STEEL STRINGS

STEEL STRINGS

Steel Strings is a collection of 150 meticulously recorded sound effects, capturing the raw, resonant, and percussive sounds of a Fender Jaguar guitar, played in ways that was never intended.

Inspired by the concept of a prepared piano, the strings were manipulated and played using unconventional objects, including soft mallets, drumsticks, metal rods, wooden sticks, metal plates, screwdrivers, and more.

The result is a diverse palette of sounds that bear little resemblance to a traditional guitar, instead offering an array of metallic scrapes, deep impacts, resonant overtones, and rhythmic rattles.

To achieve maximum sonic depth, the strings were extremely detuned, creating deep overtones and unique textures. The guitar pickups were bypassed entirely, with the instrument recorded acoustically using high-quality contact microphones: the Lom Audio Geofón and Zeppelin Design Labs Cortado MkIII. This approach captures every nuance of the strings’ raw mechanical vibrations, and the deep resonance of the guitar’s alder wood body.