Matthew Herbert’s protégé builds her own crazy instrument harnessing unusual pitch, a CD rack and the professional plumbing skills of her mate, Dave. Operating at the coalface of experimentalism with a budget to match the diminutive musical muse has turned up some surprising results.
How did the idea for the chopper come about?
I was fooling around with a wooden CD rack and started to make things up. I wanted to make something that sounded quite electronic and mechanical, but that had a mechanical function to it; I made a little wheel and it played electric guitar strings. I thought it’s interesting to try and achieve something that sounds electronic and acoustic instrument but you can put two pedals.
Can you briefly describe how it actually works?
You just spin. The wheel, in the right hand, you spin as if turning a vinyl. With your left hand you use a rod; but at the moment it plays parallel cords and the pitch is defined by moving a metal rod, up and down to change the pitch.
Before you sat down to build it, were you inspired by any pre-existing shapes or sounds?
The change of pitch was inspired by sly guitar; in general the whole idea of building instruments is inspired by Harry Partch. I feel if you’re going to write your own music, it’s also nice to think about writing your own instrument to do it on, creating your own sort of orchestration.
What can it do that other instruments can’t?
It’s this loop feel; it’s the fact that you can put in a rhythm and, apart from the speed of it, the loop’s always the same; it’s more the sound of it I suppose is different.
How differently does it sound to how you envisioned?
It’s not far off from sounding like a not a very large guitar or some old folk instrument.
Can you tell me a bit about the construction process and any hilarious incidents or worrying discoveries?
I made it with my housemate, Dave; he’s actually a plumber so he’s not really coming from an instrument building background or music background. We did one, then we did another to improve on the first one, but there was another thing that was wrong with it; we work on it together, but I’m probably more a hindrance than help. He does the technical stuff and I just work out what the function of it should be; Actually, the last one we did we had to do really quickly because it was filmed whilst we did it in to a time-lasp. I went away on tour and Dave sort of got on with it; so it looks nice, but it doesn’t sound very interesting.
Is it easy to play?
Yeah. I wouldn’t say I’m good at it yet.
So you’ve not induced bodily deformations through playing it too much?
No.
Why does it rock?
You know what it does sound like: a piano-hip hop loop; it has a nice quality to it.
Why is it flawed?
Because we’re making it up as I go along I suppose. It’s an early model.
Which musical legend would it suit the best?
Timbaland.
What songs have you released that we can hear it on?
It’s on Chopped and Screwed, a mini live album.
Before you made reference to a guy that made his own instruments, like one of your mentors, who was that?
Harry Partch. He was incredible. He was songwriter; also, he created his own instruments to facilitate his, a pitch series which is 43 times instead of 12; he worked up 43 decipherable pitches within that and created the most extraordinary set of instruments which everyone that you will have interviewed or go into interviews will definitely know about. He started working on songs in the 40’s maybe a bit before; he died in ’74.
Did he build any particularly, like how did he accommodate his 43 pitches on an instrument?
He built a whole array of instruments. He made this organ that he adapted, which the whole span of the hole of the organ is the span of the just 12 on the normal keyboard, just 12 of the key instead of the 43, so it sounds like traffic when you play it.
What did the Chopper teach you most about being a musician?
Practice makes perfect. I guess what’s good about it, is that you’re brought to the horror of a new thing; when you come to writing a song just thinking outside of the conventions of your instrument.
Does it surprise you that so few musicians make their own instruments?
It kind of does, but to be honest with you the instruments that we have available to us are pretty good models.
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Watch a video of the Chopper in action.
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Find out about more ‘Inimitable Instruments ‘ on ClashMusic.com HERE.