A new definition of flamenco guitar (as an instrument)
This article is meant for:
1) Players of world music and/or modern flamenco (either professionals or hobby players)
2) People learning to play guitar or who would like to enjoy an easy-to-play guitar.
3) Those who love guitars and recognize optimized playability in an instrument.
4) Those tired of the monotonous features and sameness of traditional guitars.
5) Players who search for true differentiation and distinctiveness in a guitar
6) Anyone attracted to real innovation and out-of-the-box ideas in arts.
Video https://youtu.be/3VGJVpKPRU8?t=150
I wrote this article as per the request of friends and students all over the world https://youtu.be/mjuUwHCihwI?t=3m3s all of them are eager learners, passionate about getting deeper knowledge on this area. Therefore my intention here is to share my realization in this field and to inspire everyone who may be interested. Those would include my students, friendly guitar collectors, committed guitar lovers and researchers, guitar listeners, aficionados on the arena of guitar playing as an entertainment or hobby. Let me not forget those who live their guitar playing as a metaphysical treat of some sort, as well as those who derive pleasure from the learning more about the evolution and developments in design for guitars as an art form.
To describe the whole thing better, I have included along with the text some relevant links of videos and pictures to shed light on precise aspects often unspoken in "guitar circles", where the mindful players will find valuable esoteric information that will increase their love for guitar as a gift in life. This article is for anyone attracted to guitar playing of any style and/or in the guitar as an instrument or both. I am keen to share here many things which I personally learned from Paco de Lucia and from my other teachers. What I write represents my personal points of view and reflects my experience based on realized knowledge gathered through many years walking on the path of flamenco guitar & music studies.
*Special thanks to my friend Mr. Steve Wright for his priceless assistance.
I wholeheartedly dedicate this article to my beloved wife Bhadra who always supported me in unimaginable ways, hence as a result of her love and assistance I am still able today to remain inside the path of music and arts.
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{Trigger warning and disclaimer note: https://youtu.be/zj71ujOCMZo?t=140
If you are a traditionalist, a resolute follower of the "tradition," I would advise you not to read this article. Let me make clear that I don't have the intention to criticize anyone, it is just that after many years of playing thousands of guitars of any given brand, one can imagine my experience. I believe that both as a guitar teacher and as a performer instrumentalist, I also have the right to express my opinion about this subject matter. And, if with that information I inspire anyone to play better than yesterday, then the mission of this article will be fulfilled.
Nevertheless if due to prejudices or if for any other reason you don't agree with my thoughts or, if you don't like Paco's ideas about what the goal of flamenco should be about, https://youtu.be/x--ycB-bjSI?t=4s with all due respect I would rather advise you to just click away and save your valuable time.
I shouldn't miss thanking the "haters" all those phony online troll characters out there, with special thanks to the snobbish, self-appointed, "flamenco kitsch gurus" and their followers inside those narrow flamenco circles. https://youtu.be/5sNHd6petrE?t=156 Through their negativity, and superficiality, they actually inspired me to become a better player and a more efficient guitar teacher today. I have no regrets about what happened with them in the past, including that big law-court case, which I won here in Spain, against some fellows who tried to slander me online years ago when Paco was still alive. They bullied me, blind to the fact that they would have to end up paying a costly price for it. As it actually happened, when their intentions went south in the courtroom in 2014. http://www.rdiaz.org/rdmagazine49-finalresolution.html May this official paper from the court (with the verdict in my favor) be, but a cordial commemoration and, a polite warning to envious folks who like to behave indecorously online.
Harnessing this moment of special thanks, I would like to express again my gratitude to those who helped me then to get that memorable court victory (hence I know they will also read this article). Years have passed, and still, I can't forget their generous assistance because, they always believed in me, and because they really like what I teach as well https://goo.gl/TVhSwm
If instead, you are a "neutral listener" regarding these polemical topics, or if you have doubts about what you think you believe about guitar making, please read on. Or if just you want to get a different perspective and listen to the story from the other side, from "vanguard guys" (people like me), you are very welcome to read and open your eyes and your ears letting the essence of what I conveyed here to have a positive effect in you.
My idea is to enliven those who are motivated to learn more, witnessing my commitment to help others in the field of music, day by day, hopefully for every day of my life, with my work, my videos and my continuous guitar teaching, only for the sake of art, positive entertainment and beauty}
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INTRODUCTION
People often ask me how to choose a nice flamenco guitar https://youtu.be/GPy5tpSf5j8?t=217
Well, here's the thing: To ask a non-expert (or a luthier which is the same) to ask a lay man to choose a guitar for himself, is like asking a normal person to do his own dental work https://youtu.be/_YkB4G0k6t8?t=301
The good news is that in this post-Paco de Lucia´s era, if we get in touch with the new era of flamenco guitar making, the present delights us with many novelties and charming opportunities never thought before in the flamenco guitar field. All of it is materialized now, thanks to the passion and great endeavor of the creative people in AG. Their inspiration was from those unforgettable key personalities like Paco de Lucia himself, who redefined flamenco music forever. http://andalusianguitars.com/PDLsrevolution.html Also from Simplicio himself who pioneered his ideas back in the 20s, thus generating the seed of what we can have in our hands today: An entirely different guitar. For the first time in the history of flamenco guitar making, a guitar meticulously created for the comfort of the guitar player (for us), an instrument which can be played emphatically effortlessly.
Regardless of what our level of playing may be at present if we love guitar, as I know many of us do, I consider it very beneficial for those interested, to add to our knowledge of the instrument itself. Thus we harness the latest playability rewards which are now available to us.
Therefore let's start by getting some particulars about what this new era of flamenco guitar making really means and, how it all happened.
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*Chapter 1
Simplicio and his innovative idea (a separate double sound port for the top) https://youtu.be/JJuu8kRgGPY
It was around 1929 that our Stradivarius "The Stradivari of Spain" greatest Spanish luthier (born in Barcelona https://youtu.be/JXaLCbs3UMc?t=157 ) Mr. Francisco Simplicio 1874-1933. http://harrisguitarfoundation.org/francisco-simplicio/ He presented to the world nine very peculiar guitars, all of them of a new design with a top like this, http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1932-11-26.html shaping the way for a fully renovated kind of Spanish guitar never seen before. http://www.themomi.org/museum/mfa/popular_guitars/1929-30_F_Simplicio.html (Simplicio was also an expert in traditional guitar making and during his life. He produced about 340 instruments )
The universality of Simplicio's design applied to the newest flamenco guitars, as it has been skillfully explored from many angles since 2015 by the creative master luthiers of AG. http://andalusianguitars.com/aboutAG.html It represents a sublime redefinition of the modern flamenco guitar as an instrument, one that offers many tangible bonuses to anyone who plays a nylon string guitar, no matter which style he plays, as well as for the modern flamenco guitar player. https://youtu.be/u9S3GLIRAQM?t=104 After about 18 years of intense collaboration with AG as a trusted advisor in their projects, (I still feel honored that Paco himself appointed me for that task) the truth is that AG has created a new concept of playability, envisioning a guitar with unparalleled exactness in tuning and design for the comfort of the player.
In AG, the challenge during the research period was to create a guitar which could reduce the difficulties naturally there in every traditional guitar, inconsistencies which are too often taken for granted as "normal things". "Normal"? Yes, for those who don't know and choose the same of the same feel, every time - and typical design of traditional flamenco guitars.
In my opinion the centered sound whole concept together with the "traditional guitar design" representative of the Madrid school of guitar making, https://youtu.be/g85IgajSIyY?t=72 has many obsolete features which remained unchanged. Unchanged, certainly not to help the player, but to please the minds of those who belong to the "cult of the tradition," a cult of fellows sentimentally over attached to outdated guitar design, a design that has not been questioned or revisited for more than 100 years. 100+ years without even asking why is it so? Unfortunately, many flamenco players at present are so acclimatized to those archaic features there, that they can't see https://youtu.be/y0eLZ2Mz5DM?t=38s how all those inadequacies inherent in the traditional design, may be obstacles to themselves to play efficiently and with ease.
Amazingly enough, Paco himself seemed also unfulfilled with traditional guitars as you can read from the following interview in 2013 (question n. 5, see this link https://goo.gl/8DSghE )
Interviewer- Which is your main guitar?
A: Paco de Lucia: "...I have many different guitars and some are nice ones actually (I guess he meant his Santos, Barberos etc) but I always have this one with me, it's like living with a woman who you don't really like much. Because I really don't like so much this guitar, but I know how it will respond on stage so, there is a saying "best-known evil than an unknown good" and that applies here. In fact, at home this guitar I feel it is rough and hard to play. When I'm relaxed at my place I can't play this guitar at all... but when adrenaline is there (on the stage) I need a certain tension or pulsation which I have to get used to, and that's why I use this guitar to play on the stage. (in the following video you can also see Paco himself saying again a similar thing https://youtu.be/RLj2gz-eMGM?t=692 )
To me, the Madrid school of guitar making is totally out-of-date. Such guitars would be ok if one likes a masochistic feel of playing, forced to deal with constant problems and hindrances one after the other. As Paco use to say that some guys like to play just to be "beaten by their guitars". Therefore if anyone enjoys that, I have no problem with it, but this is not my case, how it could be? I consider myself fortunate to have listened to Paco's uncensored advice and many of his esoteric concepts about playability and guitars. He told me many things which he would never say publicly nor tell anyone else about. Admiring him, as I still do, I trusted his points of view and all that helped, directly and indirectly, to bring about this new concept of flamenco guitar making we have at present, with guitars like these https://youtu.be/UrMF_XDhiLw?t=149
Performing with efficiency is already difficult sometimes, and, if the design of a guitar does not help the player, I can't see what the gain is?
To me, performing in such a constricted space is like playing with a pair of handcuffs on, having less and fewer possibilities to succeed over difficult passages of music. https://youtu.be/Fn-CvCFTNW0?t=27 And if that was not enough, one also has to deal with those innate handicaps regarding the sound delivery aspect which is very limited by the unidirectional way that traditional guitars can offer, is important to be aware of the fact that such restrictions will be there even in the best traditional flamenco guitars https://youtu.be/0xZw9oBIsrw?t=1081
On the other hand, Simplicio noticed several serious disadvantages in traditional sound hole placement, as he thought that it unavoidably weakens the guitar top in a very crucial area and also causes a huge reduction of the sound emitting surface on the top. (Huber, J.: The Development of the Modern Guitar, Westport, 1994, p.27) While an increased sound emitting surface would also improve the sound emitting platform in the bass range area (Stark, D.: Diplomarbeit – Entwurf und Bau einer Konzertgitarre mit doppelter Decke in Sandwichbauweise, Weimar, 2006, p.6)
Influence on the sound:
By omitting the centered sound hole and instead positioning it in a doubled manner, both sides of the fingerboard as you can see here, http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1929-21-23.html leads to an enlarged vibrating surface of the top (sometimes due to the ratio between top length or width and top thickness) and with that, it is possible to:
A) Attain the same degree of flexibility of the top as in a traditional guitar, but getting a higher "mass" of the top, which also leads to a better sustain without any loss of "attack" and responsiveness.
