3rd bridge
The 3rd bridge is an extended playing technique used on some string instruments (notably the electric guitar), that allows a musician to produce distinctive timbres and overtones that are unavailable on a conventional string instrument with two bridges (a nut and a bridge). The timbre created with this technique is close to that of Gamelan instruments like the bonang and similar Indonesian types of pitched gongs.
Third bridge instruments can be custom-made by experimental luthiers (as with guitars designed and played by Hans Reichel); modified from a non-third bridge instrument (as with conventional guitars modified with a pencil or screwdriver under the strings[1]); or may take advantage of design quirks of factory-built instruments (as with the Fender Jazzmaster, which has strings that continue from the "standard" bridge to the tremolo piece).
Perhaps the best-known examples of this technique come from No Wave artists like Glenn Branca and Sonic Youth. The 3rd bridge technique has a physical connection with Pythagoras' monochord, because both function with the scale of harmonics. Also many non-Western musical scales and musical instruments share these consonant just pitch relations.
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[edit] Physical explanation and examples
On a standard guitar, the string is held above the soundboard by two nodes: the "nut" (near the headstock) and the "bridge" (near the player's right hand on a standard guitar). A player sounding a note on a standard guitar vibrates a single portion of the string (between the nut and the bridge, or between their fretting finger and the bridge).
In contrast, a third bridge divides the string into two pieces. When played at one part of a string, the opposed part can resonate in a subharmonic of the struck part, depending on a predictable mathematical ratio of the strings' lengths.[2] On harmonic positions the created multiphonic tone is consonant and increases in volume and sustain because of the reciprocal string resonance. The sound is comparable with the sound of bells of clocks.
In the 1930s, Harry Partch experimented with this technique on an instrument he called a Kitara that had movable glass rods. In the late 1960s, Keith Rowe made occasional use of third bridge guitars, inspiring a slew of experimental guitarists (notably Fred Frith to use prepared guitars, inspired by John Cage's technique of the prepared piano. Classical guitar duo Elgart & Yates wrote a small book Prepared Guitar Techniques in which the technique is described and used in the added written musical piece, although not defined with the term 'third bridge' yet. From the 1970s, Hans Reichel's self-made and modified acoustic guitars sometimes featured third bridges.
From the late 1970s, Glenn Branca adopted Partch's theory and used amplified string tables for some of his symphonies.[3] After being trained in the Branca orchestra, Sonic Youth applied their own guitars with screwdrivers, mainly in their early years. On their debut EP and the album Confusion is Sex this technique is often used. Afterwards Bradford Reed developed the Pencilina. Reed plays mainly with drumsticks hitting the strings as well.
Yuri Landman invented the Moodswinger in 2006 to explore the possibilities of this technique. Landman's technique is partly based on muting the opposed part while striking, causing a sound reminiscent of a backwards-recorded sound. Landman published the essay 3rd Bridge Helix - From Experimental Punk to Ancient Chinese Music & the Universal Physical Laws of Consonance, in which he clarifies the relation between this prepared guitar technique and the consonant overtone values present in non-Western scales especially the musical scale used on the Ancient Chinese musical instrument the guqin.[4] In 2009 he developed a simplified DIY-version of the Moodswinger, called the Home Swinger. He gives workshops at festivals and venues in Europe and the US, where participants can built their own Home Swinger.
The Boston based noise rock band Neptune made different types of experimental third bridge guitars employed with drumsticks, functioning as a third bridge. Also the band These Are Powers is using this technique on their bass guitar.
[edit] Without the 3rd bridge
The sound effect can also be achieved without an additional 3rd bridge or extended tail piece. If the player presses on a fret (not behind it, as with standard fretting) and strums the string at the head side, the resonance comes also through. Again, on harmonic positions the result is much louder and clearer than on the inharmonic fret positions. The 5th, 7th, 12th and 19th fret generate low frequency humming overtones along with the complementary tone, which is usually played in the regular way. This playing technique causes a smooth round multiphonic sound. By muting the resonating part and letting it go after the pluck it sounds like an inverse recorded sound. On all other positions the tone is more undefined and comes with higher pitched lower volume overtones. With heavy distortion these tones can also become more clear.
[edit] Bowing behind the bridge
The technique is also widely used in many modern classical works on bowing instruments.The extended technique involves in that case bowing the instrument on the short length of string behind the bridge. The tone is very high and squeaky. By playing the instrument at a string part behind the bridge, the opposed part starts to resonate. The tone is louder at harmonic relations of the bridge string length. On violins the tone can be very high, even above our hearing capacity. Depending on the instrument the pitch of the tones may or may not be perceived (cellos and double basses are more likely to produce recognizable pitches because of the longer length of their strings). This technique is used extensively in Krzysztof Penderecki’s Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima. Another example is found in Ferde Grofé’s Grand Canyon Suite where bowing behind the bridge in a violin cadenza represents a donkey’s braying.
[edit] Guitars commonly used for this effect
- Fender Jazzmaster
- Fender Jaguar
- Teisco guitars with tailed bridges
[edit] References
[edit] Further reading
- www.ezinearticles.com/?Adding-a-Twist-to-the-Electric-Guitar&id=1610340 - An article describing the technique at ezinearticle.com
[edit] External links
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