noise guitarists

[Natalia]

Right off the bat I think of Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music.

[Lactating Tardigrade]

Caspar Sonnet is a somewhat newer name, at least to me. He's been around a few years and some material is more in line with free improvisation and closer to something like Derek Bailey while other material is more noise-based. His instrument of choice is actually the lap steel guitar which is a little different. His recent tape Passacaglia Radio is pretty harsh guitar-based noise closer to Kevin Drumm's older material or Keith Rowe's solo albums but with much more grit and really it's own thing. Making comparisons like that aren't probably fair but gives you a general idea. He seems very active in the improv scene and someone to keep an eye on. For those who may not be allergic to the more free improvisation-based material, I also liked the HMMGED tape.

[stactor]

Thanks again to everyone for these great suggestions!

[stactor]

From the Wikipedia article on prepared guitar, I will add a few more names to the list:

Bjørn Fongaard
Koka Nikoladze
Dani Rabin
Duane Denison
GP Hall
Steve Parry
Martín Irigoyen
Nikita Koshkin
Jacques Palinckx
Cor Fuhler
Micachu
Michael Chorney
Shane Parish
Paolo Angeli
Yuri Landman
Scott Fields
Dominic Frasca
David Tronzo
Reynaldo Young
Jon Wilson
Reentko Dirks

Some of these I was already familiar with, others not so much. As to the ones I don't know very well, I can't say for sure whether they are primarily focused on experimental approaches to guitar or are rather just guitarists who occasionally use preparations, extended technique, etc.

[Namahs]

Electric Hobo has some live releases that are mainly on guitar.
Junkyard Shaman has tons of guitar stuff going on but not so harsh style.
Matatadrone and also Norman Bates Blues Band got some cool drone/noise stuff going on with guitar/s

[D345]

lot of good ones already mentioned and thanks for all the recommendations!
Norman Westberg, Blixa Bargeld and Rowland S Howard might be my favourites (and Phil Orcut)
but the most mythic is Sue Hanel
https://youtu.be/bvH4OFh75gA?si=hPptI5mYGZI4Ml7f
https://youtu.be/vC59a08Aubo?si=ibrwT1DQ6CRxXonV

[D345]

https://youtu.be/V2vT9W1ij2Q?si=B9m3Gfh-OcdFbn8p
and check out the youtube channel of Dee Dee Gero of The Gerogerigegege

usually he posts videos of him playing some classic rock (like sexual behavior in the human male) super loud or videos of him eating something

https://youtu.be/c1mohGrgW-o?si=cr_qU8dQ7H0RT3bl
here's a video of him shooting a gun at you. rock'n'roll will never die

[luciferjonez]

This dude inspired me. Watched him play his guitar with a machete once: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZsAIU9t9DY

[stactor]

Noise guitarists who played in Canadian industrial band Phycus over the decades:

Bruce X
Thierry Gauthier
William Davison, a.k.a. Bill Satan (that's me)
Christian
Bertrand Boisvert
Bill Abominog
Dave Catheter
LQ

[moth1334]

a bunch here plus lots of awesome pics

http://preparedguitar.blogspot.com/?m=1

Thanks! I was following that blog for a while but forgot about it. Will have another look at it.

Whoops, no, I was thinking of another blog called Guitar Moderne (https://www.guitarmoderne.com/). Anyway, I'll check out the prepared guitar blog (although it looks like it hasn't been updated in a few years).

yeah, it stopped updating a while back unfortunately
still a great resource though
I will check the one you linked, thank you for sharing!

[lastof]

i made this youtube playlist like 15 years ago haha. it's not that big but when i look at it i remember the name OBSTACLE CORPSE and smile. plus that glenn branca vid is an all timer

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... 78DE40CF3F

[stactor]

i made this youtube playlist like 15 years ago haha. it's not that big but when i look at it i remember the name OBSTACLE CORPSE and smile. plus that glenn branca vid is an all timer

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... 78DE40CF3F

Will check that out. Thanks!

[PetiteSoles]

She was already mentioned but I'm going to second Sandy Ewen. She was on last years fest in Greensburg and it was one of my favorite sets of the evening.

https://youtu.be/yj43UWYjL1E?si=FZCnSEC3zM_2jOb_

She's playing Pittsburgh tonight but I had to work and couldn't make it. It's actually an experimental guitar event.

The video doesn't really do justice. There was a lot of stereo panning that really made the thing memorable.

[stactor]

She was already mentioned but I'm going to second Sandy Ewen. She was on last years fest in Greensburg and it was one of my favorite sets of the evening.

https://youtu.be/yj43UWYjL1E?si=FZCnSEC3zM_2jOb_

She's playing Pittsburgh tonight but I had to work and couldn't make it. It's actually an experimental guitar event.

The video doesn't really do justice. There was a lot of stereo panning that really made the thing memorable.

Thanks, yes, she plays here in Toronto fairly often. In fact, I've played with her a couple of times. Or maybe just one time. Memory's getting foggy in my old age. Anyway, yeah, she's a good one!

[SS1535]

For those of you in the San Diego area (if any?):

[stactor]

For those of you in the San Diego area (if any?):

Thanks!