B) Keep a more flexible top than that of a traditional guitar, while maintaining the same mass of the top which is conducive to an increase in volume and responsiveness without any loss of sustain.
C) Apart from those considerable advantages there, the Helmholtz frequency http://polettipiano.com/Pages/airresengpaul.html can also be significantly lowered, which in turn has an impact in the tonal character of the instrument.
Same advantages are also there for:
D) The AG Simplicio 1929 model http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1932-2-shinglewood-hayab-%20cherryf-jacaranda-orangenat-11.html
as well as for its asymmetrical derivations:
E) A Picasso cutaway design http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1929-36-14.html
F) Double cutaway design http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1932-7-11.html
G) The expanded treble sound hole http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1932-9-13.html
I would like to emphasize that for the style we play, which could be called a "Post Paco de Lucia flamenco style," (next you have an example of that https://youtu.be/uPGvC41CbaA) is music related to Paco de Lucia's aesthetics in harmony, up to concepts like chromatic lines https://youtu.be/XhJfcwCU410?t=64 and area rarely explored so far. I (and some of my students) perform following Paco's technique and posture traits as best as possible. I think is evident, that to play such music, we require a very different kind of instrument when compared to that which was used seventy years ago by Paco' s predecessors in flamenco. Players like Sabicas 1912-1990 and Niño Ricardo 1904-1972 couldn't be more different to us in everything, starting by how they hold the guitar, their posture, sound, way of attack etc. https://youtu.be/FTTlorhjZ64?t=225 It's ironical, and often largely overlooked, the fact that at present in Spain, too many flamenco players are still using the same kind of out-of-date guitars as those used in the 40s. And if you analyze in detail, you will observe that many are also performing inside the old-school parameters and reverential traits regarding posture as we can see from their approach and angle of attack in "picado," besides many other aspects of technique.
For instance, playing "picado" (scale playing) you can see everybody is mostly using the old-school, right-hand angle of attack-posture, the old-school way to flex the finger joints. https://youtu.be/JJuu8kRgGPY?t=2902 It is obvious all these things are just the opposite of Paco de Lucia's technique. Please watch the next video https://youtu.be/JJuu8kRgGPY?t=3064 In other words, I haven't seen one single player in Spain today who really plays, at least regarding "picado" playing, (I mean posture wise speaking) in adherence to Paco's technique. Rather at best they all have a chaotic mixture of both techniques the old one and the new one without even noticing what is what.
I believe that personal exploration of many of these concepts has much value to improve our playing day by day. It was Paco himself who pointed out to me all those unmistakable aspects of his technique, although a long time ago, today they still prove to help my playing and that of my students, or of anyone who follows that. If you are interested, please click on the next video https://youtu.be/nKprmh8ALo0?t=137 I enumerated 18 aspects to advance in "picado".
To conclude this chapter and convey the magic sound of the Simplicio's AG modern guitars, here is this recording in homage to Paco & his composition, "3 Gitanos", https://youtu.be/tTv7GWozkj4?t=108 which I have arranged for 3 guitars, percussion, and three singers, a piece recorded in multiscreen format as my personal homage to Paco.
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*Chapter 2
From dark to clear (modifying the fretboard) transforming old dogmas to enhanced playability. https://youtu.be/0NqzEndLh8o
AG is in the continuous pursuit of improving things which may enhance playability, that spirit was also there even before the "Simplicio era" (2015) when a huge investment of time, talent and resources was aimed at improving centered sound-hole guitars at any cost. http://andalusianguitars.com/MB1945-42-9.html They achieved excellent results through helpful experiments leading to delve deeper into finding out more and more promising ways to enhance the functionality, (for the player) of those vital parts of the guitar which are intrinsically related to the playability aspect, or the lack of it in any instrument. AG dared to change, transform and improve that which traditional luthiers haven't changed in 100 years or more, "unalterable" parts like the fretboard which decides the flow or lack of it for the left hand performance and, the bridge which affects 120% both, the tone you can get from the guitar, and the consistency of sound, or power in the projection of sound related to the role of the right hand. Throughout the process of research, I could only remain astonished to witness how in AG, the "never-tried-before" and the unheard-of was their daily life. I observed closely countless tests, always with new proposals on the table to innovate. That continuous willingness to modify, if necessary, the very things which no other luthier would dare to change. "The comfort of the player comes first, no matter what." That is the permanent spirit in AG, and that is the reason why I enjoy so much playing their guitars.
