Solene Question

[FretDragon]

Can any of the Solene players here confirm whether a Solene has a string damper similar to other tap instruments?

Reason why I am asking is that the Solene "manual" notes a number of open strings in the tutorials. I assume notes would be flicked or plucked with a free finger, but was surprised to see open strings called for.

Jeff

[traktor]

Hi, FretDragon,

I don't exactly know the answer, but probably you can find out by (a) contacting Rich Eberlen, the solene guy; and also by (b) looking up Rich's patent # D363,946 at http://uspto.gov.

Most likely this will clarify the matter.

Also, I'd be curious to know: where did you get the solene "manual"?

[FretDragon]

I actually ordered the book directly from Rich. It is a fantastic book with much thought going into it.

I obviously do not own a Solene (yet), but have applied the same principles to guitar.

Jeff

[murphy]

Hey Jeff,

The Solene does have a string damper. I'm sure the references to open strings you speak of are just references to the "zero" fret. The zero fret takes the place of the nut on a tapping instrument and is tapped just like any other fret.

Rich did have a custom order for a Solene with a sort of capo for a player with a very unusual approach (this guy taps on a Les Paul and plays his Solene with a violin bow!) who wanted open strings. It basically attached between the zero fret and the string damper so the model could be played either way. I think he was considering making this a standard feature since there was no downside and it wasn't terribly difficult to add but I think it's still a custom add-on at this point.

yo Traktor...I found a site of yours the other day that I can't find now. It was a page where different tapping instructional publications were sold. Did I dream this? I don't even know how I came across it. Do you know what I'm referring to? I'd like to take another look.
murph

[rjgoos]

Murph,

Try this page:
www.megatar.com/english/Accessories/Learning/learning.html

Or the bottom of the chart at:
www.megatar.com/english/Pricelist/All_Prices/all_prices.html

Books by Ray Ashley and Frank Jolliffe and Daniel Schell:
http://www.touchstyle.com/books.html


But Murph, you are tapping a Solene, right? Would regular classical guitar tablature and sheet music work good for this? What I do to get classical guitar sheet music is this...I find MIDI versions of classical guitar arrangements of classical pieces I like. I then load the MIDI file in to a sheet music generation program that imports MIDI, and voila'...sheet music. Just a thought.


RJ Goos

[murphy]

Thanks RJ...it was the third link you posted that I was referring to.

I wasn't really shopping for music I just stumbled across it and didn't really look at the titles available but meant to later, and later I couldn't find it.

I trust the frozen tundra is thawing out up there by now and you can come out and tap in the sunshine. :-)

thanks,
murph

[rjgoos]

The frozen tundra is slowly thawing. Grass is starting to turn green, but won't be mowing height for at least another two weeks. No leaves on trees yet. A scattered, brave, crocus is peeking out of flower beds here and there. Trees won't be blooming for another 3 weeks, I'm guessing. Still too cold to ride my bike to work.


RJ Goos