red faces devoured by the night

shattered laughs in the vine

and glowing melancholy

spirit torture! a stone falls silent

blue voice of an angel in the sleeper’s ear

declining light

declining light

This an abridged translation of a poem without title from Georg Trakl, an Austrian poet of the Expressionism Era. At a certain point in working with the music of this tune, the need for some spoken lyrics appeared, and by intuition I took out this book of poems. In my younger days I would read Georg Trakl every year in the season of fall, but this time it was neither fall nor did I feel the need for some more melancholic or dark and dreary feelings. This time the overall surreal atmosphere of the music required such a poem…

The instrumentation is different in this tune, with the first obvious appearance of  violin along with mandolin, xylophone and dark vocals without words. Then suddenly you know something will happen, and there is this spoken poem above, embedded in shivering sounds to make your blood run cold. Strangely enough, the meter is 4/4 this time!

guitar & gear: Fender Jaguar, 1967 Vox AC 30 (brilliant channel), BSM treble booster (DM-T), Tube Reverb

As a teenager I attended countless concerts of contemporary “classical” music, which in Germany is still called “Neue Musik”, even if there’s nothing new about it (its roots date back to the beginning of the twentieth century).

That’s not exactly what teenagers used to do, even in those seventies! The reason was I had a close friend – a musician, too – who took me along with him to all the avantgarde or similar presentations, and we were both all curiosity about new kinds of sounds, new ways of listening and new ways of thinking.

I still cherish the freshness that lies in the unusual sounds of contemporary music. It’s a welcome relief from all the clichés we are forced to listen to every day. As an improviser I find myself rather on the opposite side of the spectrum, indeed, since mostly there is nothing written and everything spontaneous about my music – but in an attempt to build a bridge between those camps I dared to improvise along with a recorded orchestra.

It’s daring, I know, but at least it is something rarely done. Parts of a work called “Photoptosis” by German composer Bernd Alois Zimmermann ( 1918 – 1970 ) were cut into pieces and guitar noises along with (yes!) some melodies were added. I’m proud it was a first take, and in the end I liked it, hoping those among you who don’t get frightened off by the dissonances, will like it, too! To me, dissonances are one of the coolest things in music…

The ambiguous title is meant to be so. It refers to the literal meaning of “Photoptosis” as well as to the inherent (s)light disorder of all human beings. After all, Photoptosis takes on a different shape if you listen to it under the assumption it represents pencils of rays…

guitar & gear: Fender Jaguar, Vox AC 50, Big Muff, Tube Reverb

Is there a distinct psychedelic guitar sound, or is it just the same as vintage guitar sound?

To make sure, I added a short medley here, that you might use as quiz, if you like to. I would enjoy reading your comments, if you recognized some of the bands or songs!

Yes, there is a distinctive psychedelic sound, but it happened to be produced with just the same equipment as connected to “vintage sound” in general. I will try to define the most typical traits of it:

Excessive use of effects: as there were only a few effects at the time, these were cranked up to maximum. Tremolo at maximum speed and intensity, until it gives a shattering sound that splices the notes. Reverb: reverberations that seem to last for years…

I think, Pink Floyd were the first to use the Tape Echo, already in the band’s early times. Many signals in their music are veiled by excessive use of this effect.

Edgy or even biting guitar sounds, predominantly coming from Fender or Vox amps (both reputable for being rich in treble).

Backwards guitar: officially “invented” by the Beatles on their Revolver album, there seem to have been different occasions when a band or a recording engineer by mistake put the tape the wrong way, and everybody went “what was that? can you play that again?”

Excessive finger-vibrato (listen to “Deserted cities of the heart” by Cream! Clapton’s vibrato is incredible there. Could that have been a whammy bar?)

Pseudo-Indian playing style by rushing up and down the neck on just one string. Slides and the modal, drone-like sound provide a recognizable allusion to Indian music, with a chirping sound sometimes approaching a Sitar. Guitar players consciously tried to imitate other instruments, or even a siren.

Amplifier-Feedback: with the volume set high, speakers stimulate the guitar strings until a circle of self-oscillation is established, mostly running up to harmonics.

Phaser, only just invented, mostly got applied to the whole mix (“Itchicoo Park” by The Small Faces), but there may be examples of phased guitar sounds.

The Wah-Wah was invented as a trumpet effects unit (!) in 1967 by Vox, and there are only few examples of psychedelic wah wah . Am I wrong with that? To me it seems the wah-wah is more connected to the Hard Rock era, beginning around 1968. And Miles Davis definitely did not misuse a guitar effect for his trumpet (many listeners protested), but it was designed for just his instrument!

In the end there should be no dogmatism about what a psychedelic guitar sound has to be. “Psychedelic” can be an esthetic category beyond historic implications, and is determined to develop further on, along with changing equipment and new effects…

A Bluer Bossa than “Blue Bossa”, I heard this tune composed by my dear friend Saman Vossoughi who plays jazz guitar, and I was like: “what scale is that?”. It sounded so – interesting, so different. And usually I know my scales around…

It turned out this tune is based on Melodic Minor, a scale I had always rejected as not feasible. “It’s neither fish nor fowl”, I used to state, “as part of it sounds like Major, and part of it like Minor”. I simply didn’t know how to use it. I’m glad attending my friend’s concert has taught me to stay open, since I began to practice Melodic Minor as soon as I came home after the concert. All of a sudden I found it rather useful. A week or so later we arranged to meet and record the song in my studio as a one-shot collaboration. Here we are.

The “who is who” is easily to be detected, as Saman has the smoother sound, and my Jaguar is a bit more incisive.

(Saman has dedicated this tune to Joe Henderson, famous tenor saxophone player, who among many other things recorded an outstanding version of “Blue Bossa”. But “Mylodic” bears no direct resemblance to the latter, although it’s kind of a Bossa, too).

guitars & gear: Saman: Gibson ES 335, Vox AC 15, Tube Reverb. Gary: Fender Jaguar, Vox AC 30, Gibson EB3 bass, Cabasa, Tabor, Tube Reverb

An archetypical 60s rhythm, popularized by the famous and most influential Bo Diddley. Originally a typical Caribbean rhythm, e.g. called “clave” in Cuba, but – unlike this – played with a slight swing feel to it.

Important Bo-Diddley-rhythm-kind-of-songs of the period this blog is all about:

• Not fade away – Buddy Holly/The Rolling Stones
• Magic Bus – The Who
• Get me to the world on time – The Electric Prunes
• Gone and passes by – The Chocolate Watchband

So, let your guitar’s body turn into a red rectangle, grab maracas, and play some wild Caribbean thing! Here we go, Bo…

guitar & gear: Sakurai nylon string, Fender Jaguar, Fender Tweed Champ, Tube Trem, bongos played with mallets, mini-cymbals (no maracas, sorry…)

overall mike: Sennheiser MD 421

Back in 1966, when psychedelic art was about to embark.

Two seminal songs: The above mentioned by the Rolling Stones (which I stole the title from and made up a new music to accompany it), and the undeservedly overlooked “Rain” by the Beatles. The latter being published only as a single (not found on an original album), contains the first backwards recording ever and Ringos best drumming ever.

These songs are extreme in a way, as is the track above (coming in three movements) in another. It’s a different time, and a different player, who doesn’t want to compare to those giants…

A snapshot from inside a train, the photograph below simply made me think of “Paint it black”, whereas the music was cut on a different occasion and originally called “Scary”.

guitar & gear: ’67 Stratocaster, Vox AC 50, Gerd Schulte Phaser, Tube Reverb

It’s a monument. This “august” tree I photographed last August has lost none of its dignity, which I guess is the reason why the farmers in the area have saved it.

guitar & gear: Stratocaster, Vox AC 15 Heritage, Cry Baby Classic Wah

But death is the source of new life:

Following my habit of stealing titles (not music) from other artists – this is the title of an album I greatly admire: “Conference of the birds” by Jazz-bassist Dave Holland, who played, among many others, with Miles Davis.

But improvising in a similar manner as birds do, was an idea that came to me out of the blue (the association with the above-mentioned album being called up afterwards).

Yes, it is a conference they are holding, and no, we usually don’t even take the time to listen.

guitar & gear: Fender Jaguar, Vox AC 15, Tube Reverb

We all know a song of this name, and if you are old enough (like me), it probably brings up certain memories. But the music you hear when clicking the player sounds different – although it is kind of an extension over the original intro…

Clearly we cannot reproduce silence as musicians, but silence may become an essential part of our music. And sometimes it’s the most powerful part.

guitar & gear: Fender Jaguar (using a capo for the mandolin effect), Gibson EB3 Bass, Vox AC 15, Tube Reverb, Susannes voice (phased)

Download audio file (cubism.mp3)

I was 14 years old, when I painted my “masterpiece”, uniting some of my influences in an oil painting I was really proud of at the time. Well, not much later I abandoned painting for something more important to me: music. I know it’s far from a really good or professional painting, but there’s something about it, especially considering my young age…

I never liked skiing that much, though we live in an era where everybody goes skiing. Starting from a photo which I abstracted step by step, the motive was just an inspiration to me for it’s dynamics.

