I agree with Eric. I'll try and answer the questions too!
First, is this Lucier piece available now? BTW, I never was able to get that
Henry "Music for a Door and a Sigh" since it is now out of print (sigh).
In a message dated 12/27/2000 4:15:31 PM, celesteh@... writes:
>i was listening to Alvin Lucier's _Music on a Long Thin Wire_ and i got
>the idea that it might be possible to run the output from MOTM modules
>down guitar strings (Solder the tip of a plug to an aligator clip attached
>to the string by the guitar head, solder ground to a aligator clip
>attached to the bridge) and that perharps the fluctuating signal along
>the wire would cause the magnets in the pickups to bounce around and thus
>generate a signal out through the guitar's jack.
>
>Questions:
>
>Will this hurt the MOTM?
Probably not, but bridge and the string are electrically connected, so you
will be shorting out the output from the MOTM which is never a good idea.
>Will this hurt the guitar?
Naw. Guitars are hard to hurt. Mic stands, sliding off from leaning against
amps, and throwing them at speaker cabinets are tried and true ways to hurt
guitars.
>Could this harm somebody holding the guitar? (i was going to play some
>led zepplin but i got a huge shock when i touched the strings!)
Serves you right too <grin>! Especially if it was "Stariway to Heaven"
Actually you can get nasty shocks if you get between guitars and other
electrical stuff like mics. It's best to touch the tuning machines against
the mic and watch for arcing to avoid getting zapped. If there is arcing,
change the position of the ground switch on the guitar amp.
>Should I put a resistor in here someplace?
>Is there a way to electrically seperate the current running down the
>guitar string from the MOTM so that doing something weird like dropping
>the guitar in a bathtub full of saltwater would not hurt the MOTM? Or
>would it not get hurt anyway?
>
>Is this how spring reverb works? (now with string reverb!)
The reverb PU apparatus is kind similar to the guitar string PU, but the way
you get the mechanical information into the guitar string is typically by
plucking it (with ones fingers or finger nails), picking it (plastic picks,
finger picks, metal picks, coins, etc.), bowing it (thanks to Jimmy Page --
but that Spinal Tap bit with the violin is priceless) or an E-Bow (which is
more germane to this question). The information is delivered to a spring on a
reverb unit via a transducer (can anyone comment on this transducer here? I'd
like to know more about one for an idea similar to what Celeste is asking
about) -- the transducer turns the electrical information into mechanical
information much like a speaker does.
Many years ago, I bought a Chapman Stick from a guy who had a reverb made
from piano strings (the "harp" part of the piano) -- a tuned reverb unit! It
sounded great! So this must be possible.
I think an E-Bow is some sort of oscillator which generates a magnetic field
which in turn induces the guitar string (or other magnetic objects) to vibra
te. What I'd like to see is a device like an E-Bow which will take a line
level output, and generate a magnetic field at that frequency, and then build
a multi string reverb device around it. I recently saw Trey Gunn (with King
Crimson) use some device which I believe to be something like I've described.
He would hold it in front or behind the neck of his "guitar" at certain
positions which gave interesting feedback type sounds.
You might also try applying a speaker and microphone to an acoustic guitar
(or better yet an autoharp). Also try physically playing the spring reverb
unit with felt tip mallets (at a low level) and talking into it to see if
that's interesting. I like running sounds through the reverb with no dry
level in the mix -- really cheesy 50s sci fi stuff!
Hey Ken! I think The Prisoner series is available in sets of three. So that
would make six total -- if it's $28 for three episodes, that's pretty good!
JB