The fretboard has a very significant role in the final sound of a guitar, I would say it can actually define the tone of the guitar (see next video https://youtu.be/xW4yBLO2Qbo?t=152 ) it's function is not only about tuning, rather, along with the neck the fretboard has the last word on the level of comfort your left hand can get while playing. Regarding the neck, a preferred choice in AG is the maple neck because it works so well. http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1932-9-19.html Some exciting experiments with other vibrant materials like the Tamo ash wood http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1929-42-19.html have been performed, and with success, as you can listen from the following review https://youtu.be/-2OKkByWBbY of a short scale AG Simplicio 1929 guitar with such a neck. https://www.wood-database.com/tamo-ash/ It is true that the neck affects the sound and it is an aspect explored by luthiers who do have a brain, just like this classical luthier https://rafalturkowiak.pl/innovations/acoustic-tubes/ who has patented some special things to improve sonority in the neck.
In either case, coming back to the fretboard, the ideal fretboard is one which allows a better flow of the left hand. https://youtu.be/uPGvC41CbaA?t=495 Indeed, half of the playability aspect in any guitar depends to a great extent on the kind of fretboard it has. My favorite is the maple fretboard. http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1932-10-20.html Here you can see https://youtu.be/Z67rs7XbAr0 how it allows an easy flow to play.
It is to be noticed that in Spain, apart from some rare exceptions around the 50s (using Rosewood or Granadillo instead of Ebony, most probably to reduce costs in economic guitars), the use of materials other than Ebony to make fretboards has been totally neglected by traditional flamenco luthiers of the past and present, partly because of their evident lack of imagination. They still have the belief that if a weighty Ebony fretboard is ideal for a classical guitar like a Houser guitar, then it has to work the same way when used for flamenco guitars. Well, this is not the case at all, especially in modern flamenco music, because we need a rather lighter fretboard, ideally a Maple or a Birdseye Maple fretboard like this one here, http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1932-9-18.html which responds and vibrates much faster and in a very a different way when compared to how the Ebony fretboard does.
I remember the last time (hopefully in my life) that I played live, a guitar with an ebony fretboard for an important gig. You can see in the next video where I played Rio de La Miel a difficult Bulerias piece composed by Paco de Lucia which I performed in a Spanish television program back in 2012. https://youtu.be/crPODXa0lVs?t=1 Now, when I compare that feel of the Ebony fretboard, with how I felt while recording this music with a Maple fretboard guitar, https://youtu.be/tTv7GWozkj4?t=108 I can only confirm the huge superiority of the Maple fretboard.
I happily participated with AG as advisor in their fretboard research project, in the quest for a more suitable and easy to play fretboard, a research to benefit the guitar player, and not to conform with the dogma of those who only accept as ok, what the majority of people or of other luthiers accept as ok, without ever questioning anything. So we can say that in 2014 everything changed from black to white.
Time and expertise in Andalusian Guitars have proved to the world that yes, the Ebony fretboard is not the only suitable fretboard for a nylon string guitar, nor it is the best option today for a high-end flamenco guitar at all. For years I tried plenty of guitars all with different choices of woods for the fretboard, each one offering a wide variety of particular nuances in sound, feel and tone quality which can positively replace the obsolete classical guitar Ebony fretboard, which was dogmatically imposed on flamenco guitars for no good reason.
Next, you can see 15 different wood choices for the fretboard:
1) Maple http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1932-9-18.html
2) Birdseye Maple http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1929-37-20.html
3) Haya http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1929-7-shingledwood-hayab-hayaf-amazon-natural-14.html
4) Clear Cherry http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1932-2-shinglewood-hayab-%20cherryf-jacaranda-orangenat-17.html
5) Brazilian Mahogany http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1929-8-cedar-mahoganyb-mahoganyf-ovangkol-rednat-17.html
6) Dark Cherry http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1929-5-spruce-cherryb-%20cherryf-brazilian-yellownat-17.html
7) Brazilian Boxwood http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1929special-7-spruce-boxwoodb-boxwoodf-rio-orange-16.html
8) Brazilian Naseberry http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1929-15-18.html
9) Purpleheart http://andalusianguitars.com/MB1948-12-spruce-purpleheartf-backcherryb-maple-yellow-24.html
10) German Haya http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1929-18-18.html
11) Pau Amarello http://andalusianguitars.com/MB1948-7-spruce-amarellob-amarellof-maple-orange-21.html
12) Cocuswood http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1929-40-18.html
13) Cocobolo Rosewood http://andalusianguitars.com/MB1945-33-cedar-jacarandab-cocobolof-rosewood-rednat-17.html
14) Gabon Ebony http://andalusianguitars.com/MB1945-32-cedar-naseberryb-ebonyf-ovangkol-rednat-17.html
15) Kingwood http://andalusianguitars.com/MB1948-27-spruce-kingwoodb-kingwoodf-kingwood-rednat-18.html
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*Chapter 3
A beautiful enhancement for the heart of the guitar https://youtu.be/tM9zs4l5YJQ
The Bridge
The bridge is the heart of the guitar. It commands the sound, volume, tone and sustain. The bridge is by far the most important part of a guitar and has an essential role when we talk of playability and hence sound comes only from playability. https://youtu.be/fJvUmOJ9ppI?t=189 A fitting and enhanced bridge will make it happen. It can also be considered as another fan-strut or "abanico," https://youtu.be/04-4F-B0rK4?t=1440 and on it depends the whole stability, tuning and the life span of a guitar. https://youtu.be/YhVbOlT_d5I?t=2360
