Early protos
I made my first instrument in 2000. This was the black box
with the movable 3rd bridges on it. I made 9 different proto
instruments in the period 2000-2005.
2000 Š The black 3rd bridge zither
2001 Š The red triangle table harp
2002 Š The oak Moodswinger Proto
2003 Š Robocop
2004 Š The blonde 3-string stereo guitar
2004 Š The green 7-string 3-way guitar
2004 Š The spring drum
2005 Š The 72-string drum guitar
2006 Š The Dive Bomber, blue tremolo guitar
Many of the instruments donÕt work well, are way too massive
or big to carry around easily and most ideas are worked out better on the
official releases I did with the bands. Most of the protos consist of found
metal objects and fence wood and cheap guitar parts I received from Valentijn,
other friends and bands that had broken a few Squiers on stage.
The black 3rd bridge zither
The Black 3rd bridge zither is in sound pretty
equal to the Moodswinger. The
system works a bit different and has a gentle starting point, but eventually
the Moodswinger seemed the best solution so far. Most probably I will make
future instruments where the initial idea will be put in. The Moodswinger works
with a rod, the black box has individual movable metal eyes for each string
individually functioning like a 3rd bridge.
The red triangle table harp
The red harp triangle was a try out to make a string field
with a movable bridge to alter the scale. So the rod is on this instrument not
the 3rd bridge meant for plucking behind the bridge, but it
functions like a capo or a slide. An idea I never felt very comfortable about
after finishing, it can be done on any string field with a drum stick as well,
I guess.
The oak Moodswinger proto
The Oak 3rd bridge zither is what later would
become the Moodswinger. The Moodswinger is lesser in weight and looks more
designed, but both systems sound the same en function the same. The Oak
instrument has hand made worm wheel tuning pegs on which IÕm pretty proud, but
the regular industrial pegs work more accurate, save time en weight lesser en
take lesser space on the instrument.
Robocop
Robocop was a try out, mainly because I was bored and I had
a lot of guitar parts. Not really knowing what to do with the parts I made a
guitar with some extra fixed bridges. The shape of the body was based on the
jaguar, but drawn from my head, so very incorrect in its ratios. The idea of
the off-waist teardrop shape was not yet in my head. The instrument IÕm
building for These Are Powers
has some similarity with this one.
The blonde 3-string stereo guitar
The blonde 3-string stereo guitar. This is the first instrument
with the rotated pickups like on the Springtime Guitar. I had written a song
ŌDomestic BoxesÕ for Avec-A and we had a Paradiso show, but I couldnÕt sing and
play the guitar simultaneously, because the different parts didnÕt fit logical
into each other. The bass line was almost equal to the guitar line and played
on only one string, so the idea came up to build an instrument where both parts
could be played by one person.
The green 7-string 3-way guitar
The 3-string instrument worked very well for the Avec-A
song. The sound of the multiple output guitars is very blasting. So I got
enthusiastic to take it to another level and create a 3-way output system. Similar
in idea, this is the proto of what later would become The Springtime for Blood Red Shoes.
The spring drum
The spring drum is again an instrument I started with not so
much ideas in advance. I had a large fitness spring and I wanted to amplify the
sound of it and I had found a large amount of meranti wood on the street
suitable to make a cross underneath the spring functioning as a table
instrument. Leon is currently
using this instrument for a song with his band Blues Brother Castro.
The 72-string drum guitar
The 72-string drum guitar is based on the sound of the
symphonies of Glenn Branca. I had heard of his mallet guitars for years and
wanted to make my own mallet guitar. I donÕt know the exact tunings Branca
uses, but I thought they are mainly composed out of octave pairs, so I built a
12 bar system with all 12 notes divided over multiple octaves. I didnÕt make
one table, because 12 bars are handier to carry. The instrument comes with a
table. The bars hang in this table. The instrument has the same tuning system
as the oak 3rd bridge zither. On the YouTube films of Liam Finn in Berlin and Amsterdam, you can
see him playing on one of the twelve bars. His Tafelberg Drum Guitar is a pocket version
of this instrument and sounds somewhat similar. The Desu Drum Guitar for HEALTH is an improved stereo version of
one of the 12 bars. I often use one of the bars on stage performances with the Home Swingers.
The Dive Bomber, blue tremolo guitar
The tremolo guitar was a tryout instrument. The pitch string
idea is later used in Jad Fairs Bachelor QS. I
often use this instrument at the Home Swinger performances
as my solo instrument.
Information for festivals and event bookers:
Together with Julie Tippex I organize exhibitions about
these instruments where they are being presented to the audience and additional
I give a lecture about the development.
Go to list of my instruments
Go
to the table of contents
Back to home