[luciferjonez]

For those of you in the San Diego area (if any?):

I hope someone records it or does a live feed (a person can dream, right?).

[SS1535]

For those of you in the San Diego area (if any?):

I hope someone records it or does a live feed (a person can dream, right?).

The Stay Strange guy usually uploads at least a few clips on his Instagram after each event. It's also being held at an art center, so they might have some recordings done as well.

[SS1535]

For those of you in the San Diego area (if any?):

Thanks!

Hey! So there are some people local to my area around here! I will probably be going tonight---I'll be in the Current 93 shirt if you feel like saying hi.

[---O---]

uhmm.... might be ok if I leave my guitar noise album link here. it's called "guitar noise overdose"

https://magmatones.bandcamp.com/album/u ... se-verd-se

recorded already in 2000, but i am still satisfied for the sound

[SS1535]

uhmm.... might be ok if I leave my guitar noise album link here. it's called "guitar noise overdose"

https://magmatones.bandcamp.com/album/u ... se-verd-se

recorded already in 2000, but i am still satisfied for the sound

Sounds great! Do you remember what sort of pedals/set-up you used?

[---O---]

Thank you! Here's what I can remember: I didn't have a mixer, so I used the 4-track cassette recorder instead if I needed to have multiple layers going on at the same time. So the guitar with few effect pedals went first to line1, from there to stereos, and from the headphones output to a small speaker element (which was originally from some cheap radio-cassette player). There was a microphone taking sounds from the speaker and that went to the line2 of the same 4-tracker. line3 may have been a no-input feedback loop. So the overall sound was circulating a lot, and there was some work to do so that the infernal feedback wouldn't take all the space. That was one type of sound creation, and quite surely also used on this album.

Another was more simple one: the speaker was connected to 4-tracker's headphone output, and the mic took the sounds from that (so, no stereos between). Sometimes that speaker was placed upside down directly on top of the guitar mics and strings, so when I moved it a bit, I could play the feedback with some string noise as well. Sometimes I also just played directly to the line, and recorded that.... or played through stereos and recorded the sound from the main stereo speakers. Mixing that type of stuff, some variations depending of the day (never had some long time solid system, always trying different styles to produce some strange sounds). Two years later (2002) I got a computer, so I could play through that instead of stereos (or using them both). One session of those type of recordings was released on cdr https://uton.bandcamp.com/album/031202

Sorry, long answer, but hopefully not deadly boring.

[SS1535]

Thank you! Here's what I can remember: I didn't have a mixer, so I used the 4-track cassette recorder instead if I needed to have multiple layers going on at the same time. So the guitar with few effect pedals went first to line1, from there to stereos, and from the headphones output to a small speaker element (which was originally from some cheap radio-cassette player). There was a microphone taking sounds from the speaker and that went to the line2 of the same 4-tracker. line3 may have been a no-input feedback loop. So the overall sound was circulating a lot, and there was some work to do so that the infernal feedback wouldn't take all the space. That was one type of sound creation, and quite surely also used on this album.

Another was more simple one: the speaker was connected to 4-tracker's headphone output, and the mic took the sounds from that (so, no stereos between). Sometimes that speaker was placed upside down directly on top of the guitar mics and strings, so when I moved it a bit, I could play the feedback with some string noise as well. Sometimes I also just played directly to the line, and recorded that.... or played through stereos and recorded the sound from the main stereo speakers. Mixing that type of stuff, some variations depending of the day (never had some long time solid system, always trying different styles to produce some strange sounds). Two years later (2002) I got a computer, so I could play through that instead of stereos (or using them both). One session of those type of recordings was released on cdr https://uton.bandcamp.com/album/031202

Sorry, long answer, but hopefully not deadly boring.

If someone finds this deadly boring, they probably shouldn't be on a noise forum!

Very interesting, though what you say. I asked because some of the tracks didn't sound like they contained any of the, I'm not sure exactly how to word it, but "movement" of sounds that I would associate with the guitar---sounding more akin to pedal/synth noise, while others very clearly were based around the guitar. So it makes a lot of sense, then, that the guitar was one part of a much larger, circulating chain of feedback, etc.! So with the whole feedback system, you still ultimately controlled the most of the changes of the sound through the guitar?

[---O---]

still ultimately controlled the most of the changes of the sound through the guitar?

well, I would say that the guitar was the center part, and all the rest around some additions (kind of like "extra-strings"). without the guitar's vibrations or the feedback from it's mics (or both together most likely) the sound would have been much different. that's why I would say that even it doesn't sound like it's a guitar sound, it actually is (but definetely not traditional guitar playing)

[SS1535]

still ultimately controlled the most of the changes of the sound through the guitar?

well, I would say that the guitar was the center part, and all the rest around some additions (kind of like "extra-strings"). without the guitar's vibrations or the feedback from it's mics (or both together most likely) the sound would have been much different. that's why I would say that even it doesn't sound like it's a guitar sound, it actually is (but definetely not traditional guitar playing)

Was your guitar itself modified at all in addition? Or was it more about changing the placement of the guitar in relation to speakers/etc.?