In Spain, as it happened with the fretboard, the bridge of flamenco guitars also remained the same for more than 100 years, without having any real differentiation from the classical guitar bridge. Nor have been there any changes whatsoever either in the raw materials to make it, nor on its design. Nonetheless, it is interesting to notice that in Germany around 1924 the great luthier Hermann Houser I, was already making guitars with a very different kind of bridge design. He also incorporated a fret instead of the dull same of the same bone right-hand saddle which traditional flamenco guitars have. https://guitar-auctions.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/lot0474-2.jpg
In Spain, really speaking, nothing significative happened until AG designed a new bridge for flamenco. (around 2001) http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1932-11-27.html This bridge has a different length and thickness for each one of its wings rendering it more suitable for modern flamenco music. This bridge has an expanded 62 millimeters of equal distances, as Paco himself suggested it should be. This aspect, I would say, is mandatory to perform with ease any modern techniques including strumming and "rasgueos," like the ones you can see on the next video. https://youtu.be/yp15_iiIK5U?t=18
Those 62 millimeters from the 6th string to the 1st string really help also on "picado" scale playing, while traditional guitars generally have about 57 millimeters of utterly contracted space to play. Additionally AG made bridges with more than 15 different choices of woods (raw materials) other than the same old Rosewood. The AG bridge has also an extra flat feature in both wings which allows further resonance and deeper sustain as well as a prevailing distinctive percussive and deeper tone which gives more presence to the "golpe" sound. With this new design, an enhanced tone for the "golpe" is always there, I mean when we tap with the flesh of the middle and ring fingers together on the top of the guitar. https://youtu.be/oJsZT8cRaWM?t=3 To find out more about the "golpe" technique, see the following video. https://youtu.be/x-KutfYpYSM?t=198 This technique is used a lot in Paco de Lucia's style, not only while muting strings (tapado) but also when playing over chords as you can see in the next video. https://youtu.be/7w1szT2JRhE?t=382
Next, you can see 18 different wood choices for the bridge:
1) Maple http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1932-11-27.html
2) Birdseye maple http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1932-9-25.html
3) Brazilian Boxwood http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1929special-7-spruce-boxwoodb-boxwoodf-rio-orange-23.html
4) B. Mahogany http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1929-12-24.html
5) Movingui http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1929-10-24.html
6) B. Nasseberry http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1929-16-24.html
7) Haya http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1929-2-shinglewood-hayab-hayaf-amazon-rednat-24.html
8) Flamed Maple http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1929-21-24.html
9) Dark Cherry http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1929special-9-shinglewood-cherryb-cherryf-kingwood-rednat-24.html
10) Clear Cherry http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1929special-8-shinglewood-cherryb-cherryf-tulipwood-yellownat-25.html
11) German Haya http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1929special-11-21.html
12) Kinwood http://andalusianguitars.com/MB1948-26-spruce-jacarandab-kingwoodf-bahia-rednatural-22.html
13) Brazilian Tulipwood http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1929special-14-25.html
14) Cremona Maple http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1929special-22-25.html
15) Nigerian satinwood http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1929-26-26.html
16) Pau Amarello http://andalusianguitars.com/MB1945-DCW-spruce-hayaf-hayab-camotillo-roja-22.html
17) Red Cocuswood http://andalusianguitars.com/MB1945-38-24.html
18) Pink maple http://andalusianguitars.com/MB1945-41-25.html
On the opposite side of perfection, one should be on guard about the disgraceful defect of unequal distances between strings. https://youtu.be/RLj2gz-eMGM?t=121
Wrong drilling of the six orifices in the bridge is a very detrimental defect in guitars which affects very negatively "picado" or scale playing technique and is also unfavorable for any flamenco techniques in general, although guitars with such defects are sold in Spain like hotcakes to unaware customers, ironically flamenco guitar players themselves seem to be totally oblivious of this huge handicap, actually many players will happily pay thousands of euros for a "first-class handmade luthier guitar," blind to such unacceptable defects on the bridge. It seems as if those buyers love defects on their guitars, especially if the guitar comes from a well-known name luthier. Don't need to mention what was Paco's opinion about these flaws, as you can easily infer that. But I should say I am thankful that he took the time to personally explain to me how exactly this inaccuracies of uneven distances will disrupt our flow while playing. (in fact, he re-drilled many time his guitars "to fix" that problem)
No surprise about those string gaps. Luthiers in Spain, I should say most of them, especially the famous ones, are just ignorant, lazy and puffed up fellows who call themselves luthiers, while they can't even drill six holes properly. https://youtu.be/YhVbOlT_d5I?t=1511 They think they can sell us (players) anything, no matter how lousy it is. Obviously they assume that we (guitar players) are just stupid guys, and unfortunately most of the time they are right. Their conviction is that we exist only to buy whatever they produce, and will always be subordinated to their so-called knowledge and dogmas. But their magic spell didn't work on me, as I have challenged them many times to play. ( https://youtu.be/YhVbOlT_d5I?t=500 ) In my experience, their attitude is too often very cynical and always money-based. Just imagine what their future will be when cognizant guitar buyers all over the world become aware that a $100 machine made guitar (manufactory made guitar) is more exact in measurements compared to their so-called hand-made "artisan guitars." https://youtu.be/uPEEn0WoyUg?t=28
