Here’s digital music of a different variety: the stunningly-modern music of Hungarian composer Bela Bartók, transcribed for four electric guitars. Where’s the computer? Glad you asked: think computer music software (Notion, which looks lovely here), and an iPad and Bluetooth page turner.
There’s no way you’re playing this string quartet and turning pages, unless you have three hands.
Guitarist Joe Gore – playing with guitarists Joe Gore, Joe Gore, and Joe Gore – tackles this epic score, and demonstrates just how great it sounds on electric guitar. It’s worth reading his whole story, which deservedly waxes poetic about the beauty of Bartók’s composition and extended techniques. (The playing technique, for instance, comes straight from the string quartet, even though it goes nicely on electric guitar.)
This also must be the first time Hello Kitty has been associated with this music.
Read: Meet the REAL Spiders from Mars! Bartók on Electric Guitar [tonefiend]
The tech ingredients, from our time rather than Bartók’s forward-looking 1928 composition:
Notion music notation software. That tool gains added significance with the uncertain future of Sibelius. Read Joe’s review, under the heading The Best Music Notation Software for Guitarists?
PageFlip Cicada Bluetooth-based page turned for iPad.
Notion has some nice features, particularly the iPad integration, though I’m disappointed the range of notation features isn’t wider. (Then again, that disappoints me with most software, which tends to the conservative – partly the fault of the complexities of modern notational demands.)
We hope to have more from Joe here on CDM soon.
Bartok, awesome, angular music, awesome, angular nose. Photo (CC-BY) cuttlefish.
And here’s the music: