SynthAxe: Difference between revisions
From Allan Holdsworth Information Center
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==The SynthAxe in interviews== | ==The SynthAxe in interviews== | ||
Allan's use of the SynthAxe alienated a large part of his audience, which consisted of a large number of guitar players. Still, it was a major topic in interviews, especially from 1985 to 1990. This means that there is a lot of material, which should ideally be categorized further. The remainder of this article simply quotes all articles where Allan talks about the Synthaxe | Allan's use of the SynthAxe alienated a large part of his audience, which consisted of a large number of guitar players. Still, it was a major topic in interviews, especially from 1985 to 1990. This means that there is a lot of material, which should ideally be categorized further. The remainder of this article simply quotes all articles where Allan talks about the Synthaxe. | ||
=SynthAxe quotes= | =SynthAxe quotes= | ||
__TOC__ | __TOC__ | ||
==[[Reaching For The Uncommon Chord]]== | |||
'''SYNTHAXE''' | |||
The Synthaxe is not a step beyond that (to me) [referring to guitar synths] — it's a giant leap beyond. It's a MIDI controller, it's very accurate, and it works. It's a very strange instrument to play at first because it's got two sets of strings. It will drive any synthesizer capable of handling all the MIDI information that the Synthaxe puts out. It puts out more information than a lot of keyboards would. You can hook it up to Oberheims, and that works really well. With the Synthaxe you have the problems of coping with a new instrument in as much as it feels different - you're playing a different set of strings with each hand, and the fret spacing is completely different, but it doesn't take very long to get used to. I only played it a couple of times, and each time I played it, I got more into it. To me the Synthaxe is a fantastic achievement. I find it amazing that someone went to these lengths to create this instrument. | |||
==[[Allan Holdsworth (Guitarist 1985)]]== | ==[[Allan Holdsworth (Guitarist 1985)]]== | ||
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==[[Allan Holdsworth: Synthaxe (Guitar Player 1985)]]== | ==[[Allan Holdsworth: Synthaxe (Guitar Player 1985)]]== | ||
Among the first to use a '''SynthAxe''', Allan Holdsworth has just released Atavachron [Enigma (dist. by Capitol), 72064-1], on which he uses the synthesizer controller extensively. A prominent display of the instrument under Holdsworth’s control, "Non Brewed Condiment," from Atavachron, appeared as a '''SynthAxe''' demonstration on the flipside of Guitar Player’s January 1986 Soundpage. | Among the first to use a '''SynthAxe''', Allan Holdsworth has just released Atavachron [Enigma (dist. by Capitol), 72064-1], on which he uses the synthesizer controller extensively. A prominent display of the instrument under Holdsworth’s control, "Non Brewed Condiment," from Atavachron, appeared as a '''SynthAxe''' demonstration on the flipside of Guitar Player’s January 1986 Soundpage. | ||
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==[[HUMBLE GUITAR MASTER ALLAN HOLDSWORTH ALWAYS STRUGGLES TO PAY THE RENT]]== | ==[[HUMBLE GUITAR MASTER ALLAN HOLDSWORTH ALWAYS STRUGGLES TO PAY THE RENT]]== | ||
For his three Town Pump dates, Holdsworth will be focusing on material from his new album Atavachron. Named after a word he heard in a Star Trek episode, the new LP features a newly developed instrument called the Synth Axe. “It’s like the next generation of machines that guitarists can play to control synthesizers,” says Holdsworth. As well as his trusty Synth Axe, Holdsworth will be joined on stage by drummer Chad Wackerman, bassist Jimmy Johnson, and keyboardist Billy Childs (formerly with saxman Freddie Hubbard). | For his three Town Pump dates, Holdsworth will be focusing on material from his new album Atavachron. Named after a word he heard in a Star Trek episode, the new LP features a newly developed instrument called the '''Synth Axe'''. “It’s like the next generation of machines that guitarists can play to control synthesizers,” says Holdsworth. As well as his trusty Synth Axe, Holdsworth will be joined on stage by drummer Chad Wackerman, bassist Jimmy Johnson, and keyboardist Billy Childs (formerly with saxman Freddie Hubbard). | ||
==[[Castles Made Of Sand (Guitarist 1987)]]== | ==[[Castles Made Of Sand (Guitarist 1987)]]== | ||
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Briefly, but it was a few years ago. But it was like a step backwards for me; if I have to go from the '''SynthAxe''', the thing is going to have to be absolutely, incredibly remarkable for me to want to make a jump. | Briefly, but it was a few years ago. But it was like a step backwards for me; if I have to go from the '''SynthAxe''', the thing is going to have to be absolutely, incredibly remarkable for me to want to make a jump. | ||
==[[Interview_with_Allan_Holdsworth_(Jazz_Italia_2005)]]== | |||
ALEX: In your opinion, why has no one else in the guitar synth world proposed a valid alternative to Roland's hexaphonic pickup, which is not very faithful, apart from SynthAxe and Yamaha, which have a virtually error-free system? | |||
ALLAN: I do not know ... because probably many guitarists, when I did some clinics, they asked me: "well, can you make it sound like a Strat?" and I would answer "why do you want to make it sound like a Strat? Why take a guitar synth with all these sounds and then play it like a guitar? You already have a guitar!" But I think that most guitarists want to play the guitar so they do not want to waste time managing it from a technical point of view. The reason why nobody has done another is because it is very complex to make the sound of a guitar. As with a keyboard, driving a synthesizer is simple, you just have to switch on a switch or not, with the guitar it's hard. Yamaha has made a great system, the strings are very low. The problem, in this case, is that if you do bending you may have precision defects since it is calculated at the bridge level ... The SynthAxe was completely different. Each key was separated on each string and the sensors were inside the strings themselves - they are like microphones so it makes sense the movement of the string as well as knowing how long the string is and then know when bend is possible if you play more towards the neck and how much if you play more towards the bridge. It's all programmed, a great machine. But they are very delicate, I have one that works well and one that does not work. At the beginning they were very reliable but now I would fear to take another one. [Machine back translated.] | |||
