From: pmk@moliere.uucp (Peter Michael Klausler)
Subject: Chapman Stick information
Organization: Lilydale DFL Refreshments Committee & Rhythm Section
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1992 15:19:51 GMT


			BASIC CHAPMAN STICK INFORMATION

The Chapman Stick is a stringed musical instrument. It looks like an electric
guitar with a very wide neck, a tiny body and the scale length of an
electric bass. A little one-line picture may convey the general idea:

		head:	<|||||||||||||||||||||||||//	:pickups & tailpiece

The Stick is played by holding the instrument vertical (there's a hook behind
the pickups that sticks into your beltline) and tapping the ten strings lightly
against the frets with the fingers of both hands. The induced vibration in the
strings is detected and amplified by two sensitive "humbucking" pickups.

Both hands play at the same time. One does not fret an string with one hand and
pluck it with the other, but rather just touches it with a single finger. Stick
playing is thus an eclectic combination of both keyboard and guitar techniques,
and allows slides, hammers, and bends. The raw sound can be (inadequately)
described as a duet of bass and electric guitar or keyboard. Stick players tend
to come to the instrument mostly from guitar, keyboards, and bass.

Emmett Chapman discovered his two-handed tapping technique in August 1969,
and developed the Stick instrument in 1969-1973. His company, Stick Enterprises
Inc., has been producing Sticks since 1974. Some 3000 or so have since been
produced.

Some better-known Stick players and recent recordings:
	Tony Levin: King Crimson's "Discipline", "Three of a Perfect Pair",
		ABWH, many other recordings
	Fergus Jemison Marsh: Bruce Cockburn's "Live", "Big Circumstance", etc.
	Alphonso Johnson
	Trey Gunn: Sunday All Over The World's "Kneeling At The Shrine"
	Marco Cerletti: "Random and Providence"
	Bob Culbertson: "Stick"

A larger discography is available.

The Stick was made at first from Brazilian ironwood; later an injection-molded
polycarbonate resin instrument was developed. Both these instruments are
fairly heavy. Current production uses lighter hardwoods, mainly oak, and weigh
about 4-5 pounds (~2.5kg). The instrument has evolved a little over the years,
gaining an adjustable rear truss rod, stainless steel "Fret Rods", an adjustable
bridge, and a now 12-string version. Fully and half-MIDI'd instruments were also
made, but now seem to be unavailable, alas.

Stick tuning uses strings tuned uniformly in fourths on the melody (right-hand)
side and strings tuned in fifths on the bass (left-hand) side, with the strings
on the bass side in reverse order, which means that scale patterns and chord
shapes are identical on both sides. It's actually simpler than it sounds,
and is somewhat easier to learn (in my opinion) than guitar tuning, as
the intervals between the strings are regular, yielding scale and chord
patterns that are the same all over the fingerboard.

There are several specific ways of tuning a Stick. The standard method has the
low string of the bass side (string #6) tuned to C below low E on a bass, with
strings 7-10 ascending in fifths. The low string of the melody side (#1)
is tuned to Db just above middle C, with strings 2-5 descending in fourths. The
"Baritone" tuning is also common; it has a melody side tuned down a fourth and
a bass side tuned up a major second. Other possibilities exist.

Here's the notes of a C major scale in the standard tuning, with "C4" being
middle C, the left-hand edge of the diagram being the nut, and the
right-hand edge being the bridge:

   1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 
1-----E4-F4----G4----A4----B4-C5----D5----E5-F5----G5----A5----B5-C6----D6----
2-----B3-C4----D4----E4-F4----G4----A4----B4-C5----D5----E5-F5----G5----A5----
3--F3----G3----A3----B3-C4----D4----E4-F4----G4----A4----B4-C5----D5----E5-F5-
4--C3----D3----E3-F3----G3----A3----B3-C4----D4----E4-F4----G4----A4----B4-C5-
5--G2----A2----B2-C3----D3----E3-F3----G3----A3----B3-C4----D4----E4-F4----G4-
6-----D1----E1-F1----G1----A1----B1-C2----D2----E2-F2----G2----A2----B2-C3----
7-----A1----B1-C2----D2----E2-F2----G2----A2----B2-C3----D3----E3-F3----G3----
8-----E2-F2----G2----A2----B2-C3----D3----E3-F3----G3----A3----B3-C4----D4----
9-----B2-C3----D3----E3-F3----G3----A3----B3-C4----D4----E4-F4----G4----A4----
10-F3----G3----A3----B3-C4----D4----E4-F4----G4----A4----B4-C5----D5----E5-F5-
   1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 

One generally plays with the left hand on the bass strings (6-10) on the
lower fret positions (1-10 or so) and the right hand on the melody strings
(1-5) on the upper registers (fret positions 10-25). Both hands thus reach
across the fingerboard to reach their usual playing areas. This is a convention,
not a hard rule, and you'll see Stick players using both hands all over the
fretboard.

12-string Sticks are also available in several configurations (6+6, 5+7).

A neatly illustrated brochure can be had from:
	Stick Enterprises
	6011 Woodlake Ave
	Woodland Hills CA 91367
	Telephone: 818-884-2001
	FAX: 818-883-0668

Used instruments do exist, as do retail dealers and teachers; all are a little
hard to find outside the largest U.S. cities. Instructional materials
include tapes, videos, and the "Free Hands" book from Stick Enterprises, annual
classes at the National Guitar Summer Workshop (1-800-234-NGSW), an electronic
mailing list (stick-request%moliere@uunet.uu.net), and a book by Frank Jolliffe
forthcoming someday (he says).

NOTE: THE STICK, STICK, THE CHAPMAN STICK, and THE GRID are registered
trademarks, and FRET RODS is a trademark of Stick Enterprises, Inc. The
instrument is protected by US patents 3,833,751, 3,868,880, 4,633,754, and
foreign patents. I have no affiliation with Stick Enterprises other than as a
customer.
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