The Halyards
The starting point of this research is the halyard in the wind—the sound of a rope striking against the aluminum masts of sailboats.
When moored in large numbers in a marina, these sailboats create an intoxicating bouquet of sounds.
How, then, can we reproduce the sharp attacks of the rope, the various metallic responses of the mast?
And how can we render the wave-like, rhythmic offsets of a whole forest of halyards?
The register of electric guitars can provide convincing answers.
The dry sound of Fender Telecasters and Stratocasters is particularly interesting, but it soon became useful to reverse the classical use of the guitar by preparing the instrument.
A prepared guitar is one whose timbre has been modified by placing objects between the strings—such as clothespins or paper clips, among others.
Here are the results of the first tests:
- natural Telecaster sounds,
- sliding tones produced with a bottleneck on the strings,
- and the bouncing effect of a small alligator clip.
Once recorded, the different playing techniques were placed in a sampler, making it easier to build the skeleton of the composition. Here are a few examples:
- plucked notes,
- vibrated notes played with a screwdriver,
- bowed tones,
- percussive sounds (alligator clips).