One day I was reading Leo Abrahams’ blog when I turned to my wife and said, “I want this guy’s life.” He had been describing the week’s activities, which might include a session with Brian Eno, live gigs with the likes of Bryan Ferry and Marianne Faithful, a solo guitar gig performing tunes from his instrumental records Scene Memory and Honeytrap, composing film music for The Lovely Bones, arranging strings for Ed Harcourt, or producing an up and coming band like Frightened Rabbit. Recently, with little time for his own music, he has managed to cobble together an EP of six-songs, Zero Sum. Though not a “guitar” record per se, it is chock full of guitar generated tones that will prick up your ears. I have interviewed the British musican before, most recently for a piece on using a laptop in live performance. Here we get a glimpse of the man’s beginnings, influences, and gear.
Tag Archives: looping
HEXE Guitar Electronics
I don’t know how Piotr Zapart’s creations have escaped my radar for so long, but thanks to a David Torn Facebook post I checked out the HEXE Guitar Electronics website. Torn mentioned the HEXE Revolver pedal, which looks to be the perfect glitch machine for creating Torn/Stian Westerus type glitch loops and much, much more. Hope to get one in for review, but until then, the website is full of great demo videos. Also, here is a link to an interview with Piotr .
There is no pricing on the website but you can contact Piotr at pzapart@gmx.net
Ibanez ES-2 Echo Shifter
In the morass of analog and digital delays on display at the January 2013 NAMM show, the Ibanez Echo Shifter’s ($150 Street) retro styling made it stand out from the crowd. An old school sliding fader to adjust delay time? —Cool! The Oscillation switch too aroused curiosity. It only remained to get one in and see if it was as interesting sonically as it was visually.
Pioneer: Günther Schickert
An early explorer of echo-based looping, Günther Schickert is not as well-known as, say, Robert Fripp, but deserves recognition as a modern guitar pioneer.
Real Time World Music
On April 28th, Nashville/Warsaw, Poland-based composer and performer Robert Bond and guitarist Denny Jiosa presented a program of music as part of the Zeitgeist gallery’s 2013 Indeterminacies schedule. It featured a real-time musical collaboration, via Skype, with a vocal group from Ma’anshan No. 2 Middle School from China. As the choir sang a traditional Chinese song interspersed with recited poetry, Bond and Jiosa improvised chords and beats.
Express Yourself: Mission Expressionator
Jazz Looping
Radiohead Meets Tiesto
Dino Blog: Zoom MS 50 G
My review of the Zoom MS-100BT MultiStomp Guitar Pedal with Bluetooth will be coming up in Guitar Player magazine in the next couple of months, but until then check ou J.A. Deane’s rundown of the MS-50 G. “Dino” is a titan of improv and live sampling and knows whereof he speaks.
These Zoom units offer a plethora of classic and zany effects that sound great and all fit in one small pedal space on your board or table.