Price and money is no consideration here but awareness and knowledge is, hence we can only choose from one of the four main categories of guitars https://youtu.be/smOtNltQ9FQ?t=137 as follows:
1) Inexpensive nice guitar
2) Expensive nice guitar
3) Inexpensive bad guitar
4) Expensive bad guitar
On the other hand coming back to the topic of exactness of the bridge distances bettwen each string is worth to mention (and with gratitude) that in AG, each and every guitar regardless of its price do have a perfect bridge as you can see in the following list in order of prices from less to more expensive (7)
1 http://andalusianguitars.com/SH1927-16-26.html
2 http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1932-11-27.html
3 http://andalusianguitars.com/MB1945-41-25.html
4 http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1929-21-24.html
5 http://andalusianguitars.com/SH1930-8-23.html
6 http://andalusianguitars.com/MB1948-27-spruce-kingwoodb-kingwoodf-kingwood-rednat-25.html
7 http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1929special-27-27.html
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*Chapter 4
The Balance-in-weight-feature, designed to play Paco de Lucia's posture or alike https://youtu.be/EWMFf2FbUsU
Ever since Paco changed for good, the way to hold the guitar to play flamenco, see the next video https://youtu.be/nqTJWLs274Q Paco Himself explaining why he did so. Although, as Paco himself says, the traditionalists attacked him vehemently for this radical change, https://youtu.be/nqTJWLs274Q?t=130 it is from that, his innovation regarding posture, that AG started exploring possibilities through many experiments and very well-organized research (special thanks to Mr. Mansoor U. for his contribution on it). This time culminated with the creation of: A balanced-in-weight guitar, a unique feature particularly suitable for those who play with either horizontal or semi-horizontal posture https://youtu.be/AxeMx7z9UeE?t=45
Nowadays, this huge balance advantage is available in AG guitars for:
I) Vanguard centered sound-whole guitars https://youtu.be/sLSAvTXXJgA?t=393
II) As well as for their Simplicio models https://youtu.be/l8OMLqU4UIk?t=104
III) Short scale guitars https://youtu.be/igHPQDEXKjs?t=58
This unparalleled feature (as there is no other guitar in the market with such balance-in –weight characteristic), represents an entirely new concept of playability, a redefinition of playability itself. Concerning ergonomics, this is without a doubt one of the most remarkable contributions ever made in Spain or anywhere else in the area of flamenco guitar making.
Essentially, what Paco did at evolving flamenco music changed the whole picture also in that which is related to the design of the instrument itself, now AG has created the ideal design to play his techniques , and it is a fact that Paco´s style can be performed much easier when playing a guitar which has all the required modifications to that end https://youtu.be/gL9ByDkesqY?t=1 hence an instrument which does not help the player to play with ease, beginning with posture and starting from the way you hold the instrument itself, to play either the way he holded the guitar or anything similar to that posture there, a non-balanced guitar can be as good as using roller skates for an ice skate ring https://youtu.be/zJdzNiFfzC0?t=64
Is also interesting to notice that AG double back concept http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1932-11-7.html due to the fact that any guitar resonates from it´s back-outside, https://youtu.be/pGpSxI9gsMI?t=104 having a double back http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1932-10-10.html not only serves as a vehicle to obtain several different characteristics of sound when combining different tonewoods, but it also supports the balance in weight feature altogether.
Although because of the very weight of the back and sides in tonewoods, to make "female" guitars, this balanced feature cannot be done for a "Blanca" guitar yet. There are plenty of similar "female" sound like guitars which have the balance-in-weight feature, this is the case with "mild male guitars" this is an example of the sound I mean. https://youtu.be/MPT5gLphZpI?t=2 These instruments also have some of the "female" traits in sound.
Related to the thickness of the box and unlike the 12 centimeters depth first prototype of "Negra guitar" which Paco created back in the late 60s, https://youtu.be/uIV51ouiuxw in an AG, a balance-in-weight guitar can be also made having thin sides in a range from 9.6 centimeters of sides depth http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1929-34-10.html up to 11.5 centimeters of depth indistinctively http://andalusianguitars.com/MB1948-34-16.html the double back itself http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1932-10-10.html allows a wide variety of colors in tone and timbre found when combining the external back woods with the internal back materials and, it all goes in harmony with the Balance-in -weight feature.
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*Chapter 5
Tuning and the backbone of the guitar.
THE NECK https://youtu.be/ZklpaDchabo?t=168
The neck is very important in a guitar, not only because of it structural significance as a device which facilitates tuning. (see this simple test for bent necks https://youtu.be/L4KxQM3CDr4?t=162 and a tuning test by use of chords, here https://youtu.be/xvnPa_OOeCQ?t=153)
Why is it that, with the exception of AG, every other luthier in Spain seem to only use Cedarwood for the neck? https://youtu.be/le3XSOl-yww?t=201 well, there are many reasons to believe that it is just because Cedar wood is cheaper than Maple, what else could be in the mind of flamenco luthiers other than how to reduce costs, and increase their profit?