The music is an attempt to reproduce – by musical means – the shift of perspectives, and the edgy, modern feeling that made cubism the starting point of contemporary painting. After recording several tracks, I heavily edited, cut and doubled etc. So this is another collage…

guitar & gear: Fender Jaguar, Vox AC 15, Treble Booster, Cry Baby Classic Wah

Max Ernst (1891 – 1976) was an exponent of Dadaism and Surrealism. Trees and the woods were essential to his imagination. His recollections of walks with his father gave him a mystic approach to this subject.

That’s what I always liked about his art: it resonates with my own childhood memories. And for me “psychedelic” is very similar to “surrealistic” – only the two belong to different decades of the 20th century.

So, when I “met” this really surrealistic tree, I decided to compose a fitting music. This time I cut the recordings into pieces and made them into a collage.

guitar & gear: Fender Jaguar, Fender Stratocaster, Gibson EB3 Bass, Tweed Champ, Tube Trem, Big Muff, Tube Reverb

It didn’t happen for the first time: I fell in love with a music nobody else around me seemed to be able to appreciate. Except for my friend Hans, with whom I grew up musically, and who influenced me to no end. But that’s just another story, and Hans has disappeared from my life anyway.

I’m talking about the album “Devotion” by John Mclaughlin, and this happened decades ago. Typically, “Devotion”, not much of a success at the time, wasn’t even much appreciated by the artist himself later on. He talked about the loveless way “Devotion” was produced, and he certainly could have imagined to make it much better. But there’s just one album like that for me – that kind of music I never encountered again. Not even on the other albums of this great guitar player, who had much more success forming the Mahavishnu Orchestra, right after the time we are talking about.

What’s so singular about “Devotion”, recorded in 1970?

First: the players. On drums: Buddy Miles, who had played with Jimi Hendrix as a part of the “Band of Gypsies”. From the moment I got to know this music, I liked his drumming much better than that of the regular Hendrix drummer, and it occurred to me that the Jimi Hendrix Experience should have always been like that. He provides a strong, driving yet sensible beat. (He has been a Soul singer afterwards, but I miss his very specific strength there.)

On Hammond organ: Larry Young, simply a wizard on this instrument, producing one eerie or sparkling sound after the other to add an extraterrestrial aura to the group sound. Definitely my favorite player of this instrument!

On bass: Billy Rich, whom I still do only know by this record. But he is an integral part of the sound, playing beautiful melodies like the others while keeping the groove. His feel for dynamics makes way for the quartet climbing up to the clouds, as I feel it when listening.

There are no vocals on the album, usually being labeled as an early form of “Fusion”, a mixture of Jazz and Rock elements. But there is a unique guitar sound on multilayered tracks. Which makes me come back to my point:

In some way or another, this album influenced me like only “Bitches Brew” by Miles Davis, or the Late String Quartets by Beethoven could.

When I read the book “Zen Guitar” (go to “The Psychedelic Zen Guitar Story” Page of my blog to know more about it), the first advice I got was: go back to the original sound that made you play your instrument! Go back to where it all began. Try to search for the sound of the divine spark within us all. The sound of one hand clapping (to understand this very important Koan, please read the book!).

After having indulged in Santana’s use of the Gibson SG on the first Santana albums, I proceeded to Classical Rock guitar sounds in general, like the Les Paul and the Stratocaster. I began to experiment with tube amplifiers, trying to build up on my father’s profession as a Audio technician. Before his death, he was really into tube amps. I sometimes wish I could have adopted more of his skills when he was still alive…

This taking me already several years, I only recently arrived at the guitar sound of the “Devotion” album. Guess what?

John McLaughlin played a psychedelically painted Jaguar these days.

I’m certainly far from playing like John McLaughlin, and I certainly don’t even try to imitate him. But listening to the improvisation above I can hear his influence, while my only intention has been to capture the sound of the Jaguar. Except for one short part that is a direct quote from one of the album’s tracks.

So now I’m all Devotion to heavenly sounds as well as to a creator who carried me so close to them, letting me dwell in the creation of music who’s seeds were sown such a long time ago.

guitar & gear: the “olympic white” dream below plus a 1967 Vox AC 30 (lent by Thomas), and Tube Reverb