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 Emmett
Chapman is an innovator. As a musician, he developed a two-handed
technique on guitar that allowed him to play melodic and harmonic
components at the same time. Seeing the limitations of the guitar
in fulfilling his ideas, he invented an instrument--the Chapman
Stick--that would allow him to transform his musical concepts
into reality. Not only is he unlike other musicians in that
he created his own instrument, but also unlike many musicians,
Chapman has never shied away from the workshop or the business
office. Chapman handmade his early prototypes and the first
production line of Chapman Sticks in 1974. He is also the extremely
active president of Stick Enterprises. Outside all of these
duties, he has also served as a teacher and mentor to Stick
players all over the world. As his web site shows, Chapman has
taken a very personal interest in keeping up with those that
play the instrument. Always generous with ideas and generous
with time, I felt lucky to get a chance to talk with him.
American Nerd: Where do you see the Stick now and where would
you like to see it go?
EMMETT CHAPMAN: The concept is there, also the music and
the demand.Now I
need to make some breakthroughs in production.
AN: In what way? Mass production? Given the opportunity,
it seems like younger kids who are proficient piano players
but want to play bass or guitar might gravitate towards Stick.
But, I’ve never even seen a used one in music stores
around the Gulf Coast.
EC: I don't think it can be as ambitious as mass production.The
specs for the basic construction that enables the precision
setup for two-handed tapping are so demanding, but I'd like
to greatly increase production, also to supply US music stores.I'm
working on it.
AM: Most people that I have talked to that know about the
Chapman Stick all seem to have heard King Crimson’s Tony
Levin play it first. Why do you think that he introduced so
many people to the instrument?
EC: Because he's Tony, and on account of his consistant good
taste in everything he pursues and because he repeatedly toured
with King Crimson and Peter Gabriel playing lots of Stick.
AN: It seems to me that the Stick is seen as, if not a “weird”
instrument, at least a difficult one. What do you make of
that? Is that why we generally don’t see Stick players
in many popular bands?
EC: Judging from the music conceived and performed by Stick
artists, I'd say it has to be a mainstream instrument. If
you're dealing in perceptions only, you might assume the weirdness
you mention.
AM: How do you mean “mainstream instrument”? In
judging by the music--in terms like traditional harmony or
style? Instead of listening to the music and judging by that,
that people tend to see more strings than guitars, the two-hand
technique, and the accompaniment/ counterpoint possibilities
of the instrument and decide that it is “difficult”?
EC: Two-handed tapping guitar and bass guitar must by now
be mainstream. I created a particular tapping method that
is embodied in The Stick design. There's nothing strange about
the method itself or all the genres of mainstream music that
can be played on the instrument.
AM: What is interesting to me is that the Stick is an electric,
stringed instrument like a guitar or bass, but it isn't featured
very often in popular, or what I am referring to as "mainstream,"
channels. If a band like Slipknot decided to add a Stick player,
do you think we would see a new crop of musicians gravitate
toward the Stick instead of guitar or bass? Why has that not
necessarily happened? Or has it and I have just missed it?
Am I making too big a deal out of this and people who are
going to play Stick are just going to find it? I’m just
curious how popular perception does or doesn’t affect
the instrument and its players. There seems to be a fairly
high level of musicianship in the Stick world and I wonder
if that is perhaps a reason why it is not always featured
in the types of music and types of music presentation that
I am referring to.
EC: Don't worry so much about it. The rich variety of live
and recorded Stick music being played is proof of the instrument's
future.
AN: Has anyone taken Stick playing or technique past your
initial vision? In other words, has anyone surprised you?
EC: I'm often surprised by the musical creations featuring
Stick in recordings and live performances.
AN: Do you have any favorite Stick recordings?
EC: I like all of them that are reviewed at www.stick.com/videoscds.
I wrote many of the reviews myself.
AM: Do you have any favorite compositions, composers, or
musicians?
EC: Yes, I can credit the following in-depth instrumental
stylists as my main influences, starting with Tal Farlow,
Barny Kessel, John Coltrane, McCoy Tyner, Jimi Hendrix, John
McLaughlin, Allan Holdsworth, and finally some of the "Stickists"
who because of their techniques and styles have prodded me
forward like Greg Howard, Don Schiff and Bob Culbertson (and
several others of course).
AN: What do you like to listen to? When you get up on a Saturday
or Sunday, what do you want to hear?
EC: I work weekends. Sometimes I listen to a song that I'm
trying to "rearrange" and reharmonize. Those can
be classical, jazz, rock, pop, ethnic or Brazilian.
AN: What are you "rearranging" now?
EC: A Celtic French folk song from Brittany, "A Kiss
from a Rose" sung by Seal, Rachmaninoff's 2nd Concerto,
and the old jazz standard "Stella by Starlight,”
but I "Chapmanize" them all.
AN: Are these Chapmanizations for solo or ensemble? Recording
or live?
EC: They're solo but can be applied to a Stick/drums duo
with the right percussionist.I plan to record these novel
song arrangements some time soon but for now I've just been
playing them live.
AN: With reference to the Rachmaninoff piece and "Stella
by Starlight," are you looking at a score or lead sheet?
Or are you listening to particular performances of those pieces
that you like and rearranging from there?
EC: I don't learn songs visually. I just listen, but not
too long, as I want to reinterpret the song, convey my impression,
reharmonize the chords, stress certain intervals in the melody,
and also catapult into an abstract improv mode based on elements
of the song.
AN: Is there a Chapmanization method or do you let the composition
direct you?
EC: Not so much a method as a pervasive style.I've long felt
that the artist should be a stylist, and with some good fortune
that style may be transcended to the level of invention, invention
of a new musical language.
To find out about Chapman’s musical language, check
out his web site, which
includes a list of
workshops and concerts.
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