Although people may tend to blame immediately the neck when tuning inconsistencies become too evident, other factors such as bending of the top itself, as you can see here, https://youtu.be/YhVbOlT_d5I?t=2360 are also to be considered. That, along with another huge tuning problem in all Spanish guitars, caused, by the use of an outdated flawed fret division scale (by every luthier). It remains an unrevised inconsistent calculation of the distances between each fret.
In the following video, I show a very simple test that anyone can do in just 5 minutes with a pencil and a business card https://youtu.be/5Pw4mNtVHeU?t=4m54s
Happily enough for the nonconformist guitar players (for us) AG has a very precise calculation of fret division distances in their guitars which works impeccably well and, is a unique feature in Spain ,from my experience I would say that it is either same or very similar in exactness to the division that the great German luthier Hermann Houser used for his best guitars since the 30s or before, it seems as one could infer so that in the 20s,30s and 40s this aspect of producing guitars with a perfect tuning capacity and all that is involved with that was rather kept as a "secret advantage" against the Spanish competition, a competition which was too easy to defeat altogether as they were and still are completely unaware regarding those unseen minute and not so minute factors which would noticeably affect the tuning capacity of an instrument.
Without forgetting to first thank maestro R. Corrias for his priceless help on this matter, I can say that the current fret division effected by AG from 2013 on, same that Paco himself praised for its accuracy http://rdiaz.org/rdfoto90.html is to me by far the best tuning option which has ever been available in Spain, next is a demo of such calculation:
Enter Scale length in mm 650 (Distance from previous fret new scale length distance from the nut)
Fret 1 36.48201156
Fret 2 34.43441591
Fret 3 32.50174398
Fret 4 30.67754552
Fret 5 28.95573233
Unless one's ear is not qualified to tell the difference and unless is ruined because of the habit of constantly listening and playing guitars which actually do not tune well at all, everybody will agree that that tuning is of paramount importance for us, especially when one plays music like this https://youtu.be/UrMF_XDhiLw?t=141
It is also amazing the fact that due to those inconsistencies on the above-mentioned fret division scale or rule a $100 factory made guitar may tune much better than an expensive Spanish luthier handmade flamenco guitar.
However, I should make clear that I am not in favor of factory-made guitars or guitars made by robots at all. https://youtu.be/QMKNTtBh0PY?t=208 I don't believe that a machine made guitar can be, or sound better, than a luthier's hand made guitar, because I haven't seen such a guitar so far. But a luthier himself may also be a mediocre fellow or less, and so the guitar he may produce, is not necessarily a nice instrument, even though it's a handmade guitar. Of course, a luthier can also be very efficient, creative, or even a genius like Simplicio or Stradivarius.
To really know who I is who, I let their work do the talking… let and I would judge from that and only from that.
For instance AG has three master luthiers working there as a unique team there, and sure three pairs of eyes can see better than just one, and so three pairs of ears, therefore yes I prefer guitars created by humans, guitars produced by capable luthiers, I say that based on my experience of playing hundreds of guitars of AG https://youtu.be/pl2OpbT97Mo?t=193 and considering their brilliant work over the years, I have no choice but to conclude that for me, an ideal guitar either "expensive" http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1929special-27-12.html or otherwise, http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1932-11-12.html can't be any other than a luthier's guitar.
The thing here is to find out if the luthier in question, is competent or not. For us to know that one has to play, and not just play but play very well. Otherwise, he will be unable to distinguish pure gold from inferior glittering metal.
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*Chapter 6
Even tone for all notes, enhanced playability, and exactitude in tuning
The zero fret https://youtu.be/Lc_p2CQJMys?t=107
Around 2015 another research was directed to eliminate those old bothering tuning anomalies (every player with a good ear for tuning has suffered playing traditional guitars including Paco himself) as an answer to that dilemma AG implemented the zero fret http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1932-11-19.html
The zero fret was created around 1924 by the great German Luthier Hermann Hauser I (1882-1952) http://guitar-auctions.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/lot0474.jpg
https://guitar-auctions.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/lot0474-4.jpg in the 20s and 30s was used for high-end classical guitars and adapting it to be used for the first time for flamenco guitars happened that not only solved all tuning problems related to the wear off of the left-hand bone saddle https://youtu.be/UycPxN4Uvec?t=138 but it also removed the defect of uneven tone from the sound of open strings when plugged to that of fretted notes, see on the next video https://youtu.be/Kfu7_chf8Bw?t=704
It also significantly improved the playability because it reduces the excessive distance (from the open strings to the 1st fret) that bumpy space which is taken as a normal thing to endure in traditional guitars, the zero fret allows the left hand to relax, to understand more watch the next video about this concept of gradation of muscular engagement or how to press just what is necessary to get the note to ring https://youtu.be/qIVORQGk6ZA?t=236
Other aspect related to the left hand comfort is that to improve the playability of the instrument Paco suggested to AG that guitars should have a safe bigger distance from the string to the edge of the fretboard, watch the next video about it https://youtu.be/9M0kgLY_Exg?t=166 as you can see in the following picture there are 5 to 6 mm of space there http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1932-10-18.html as opposed to the 2 mm or less usually there in traditional guitars https://bit.ly/2r9mJxA
Also it should be considered that in modern flamenco guitar we often need to play through many chord changes https://youtu.be/yp15_iiIK5U?t=18 and also thru several keys, therefore as now we have many more chords involved in the equation, an accurate tuning for all the zones of the fretboard is absolutely required, unlike playing the old style of flamenco music with only four or five chords played just in one key.
