| String instrument | |
|---|---|
| Classification | Bowed string instrument |
| Hornbostel–Sachs classification | 321.322-71 (Composite chordophone sounded by a bow) |
| Developed | Late 20th century |
| Related instruments | |
The GuitarViol is a modern Arpeggione (or bowed guitar) built by guitarist and luthier Jonathan Eric Wilson.[1] It has six strings tuned in E2–A2–D3–G3–B3–E4 in a standard (tenor) guitar tuning, though some tune in baritone tuning in B1–E2–A2–D3–F#3–B3, with 24 frets.[2] It is most often played in a semi-diagonal, guitar-like playing position and bowed with an underhand “German” bow grip manner similar to the viola da gamba. GuitarViols exist in solid body electric, semi-acoustic, and acoustic configurations.[3] GuitarViols have been predominantly used by media composers, with notable examples including 300, Game of Thrones, and Borderlands.[4][5][6][7]
GuitarViols are built under the TogaMan brand by GuitarViols inc. in Fillmore, California. The brand's name is derived from a toga tenor viol player portrayed in “Noces de Cana” by Paolo Veronese which depicts a playing position used by GuitarViols players.[8]
Notable GuitarViol players include Tyler Bates,[9] Loga Ramin Torkian,[10] Kevin Kiner,[11] Ramin Djawadi,[12] Heitor Pereira,[13] Charlie Clouser,[14] Gary Lionelli,[15] Brian Tyler,[16] Jeff Cardoni, and Justin Melland among others.[17]
Bates added an extra sonic dimension by employing an obscure custom instrument called a GuitarViol, a hybrid viola-electric guitar designed by luthier Jonathan Wilson. Like the score itself, the GuitarViol is a marriage of contradictions: It's fretted, yet it can be bowed, and its onboard electronics (EQ, preamp, and BOWD Horizon bridge/pickup system with adjustable string saddles) are sensitive to glissando runs yet offer guitar-hero vibrato.
the GuitarViol, it takes the familiar concept of a guitar (same tuning, frets, strings) and marries it with a violin ... The radius starts at 7.5" at the nut and projects to the bridge at 2.5". At the 24th fret, it's 3.25".
I now build fully Acoustic and ElectroCoustic models but initially I designed a solid body because I was after something that would work for my looping application. Sometimes my earlier semi-hollow model was acoustically loud enough that it obscured my loops if the soundman at a venue was too slow on the fader.
[Tyler Bates:] By using delays and different bowing techniques, motifs and thematic ideas often emerge in a crude form. I frequently extrapolate elements from these little space jams that ultimately become central to the orchestral aspect of a score. The GuitarViol was all over 300.
Some examples of the GuitarViol's use in Film include 300, the Black Swan, Clash of the Titans, TV's True Blood, CSI Miami, CSI New York, and Video games such as Medal of Honor and Borderlands (Borderlands features Jonathan himself playing the GuitarViol)
Wilson designs and builds Guitar Viols—hybrid bowed instruments tuned like guitars. They are the rage in Hollywood, being featured on major movie, television, and video game soundtracks. But Wilson also plays Guitar Viols and other instruments, and here he takes them on a musical fun ride that jumps from the Beatles to Vivaldi to Gregorian chant, along with originals spanning new age to metal—all with skill, enthusiasm, and aplomb. Lakeshore.
[Vintage Guitar:] Where did the TogaMan name come from? [TogaMan Guitars:] It is inspired by the toga/tunic figure in "Noces de Cana" a painting by Paolo Veronese that depicts the water-to-wine wedding scene in the Bible. In it, a man is playing a guitar-sized viol in a guitar-like playing stance. It provides a quick history lesson.
[Tyler Bates:] I frequently use the Boss Loop Station to explore ideas in a more stream-of-consciousness fashion, because it allows me to create an ambient soundscape, a chord progression, or a rhythmic figure that I can then live with for a while—and sometimes those loops actually make it into the final score. The TogaMan GuitarViol—a hybrid instrument tuned like a guitar but bowed like a viol—is also a huge part of my sound.
Playing a small orchestra's worth of stringed instruments— including electric guitar and GuitarViol—and accompanied by master vocalist Khosro Ansarl, Torkian has crafted a sublime musical experience rooted in ancient soil, yet yearning for the heavens.
Electric Guitarviol: As the name suggests, an electric version of the Guitarviol. It has a solid body, as opposed to the hollow-bodies of the acoustic Guitarviols.
The score makes use of an 80-piece orchestra recorded in London, a choir of 40 vocalists, and opera singers, as well as various ethnic blown and plucked instruments, including a solo cello and a guitar viol, both of which were played by Djawadi himself.
What makes Heitor a rare bird in this business is that he uses tons of guitars (and ukuleles, mandolins, Jonathan Wilson's GuitarViols—every kind of stringed instrument imaginable, along with his own voice, percussion, piano, various synthesizers, loopers, etc.).
When it comes to more delicate passages, such as those for solo cello or GuitarViol (a cello-guitar hybrid handcrafted by TogaMan Guitars), Clouser likes to perform those live. "Like many composers, I find that it's easier to get gigantic, epic sounds from in-the-box orchestral simulations than it is to get delicate, exposed solo instrument passages," he says. As for that GuitarViol, Clouser explains, "It has a guitar fretboard but an arched bridge of a cello and it's played with a bow. It allows people who can work a guitar fretboard but maybe not a cello fretboard to achieve cello-like sounds and playing techniques."
The renowned conductor and multi-instrumentalist, who plays piano, guitar, drums, bass, cello, world percussion, synth programming, guitarviol, charango, and bouzouki (the list goes on and on…) graciously gave us his insights. Get ready for his inside tips on when to follow, and break, the rules.
In the beginning of this cue, the characters are experiencing a tremendous loss. They are devastated. So, their pain is represented by the Guitarviol. It's blown out with lots of reverb, this helps illustrated how they are lost in a world of memories.