Chapman Stick demonstration/introduction: Tuning, Playing style, Sound processing etc

This is a demonstration of the rare instrument Chapman stick. If you are new to this instrument, I hope you find this useful!

[@Mirzayev]

My Dad has played the Chapman Stick for more than 30 years at this point. Definitely great to see another Stick player out there!

How wonderful to hear that! I think the stick has been around since the 1970’s right? But there has also been a lot of development and improvement during this time. Does he play the alto stick or a regular? My next stick will be a 12 string for sure. I’d love to hear what I could create when I achieve more movement in the horizontal direction and not just up and down the neck. Btw, Here’s my story on why I am playing the stick. I think you’ll like it: www.creativeacoustician.com/blog/divine-intervention

[@starfishsystems]

Lovely presentation, vety informative. Tack så mycket!

Cheers mate! Hope you get to try out the Stick =)

[@cadesimmons8610]

Thanks you so much for making this video! You answered all the questions I had. It’s a very beautiful instrument!

That’s great, I just improvised this video :) I wrote a blog post about the Stick a couple of weeks ago, where I tell the story about why I had to learn this instrument. In that blog post there is also a link to a clip with Stanley Jordan. That is one of the coolest things I have ever heard and that clip is where it al began for me. Btw there is also an Alto stick which is shorter and has a brighter tone. There are two guys called heartstrings who play a duo with alto and grand stick - also worth a listen. Especially their version of time after time I like a lot. www.creativeacoustician.com/blog/divine-intervention

[@anxiousx]

Where's the post i definitely need to read it.

@@anxiousx sorry I forgot to paste the link above - my bad! Thank you for letting me know! Here is the post www.creativeacoustician.com/blog/divine-intervention

[@ninomateo]

Thanks. I saw and heard someone playing this many years ago. It was beautiful, but I couldn't figure out what was happening. Your explanation was very good.

Thanks mate, I agree that the sound is very special. The Stick takes the best from several instrument categories. It is similar to playing the piano but you have the expressiveness of a guitar with bends and vibrato which is impossible on a piano. And then you also have the percussive nature of the playing style and it is also a bass 😊

[@tonycarpaccio9550]

Woah those frets are enormous! Great vid thanks.

Yes, they are huge! =) They do make the tapping effortless. But imagine a guitar like this 😂

[@edwincancelii2917]

It’s tuned in one side, fifth tuned bass & chords, and fourth tuned melody. And the microphones are also called pickups.

[@citacis546]

Can't wait to get one. Thanks for clearing some air up about it!

I have grown so much by picking up this instrument, I wish you all the best and hope you find an instrument that you'll like! It's a shame they are so rare that it is almost impossible to try before buy... But rest assured, the quality is absolutely top-notch. You can't really go wrong with an original Stick!

[@citacis546]

@ you said you use fishman amplifiers. Are you using the stereo y cable into it? If so, how does it sound?

@@citacis546 I always use the y cable. Fish man has two exact replica channels which I find useful with the stick. You really don’t want to add reverb on the bass side, for example but it’s very nice on the melody side. Without stereo processing, that is not possible.

[@AnonymousMetalHeadCrossBone]

Is it possible to play it without tapping just plucking.

[@chez5262]

Those are very hard to come by in sweden. I've only seen a Chapman stick (12 string I think) for sale once. Would like to build a makeshift one someday. Anyhow... Very neat and interesting video.

I know, they are so rare! I have seen perhaps 2 in the past 5-10 years... here’s my story of why and how I play the Stick: www.creativeacoustician.com/blog/divine-intervention

[@ericgrimm4526]

amazing tutorial..thank you!

Great to hear that mate!! 👍 Are considering to start playing or are you already a player?

[@linusaslund6438]

Kvintar kallas "fifth's" på engelska.. riktigt coolt instrument.. såg när Tony Levin spelade

[@ftumptch63]

Really nice video. I have 2. Played in a covers band and used a line 6 rack to do the dual processing. I have a gr55 on a couple for guitars and a couple of hex pickups. I dont want cut a channel in the stick to take it. What pickups are you using for the Roland? I'm so glad you demo' d the wrong chords or bad hit issue. I excellent at that. You seem to have it under control. As the cliche goes " happy tapping". Again great video. All the best.

Hahaha "I excel at that" 😅 Usually it's all going fine and then BAM out of nowhere a small mistake completely destroys the immersion. Sorry for the late reply, I missed your comment. I think this particular stick has the GK-3 factory installed. Works nicely, but it would be so nice if they could integrate it into a piezo saddle instead like some electric guitars do. Would be a lot cleaner. However, the Roland mic has a big clunky switch that I use to turn on/off the synth sound easily. And that is useful. You always find it because it is so big.

[@subbbass]

it's called classic tuning on the 10string stick model. you find more infos about tunings on their website stick.com

Cheers mate! Yeah I have been checking out that page, very useful. However, mine is not tuned in classic tuning as I understand. I have traded a thin melody string for a thick melody string. Otherwise it is standard. Next stick will be a 12 string for sure :)

[@DAaronSmith]

Love the video! What kind of wood is your stick made out of?

Wonderful! =) I bought it 2nd hand many years ago, but I think it looks like Tarara from the pictures on stick.com It's a magical instrument like no other. I mainly play the drums nowadays, but reading your comment really makes my stick fingers itchy 😅have a great day!

[@mattuw82]

Are the bass strings in 5ths instead of 4ths? That's what it sounded like.

Correct, the bass strings are just like violin tuning but flipped upside down, which is very comfortable to play. It's not as crazy as it sounds when you pick it up, because all the scales and patterns and chords look exactly the same, except that the pitch changes one octave when you go to the next string. And the melody strings are tuned just like a normal guitar/bass.

[@onlineperformancebyminapep4020]

What’s the name of this Chapman stick? Thanks for the video!!

My pleasure =) This is the "standard" ten-string version of the Stick, with the PASV-4 pickups and MIDI pickup. I sometimes wish I would have the 12-string version to allow for more movement across the neck instead of up and down the neck. But that would also make it a bit less ergonomical and when I started, I thought it was probably wisest to begin with the bog standard configuration and figure out my preferences as I go along. Speaking of ergonomics, The Chapman Stick is THE most ergonomical instrument I have ever played.