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Picking up Chapman Stick?
- Thread starter devnulljp
- Start date
I had a stick back in the day....tried and tried....didn’t think to change the tuning and the way it was strung up. Sold it. Love Tony’s “bass” parts on the stick. Still had the jones until I found a stick sample to use on my iPad and Kory Bluetooth keyboard. All good now!
JB
JB
The Warr Guitar Phalanx makes provision for playing "uncrossed"
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I picked one up a year ago and have been practicing pretty regularly on it. It can be played in many different ways - as an extended bass using both hands together to play bass lines that you couldn’t do on a bass. Two independent parts like a piano etc. It’s hard and different than bass or guitar but I think it’s well worth it. The harmonic knowledge you’ll gain is priceless even if you don’t become a great stick player. And it’s not harder than any other instrument except for the independence you’ll need to develop to play two parts at once.
I have a 10 string Railboard stick and I had one of the earlier Ironwood ones. Great, well made instruments. I’ve never played one of the NS sticks.
Go for it!
I have a 10 string Railboard stick and I had one of the earlier Ironwood ones. Great, well made instruments. I’ve never played one of the NS sticks.
Go for it!
I've played bass, drums, piano, and guitar for 30+ years and couldn't do jack squat on my 10 string, so it's long gone and not missed. EC was correct in my case; simply too many established techniques across the board to make any progress.
Kudos to their customer service, however. Mine was even bought used, but I was experimenting with a different stringing and trimmed one of the strings. When I tried to go back to normal one of the strings wouldn't reach the peg. I emailed them about a recommended replacement string and the answer was give me your address and we'll just send you one gratis. Very impressed with that.
Kudos to their customer service, however. Mine was even bought used, but I was experimenting with a different stringing and trimmed one of the strings. When I tried to go back to normal one of the strings wouldn't reach the peg. I emailed them about a recommended replacement string and the answer was give me your address and we'll just send you one gratis. Very impressed with that.
The (then) bassist (now jazz guitarist) in my band has two Sticks. For awhile we were playing a bunch of King Crimson (I was playing keys and guitar), and were having a blast. Elephant Talk, Frame By Frame, Indiscipline, Matte Kudasai, 3 of a Perfect Pair, etc, along with stuff from the pre-Levin era. It took him awhile, but he took lessons from a great Stick player and practiced diligently. And he got it.
Look at it this way: what else do you have to do right now but practice? Perfect moment to go for something like this.
I borrowed a polycarbonate Stick in the '80s, then had a Purpleheart 10 string with Matched Reciprocal tuning for a while in the '00s. Sold it on TB for more than I paid for it new, and bought an upright piano.
It's an interesting instrument with various pluses/minuses. I for one had serious left hand ergonomic issues until I had Stick Enterprises send me a non-angled "belt hook pedestal". The 5th-tuned bass makes typical scalar bass lines tricky, and leads to a bunch of "Stick-isms" (to be fair, any tuning system has its cliches for things that fall easily under the fingers). TBH most Stick players except the very best make "Stick music" rather than "interesting music that happens to be created on a Stick". I've been out of the scene a while...to me Tony Levin, Greg Howard, Andre Pelat, Jim Lampi, and Bob Culbertson were the cream of the crop.
There is/was a weird cult of personality around Emmett Chapman that I found off-putting, but you'll find that around any mad-scientist inventor/maker in the internet age. And at least in the '90s Emmett would search the internet for people making legitimate criticisms or suggestions for improvement (including Mark Warr), and threaten legal action.
It's an interesting instrument with various pluses/minuses. I for one had serious left hand ergonomic issues until I had Stick Enterprises send me a non-angled "belt hook pedestal". The 5th-tuned bass makes typical scalar bass lines tricky, and leads to a bunch of "Stick-isms" (to be fair, any tuning system has its cliches for things that fall easily under the fingers). TBH most Stick players except the very best make "Stick music" rather than "interesting music that happens to be created on a Stick". I've been out of the scene a while...to me Tony Levin, Greg Howard, Andre Pelat, Jim Lampi, and Bob Culbertson were the cream of the crop.
There is/was a weird cult of personality around Emmett Chapman that I found off-putting, but you'll find that around any mad-scientist inventor/maker in the internet age. And at least in the '90s Emmett would search the internet for people making legitimate criticisms or suggestions for improvement (including Mark Warr), and threaten legal action.
I pick it up from time to time. I find it’s a very hard instrument to get my head around because of the need to develop hand independence (much like you would for piano) in order to play it well.
After many years of practice, with the goal of getting my two hands to work in perfect synchronization, it’s a real mental and physical challenge for me to get them to behave independently of each other. So when it comes to the Chapman Stick, it’s more me playing with it rather than me actually playing it.
Part of my problem is that much as I like the Stick, I’m not so wild about it that I’ve been able to muster the necessary commitment that playing it for real requires. So unless you’re really into it, or you're some kind of musical prodigy, you’re going to find it tough sledding.
Oh…did I already mention that it’s hard?
After many years of practice, with the goal of getting my two hands to work in perfect synchronization, it’s a real mental and physical challenge for me to get them to behave independently of each other. So when it comes to the Chapman Stick, it’s more me playing with it rather than me actually playing it.
