This timbre is one of the distinctive characteristics of this technique, along with the typical legato sound; many modern composers have greatly appreciated this peculiarity. Tapping, in its manual practice, instinctively favors a repeated use of melodic-rhythmic modules, a characteristic that finds ample space in modern compositional techniques.
Hence the need to create a tool designed to best support this technique.
Specifically, the instrument is spartan. It consists mainly of a very wide fingerboard, a wide headstock to accommodate the many tuners, and an adjustable bridge to secure the strings at the back of the instrument. The strings are divided into two sections, one for the high register and one for the low register. They are mirrored, with both lower strings in the middle of the instrument.
Being a solid-body instrument, meaning it has no sound box, it requires an electromagnetic or piezoelectric system to detect the string's vibration. This circuitry is divided into two independent parts, one for each string section. Consequently, the stick requires two separate signal amplifier lines.
The instrument is held by a support positioned on the back of the instrument which is inserted into the belt of the trousers (Belt hook) and by a collar which goes under the performer's right armpit.
Before the final version Chapman went through several experiments:
"It took a long time to set up my guitar to allow me to play this new style. For the first year, I played on a guitar I built myself…
…in 1970 I built a much smaller version of my current Stick…between 1970 and 1974 I made five prototypes, each one increasingly resembling the current one."
In 1974 the Stick Enterprise who marketed this instrument. Among the first admirers of this instrument was the jazz pianist and keyboardist Joe zawinul, founder of Weather Report who bought one of the first Sticks from the fledgling company. After a while, it was seen in the hands of the then young and talented bassist of Zawinul's band: Alphonso JohnsonAmong the first buyers we also find Tony Levin, probably the most famous performer of this instrument. Levin used it as a session musician with all the major artists he collaborated with: Peter Gabriel, King Crimson, Laurie Anderson, Pink Floyd and many others.
Subsequently, this instrument was increasingly marketed thanks also to the fame of the first performers.
The Stick traditionally features humbucker pickups, specifically produced for Stick Enterprises and protected by a patent. The photo shows the dual polar pattern, one of which is height-adjustable. There's a humbucker for each of the two string sections, and each individual humbucker has its own volume control. Each of the two sections requires separate amplification; the instrument's audio output is a stereo connector, and a special cable splits the two signals for separate amplification of the two string sections.
New models can be equipped with humbuckers with active circuitry upon request. This means the signal is preamplified before being output. This type of pickup allows for further reduction of electromagnetic interference, a higher output signal, and a different frequency response. Each string section has a potentiometer to adjust the tone.
Finally, upon request, a system that uses a pair of single coils for each string section can be mounted on the instrument as a further alternative.
Let's listen to the sound of the stick
Stick Enterprise has in its catalog svarious models, the most popular are:
12-string
10-string
NS/Stick
High Stick
8-string Stick Bass
Various tunings are possible:
Here is now a list of the main performers of this instrument:
Emmett Chapman its creator.
Greg Howard, whom I consider to be perhaps the greatest performer of this instrument. His technique and expressive abilities are exceptional.
Bob Culbertson He is another exceptional stick virtuoso.
Kevin Keith leader of the Ejeband group
Surely the most famous stickman is Tony LevinHis fame is due, in addition to his skill, to the fact that he has played for many pop artists. One of his most notable performance characteristics is his extensive use of effects.
Other excellent performers are Jim Lampi and Guillermo Cides, Argentine who founded the Stick Centerr in Spain.
In Italy we find the lamented Virna Splendore Recently passed away. A good performer, she was the one who popularized the stick in our country.
There are certainly many other talented stick artists, some of them Italian. I've only mentioned the most internationally renowned, so please don't be offended if you or one of your favorites is left off the list.
Conclusions
In conclusion, I'd like to emphasize the relative "youth" of this instrument, which means that, in my humble opinion, it's still in its infancy. Its popularity is still very limited; it's primarily being introduced to bassists thanks to the fame of Tony Levin, and to a lesser extent, guitarists. It's important to emphasize how difficult it is to learn and play, and how limited the number of musical styles in which it has been used so far. This means that the Stick remains a relatively unknown instrument. Furthermore, there isn't yet a vast repertoire of compositions, and, to be honest, among those that exist, there aren't many truly remarkable ones.
Another element that can be grasped by analyzing the repertoire is that it is too compositionally tied to a minimalism "like Steve Reich" so to speak. Probably, this is strictly linked to the very particular performance technique. I am aware that with these statements of mine I will attract a lot of criticism from the purists of this instrument but the thousand-year history of music has taught us that the virtuosos of an instrument have only in a few cases been able to write masterpieces for it (Paganini, Chopin etc.); we have always had to wait for great composers to write for them, spontaneously or on commission.
I cannot predict the future developments of this instrument, but certainly at present, for its growth it is necessary to find more great performers (the current ones are still few in number) and, even more so, composers capable of writing an important repertoire for it.
