Organicity as a musical necessity

Some time ago, I attended a concert by a highly esteemed colleague of mine, an electric guitarist. The recital, which lasted about an hour and featured new works for solo instrument, was followed by a moderated discussion that, starting from the specifics of the pieces performed, expanded into a broader discussion about the very nature of the instrument.

One of the topics raised by the moderator concerned the inextricable and often incomprehensible relationship—at least for an outside observer—between the electric guitar, the electronics, and the actual sonic result, emphasizing how the sound event can often appear entirely decoupled and independent from the manipulation of the instrument. This is a topic that is anything but trivial and poses significant challenges for both the performer and the composer who seeks to engage with electric guitar.

In this regard, the guitarist stated that his approach to the instrument and musical interpretation, as well as the perspective he offers to the composers he collaborates with, is to think of the electronics as an augmentation of the electric guitar—a fundamentally acoustic instrument, on which musical reflection should focus, and which can be augmented through electronic devices as needed. The use of these devices should therefore aim to enhance the qualities of the instrument and/or specific musical aspects of the composition.

Despite my firm disagreement with these statements, this viewpoint seems to be widely shared by many of my colleagues. At the beginning of my journey, I also aligned myself with this view—perhaps out of fear of accepting that the sound possibilities inherent to my instrument are endless, to avoid the fetishism of pedals, or to prevent composers from losing sight of the musical content in light of these factors. I am convinced that, deep down, these are still the reasons for many.

I find it concerning that this perspective continues to garner such widespread support, as, in my opinion, it can obstruct a deeper understanding of the instrument, limit critical thinking about its nature, and stifle openness to new technical and musical possibilities. This is why I felt compelled to write about it.

Instrument augmentation can be defined as a process in which a given instrument’s sonic capabilities are expanded by technological means, without jeopardizing the initial instrument’s playing, its sonic and expressive possibilities (Otso et al., 2010, p. 42). According to this definition, and staying within the perspective of understanding the electric guitar as an augmentable instrument, a natural question arises: what is an ‘unaugmented’ electric guitar? What is the instrument’s initial state? Is there a clear line of demarcation between the instrument and its augmentations?

The electric guitar was born in the 1930s essentially as an augmented acoustic guitar. Electromagnetic pickups were installed into the soundhole of acoustic guitars in order to capture the vibration of the strings and amplify it—a kind of integrated microphone. However, starting in the 1940s, the acoustic dimension quickly disappeared: solid-body guitars (lacking a resonant body) were introduced, and the focus shifted to signal processing, amplification, and diffusion technologies. The guitar became the first link in an electroacoustic chain, and its sound became synonymous with what is emitted by the speaker at the end of that chain. Although one could still argue that the ‘unaugmented’ electric guitar is, in essence, an acoustic sound source, it is clear that when discussing its sonic capabilities, one is not referring to the unpleasant acoustic rattle of questionable musical utility it would produce if isolated from the rest of the chain.

An ‘unaugmented’ electric guitar would, therefore, not be considered an electric guitar; augmentation is inherent to its organology. For this reason, I find it misleading to refer to an ‘augmented instrument.’ The separation between the electric guitar and the devices that process its signal does not exist. When discussing the musical instrument electric guitar, one cannot focus solely on the object itself. The electric guitar functions as a modular system, where multiple elements contribute to the creation of the sound phenomenon and are integral parts of the instrument. Modifying any link in this chain drastically alters the mechanisms of sound production, thereby changing the very nature of the instrument and the interaction instrument-performer.