CD update - Nostalgica (Saffire)

Recently, I have been re-listening to a CD borrowed from Mr A some time back. It's by the Australian Guitar Quartet - Saffire.

This album "Nostalgica" includes the world premiere of a piece written for Saffire by the renowned composer Nigel Westlake, as well as new arrangements of pieces by Bartok, Piazzolla, Deep Purple, Bill Wheelan (composer of Riverdance).

I particularly liked their quartet arrangement of Riverdance! Wonderful, exciting and virtuoso guitar ensemble stuff! A pity they do not sell their arrangement(s), otherwise this is a gem of an arrangement.

Here's the album's song list:

1. Rumba Nostálgica (J. Martin; arr. Koch)

2. Romance del Diablo (A. Piazzolla; arr. Grigoryan)

3. Tango en Skaï (R. Dyens)

4-9. Romanian Folk Dances (B. Bartok; arr. Koch)

10. Riverdance (B. Whelan; arr. Field)

11. She Moved Through The Fair (trad.; arr. Koch)

12. American Wake (B. Whelan; arr. Field)

13. The Salley Gardens (trad.; arr. Koch)

14-19. Six Fish (N. Westlake)

20. Highway Star (Deep Purple; arr. Koch)

Prime Quartet vs Niibori-styled Quintet

I have always wondered about the potentials of a all-Prime (guitar) quartet versus a Niibori-styled quintet.

For friends who are unfamiliar with the Niibori-styled guitars, these are guitars designed and constructed (mainly) by the Niibori Guitar Academy in Japan. They are a range of different sized (hence tone and pitch) guitars built to resemble the instruments pitch-range of a full symphonic orchestra - the brainchild of Dr Hiroki Niibori.

In short, there are smaller guitars such as the Soprano and Alto guitars - which covers the violins in the orchestra; the Prime (normal) guitars - representing the middle voice, or perhaps the violas; the Bass guitars - the cellos; and the Contra Bass/Guitaron - which take the part of the Double-Bass. Of course, in a full Niibori setup, there are more instruments such as the Sopranino guitars, as well as the cembalos.. but let's not go there.

Thus, a Niibori-styled quintet would typically consist of maybe 2 Altos, 1 Prime, a Bass and a ContraBass/Guitaron. They would be the equivalent of a string quintet in the more commonly known sense.

A all-Prime quartet, however, consists of 4 identically pitched intruments guitars playing in an ensemble. I believe this is quite a rarity in the sense that seldom do we come across a setup like 4 violins, or 4 cellos, etc..

I cannot comment on the stringed instrument aspect, since I am neither a player nor a great fan in the first place. But having played in a Niibor quintet (in the now-defunt Masak) and now playing in a prime quartet Guitaresque, I begin to wonder about the different possibilities and potentials of these 2 setups.

First, it is clear that the Niibori quintet gets the points for pitch range. It has the Alto guitar, which stretches the upper range of the normal prime guitar by another half an octave. It also has the Guitaron (or Contrabass), which stretches the lower register by a whole octave. So essentially, you could play music which affords a 1.5 octave extra worth of notes, in terms of its pitch expanse. That is surely a great advantage.

Having said that, I cannot but feel that the prime quartet has a distinct edge when it comes to versatility of music that could be interpreted. For instance, I've always found the Niibori guitars a little wanting when they are used to play Brazilian (e.g. samba) and jazz music. Somehow, because of the tone or sound quality produced by the Altos, it makes the general output sound rather "mandolin-like". That, to me, sometimes makes the song rather "old" sounding - ie. it sounds like period music from the Handel or Vivaldi era.
On the other hand, a Prime quartet has better range of control when it comes to creating specific tones. As an example, it is much easier to play tasto or ponticello on the prime guitar than on the Alto (or even Bass) guitar. Techniques such as rasguerdo and (artificial) harmonics also are performed and more importantly, sound better on the normal prime guitars.

Of course, the skill level of the players ultimately determines how well the ensemble performs, but given the fact that the Niibori Academy players are arguably some of the best ensemble guitar players in the world (especially when it comes to coordination and syncrhonised playing), I still cringe when I listen to recordings of some of their attempts to play jazz or music not belonging to the baroque/classical eras.
You can argue that it could be due to the quality (or lack of) of the arrangement itself, but surely, that is also a reflection of the limitations of the Niibori instruments per se.

To be fair, I do feel that Niibori quintet setup, besides adapting wonderfully to period music, also get high marks for ballet-style contemporary music. Just listen to their rendition of some of Richard Clayderman's classic pieces like Coup de Coeur or Marriage d'Amour and you'll know what i mean. :)

Our guitars (part 3)

Finally, what about the DIVO.

Well, to date he has NO guitar. (in case you're wondering, NO is not a brand name.)

He plays Alex's old Esteve guitar - which only recently has been 'relieved' of its brownish bass strings - during our rehearsals. As for performances, he'd usually borrow Adrian's Alhambra guitar.

For years he has claimed that it is just due to the "lack of opportunity" of finding his ideal guitar, so he wouldnt settle for anything else. And when asked about what his ideal guitar should be, he mentioned things like '7 string', 'must feel heavy', etc.
* for more information, refer to Ivan's entry on these "pre-requisites".

But FINALLY, I managed to nail the instrument down, and made him commit to it. We are now awaiting the arrival of the 7-string guitar, scheduled to come sometime in July this year. Will provide more update then.

p.s. guess who made all the inquiries, through phone calls, SMSes, etc regarding the guitar? Certainly not Liang Shan himself... Now you know why we call him DIVO.

Our guitars (part 2)

Ivan plays a Juan Hernandez guitar (model: Concierto). It is a spruce top instrument, and from what I recalled - when I test-played it with him about a year back - it is a really beautiful sounding instrument.

Now, you may wonder why I have to "recall" the sound. Don't I get to hear it every week during our rehearsal sessions? Yes, indeed I do. But the truth is, every guitarist has their own feel, own perception (not to mention individual technique also affects the sound/tone production to a large extent!) about the sound from a guitar. To me, I am only able to relate how this guitar sound, relative to another guitar which I have played. It is rather meaningless to listen to a guitar sound that I played (say, on guitar A), then listen to another guitarist play guitar B, and then go, "Guitar A sounds better/worse than guitar B".

* Some fellow Genus members (of my "era") might remember Professor Manji from the Niibori Academy. He was the visiting professor at our Genenis Camp many years back. I distinctly remember, till this day, that he picked up one of our lower-range Alto guitars (definitely one of those hopeless TE300), and played it so effortlessly to make it sound like an NA20 or better! So there!

Well, back to Juan Hernandez, Ivan's guitar luthier (did I mention that the headstock design looks gorgeous? :P ). Anyway, here's a little excerpt from his website:

http://www.fernandezmusic.com/JuanHernandezGuitars.html

Juan Hernández--Constructor of Guitars.

Made in Alboraia (Valencia), Spain

Juan Hernández Iranzo was born in Turís (Valencia) Spain in the late 1940's. He began learning guitarmaking in the Francisco Esteve workshop at age15. There he became an "oficial" (sort of a certified guitarmaker) and later he became production manager. For many years he has been involved with the construction of the deluxe models made at Esteve. Now, along with the assistance of 3 artisans, he is proud to offer a limited number of fine guitars under his own label made of very good woods and constructed with care and expertise.

Our guitars (part 1)

Alex and I both play Kohno guitars (both are Model #30).

I'd acquired my Kohno 30 many years back, and have been pretty satisfied with its sound and ease of play so far. It is a spruce top instrument, and was built in 1980. I got it from the 2nd hand guitar dealer - Michael Ho years ago (when I was still schooling) and even then, it must have been 2nd or 3rd hand ownership.
Perhaps my only complaint would be that I sometimes wish for a more mellow and 'boom-ier' voice to my guitar, rather than the crisp, clean and distinct tone produced by this instrument. That said, I personally feel it is a terrific instrument to play Bach's music! =)

Alex, on the other hand, had only recently purchased his Kohno 30 (also made in the early 80s, though I cant remember exactly which year). It was entirely by chance that an acquintance of ours - Charles (who is, by the way , an aspiring luthier himself ) informed us that he is helping someone to sell this instrument. When I heard that it was a Kohno 30, I immediately "alerted" Alex, and we went to his workshop to test-play the guitar. Within days, he decided to grab it. I dare say he's made a great decision, considering the often ridiculously high prices quoted for some brand new (but rather mediocre) instruments these days. It was a steal at the price he paid for it.

Below is some information regarding Mr Masaru Kohno (taken from his workshop website - now run by fellow luthier Masaki Sakurai): http://www.kohno-guitar.org/


Masaru Kohno

1926 Masaru Kohno was born.
1948 He started making guitars.
1960 He went to Spain and studied making guitars.
1967 He awarded the GOLD MEDAL in Elizabeth's Concourse Belgium, international competition in guitar lutherie.

Dec. 13 1998 He died of renal cancer.