Fretless Chrome 1 & 2

Fretless Chrome 1 and Fretless Chrome 2 are solo fretless guitar improvisations in 24 edo (quartertones with some smaller inflections) that were recorded direct in in 3 simultaneous tracks in Sonar X1 using echo and reverb to distinguish between the tracks to give some depth. I alternate between using a pick and ebow. The Chrome refers to the heavy flat-wound chrome strings I put on the guitar today. Despite the manufacturer listing the strings at standard pitch I tuned the guitar a 4th lower to effectively make it baritone. I’ve been doing a lot of tuning my instruments to non-standard pitch lately. The heavier set certainly did help with improving sustain – especially on the higher strings.

Each of these improvisations has their flaws. I unfortunately hurt my right thumb getting a Christmas tree off the loft in the shed some 3 or so weeks ago. It makes playing guitar painful after a while. So… this is all I could do tonight and will have to stand flaws and all. The motivation was two fold – to try out the strings and to have something for tonight’s ImprovFriday event.