Part of my problem is that much as I like the Stick, I’m not so wild about it that I’ve been able to muster the necessary commitment that playing it for real requires. So unless you’re really into it, or you're some kind of musical prodigy, you’re going to find it tough sledding.
Oh…did I already mention that it’s hard?
I've wanted an NS Stick for so many years, and you lot today have gone and shattered all my delusions.
Better that way than mine. I’ve bought a Stick two times already. And I also ended up selling one two times.
More seriously, it’s a truly unique and fascinating instrument. But it takes as much dedication to play it well as any other instrument does. And not too much experience with other string instruments (due to the Stick’s combination tuning and its cross handed playing technique) translates all that well. It really is it’s own thing. So if you’re going to take the plunge (and it is a plunge AFAIC) just be aware of what you’re getting yourself into.
Chapman sticks seem so much like a relic of the 70's to me, but they are very cool. I've only seen a tiny handful of players use them and only once in a bar setting back in the late 70's. But there are people playing them still; Tony Levin and Trey Gunn come to mind as proficient players. Seems more like a novelty to me now; lots of players do the tapping thing on a standard fretboard and get lots of attention, like Manring. Might start there and see how that comes along before buying an instrument. Just my 2c.
I think there are a lot of Chapman Sticks sitting in closets because the owners don't want to admit defeat. Learning 5-6 chords on an acoustic and a capo would be infinitely more marketable. I went to a couple Stick conventions, but never pulled the trigger. It's a weird group. You have to say the right things or get the stink eye. Emmett Chapman has done everything ever needed in music, don't try to add or expand. Greg Howard is a beast on Stick.
Far be it from me to say that you wouldn't suck, *but*, if it's any reassurance, one of the cool things that Chapman figured out was how to make it easy to get a nice crisp percussive tone out of the thing. MUCH easier to make sound good on a note-by-note basis than tapping a conventional guitar or bass. It's stringing the notes together into runs and chords that's strange and sometimes difficult.
Wow, lot of varied opinions here. I own 3 sticks and just ordered #4. Been playing for 20 years.
First off, they are very well made, and IMHO, as custom, hand built instruments, pretty reasonably priced.
Secondly, while it does of course have certain characteristic sounds (as do all instruments), it is really versatile. I use mine with a Line 6 Helix and you can make noises ranging from a harpsichord to Hendrix. Most of my Stick playing pre-lockdown was as the "bass player" in a band and definitely not playing "Stick music". I wouldn't use one in a blues or country band probably, but for anything even slightly more adventurous, they're great.
As a bass player first, yes, it took some work, but I found that if I was only playing bass lines, often life was actually easier on the Stick - you can play two handed bass lines that are fast way easier than on a bass. One of mine is the StickBass - 8 string tuned like a bass would be if it had 8 strings
, so your patterns and scales etc will carry over just fine. You do not have to play like a classical pianist with total hand independence!
Perhaps most important, they are fun to play. Very geometric, and just "noodling" is really fun, and great for writing if that's what you're in to. Practicing is a very Zen experience, endless ideas to explore.
Mine has got me through lockdown. I love them (in case you couldn't guess)
First off, they are very well made, and IMHO, as custom, hand built instruments, pretty reasonably priced.
Secondly, while it does of course have certain characteristic sounds (as do all instruments), it is really versatile. I use mine with a Line 6 Helix and you can make noises ranging from a harpsichord to Hendrix. Most of my Stick playing pre-lockdown was as the "bass player" in a band and definitely not playing "Stick music". I wouldn't use one in a blues or country band probably, but for anything even slightly more adventurous, they're great.
As a bass player first, yes, it took some work, but I found that if I was only playing bass lines, often life was actually easier on the Stick - you can play two handed bass lines that are fast way easier than on a bass. One of mine is the StickBass - 8 string tuned like a bass would be if it had 8 strings
, so your patterns and scales etc will carry over just fine. You do not have to play like a classical pianist with total hand independence!Perhaps most important, they are fun to play. Very geometric, and just "noodling" is really fun, and great for writing if that's what you're in to. Practicing is a very Zen experience, endless ideas to explore.
Mine has got me through lockdown. I love them (in case you couldn't guess)
I play (not too well) a 1984 ironwood 10-string...... at first, I picked it up as a bass alternative but, now, I use it as its own ensemble instrument, like a piano as opposed to a bass
I'm slowly putting together sets to eventually play small intimate gigs as a solo
I'm slowly putting together sets to eventually play small intimate gigs as a solo
If one came up for good price locally, I'd get it. Ever since I was a kid people told me I should learn to play stick, I guess because it suits my theory knowledge etc. But I honestly have zero idea if I would be any good on it.
I want one though. LoL
I want one though. LoL
I worked in the Forest Service back in the late 70s with Paul Hamer's little brother who gave me a number for Hamer Guitars. I was kind of obsessed with the 8 strings and more especially the quad 12 string as anyone would be.
I kept the card for a while before getting up the nerve to make the call and when I did Jol Dantzig answered the phone. I'm afraid I just more or less annoyed him.
Not mine
Mine
I've had a couple 12 string sticks for 20 years or so and actually had a third one for a while which was carbon fiber but I traded it for a 70s Jazz bass.
Maybe now that I'm retired I can become a virtuoso but it's hard to teach an old maestro a new tune sometimes.