Now thanks to Paco we have not only chromatic lines to explore https://youtu.be/XhJfcwCU410?t=9 but actually, there are up to 73 chords which you can see on the following video about https://youtu.be/djHsvxREGug?t=464 so the extra chord possibilities to deal with are ever present both in composition and for improvising as well.
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*Chapter 7
Paco's creation of the "Negra" ("male Negra") and "mild-male" Negra guitars https://youtu.be/OtHYUOnFglM
Is worth to mention that Paco de Lucia was also indirectly the pioneer on the search for a different sound in flamenco guitars other than the Cypress sound, that is how the "mild-male" and "male Negra" guitars were created back in the late 60s, nowadays AG still continues making guitars with many different kinds of woods. It all started with Paco's radical elimination (from his life) of the Cypress guitars to play with as he systematically avoided the Cypress sound, its tone and feel or "pulsation" touch altogether, he escaped Cypress guitars for more than 40 years and until his death.
I still wonder why so many seemingly blind-deaf colleagues around do not ever ponder about why Paco de Lucia would have done such a thing…
I remember Paco once said that if you want to find the number one ignorant person regarding the instrument itself, just go and find a professional flamenco guitar player. This may sound satirical but, as you can see from facts it is 120% truth.
Instead of asking themselves why Paco avoided cypress, to begin with, today's professional players and none professional ones, stubbornly insist to play Cypress guitars again and again as if hypnotized. Of course, only to get a very thin, skinny and weak tone without any sustain or presence whatsoever as you can unambiguously listen in this recording https://youtu.be/bVZDTLZuqyE?t=207
On the other hand, out of his imagination, Paco created the now well-known concept of "Negra guitar for flamenco" meaning a guitar not made of Cypress back and sides but made instead out of Rosewood (either Indian Rosewood for mild male sound or Brazilian Rosewood for the Negra male sound)
Paco originated his "flamenco Negra" idea by experiencing the beauty and deeper tone of Houser guitars like this https://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lot_details.aspx?intObjectID=5482675 guitars with a big sustain and projection, those were great classical instruments made in the 40s and 50s, Paco had access to those guitars because they were shown to him by some friends, ironically enough (for some not for me) those guitars were not guitars made in Spain, but made in Germany by the great luthier Hermann Houser sr.
Paco been unsatisfied as he was with the available Cypress guitars at that time and disappointed by the whole "Cypress dogma" inside the flamenco circles of those days, so after a while and fully convinced that those Houser classical guitars he tried sounded far better regarding sustain and projection than any Cypress guitar he had ever played (and he owned some nice ones like this Marcelo Barbero 1953 https://www.christies.com/lotfinder/Lot/marcelo-barbero-a-flamenco-guitar-madrid-1953-5356760-details.aspx ) in the late 60s he requested a Spanish luthier to make a guitar for him https://youtu.be/mrxgY3MnZGE?t=195 and this would be the first attempt to build a "flamenco Negra" a non-cypress flamenco guitar, is interesting that Paco also copied the concept of a thicker box from those classical guitars he tried and therefore the first "Negra guitar" made here in Spain (approx 1969) had nothing less than 12 centimeters of box thickness (sides thickness) as you can see from the following video https://youtu.be/uIV51ouiuxw
Before the 60s Cypress was the only and only wood used to make flamenco guitars https://youtu.be/8q_uSCDstZw?t=238 Cypress was available and unfortunately became the standard wood to be used just because it was cheaper than other finer female sounding tonewoods, there are nicer woods which are also suitable for "Blanca" guitars https://youtu.be/vB0U7w2sbI4?t=75 a wide range of possible superior choices of wood for the back and sides, as you can see from the following ten pictures:
I) Maple http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1932-8-11.html
II) Persimmon http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1932-10-12.html
III) Ash http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1932-1-spruce-hayab-maplef-fresno-yellow-18.html
IV) White Ebony http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1929-33-10.html
V) Eucalypt http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1929-30-11.html
VI) Movingui http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1929-10-20.html
VII) Brazilian Mohogany http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1929-12-11.html
VIII) Cherry http://andalusianguitars.com/MB1945-7-spruce-wildcherryf-wildcherryb-cherry-yellow-15.html
IX) Satin http://andalusianguitars.com/MB1948-16-spruce-birdseyeb-birdeyef-satin-natural-12.html
X) Clear Cocuswood http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1929special-19-10.html
And then Paco experimenting further with Indian rosewood also created a third category besides the "Blanca" and "Negra" this third category of sound is often called in guitar-slang "mild male guitar" https://youtu.be/oLgywLLtWHA which refers to a mid-point in timbre and sort of sound so to say which is in between the "Blanca" and "Negra" although it is more towards the Negra region.
In AG "mild male guitar" are generally made with fine tonewoods as you can see in the following pictures:
A) Clear Tulipwood http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1929-21-9.html
B) Ovangkol http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1929-25-22.html
C) Teak http://andalusianguitars.com/MB1945-16-spruce-birdseyeb-birdseyef-teak-rednatural-16.html
D) Australian Eucaliptus *combined http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1929special-11-18.html
E) Purple heart http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1929special-9-10.html
F) Nigerian Satinwood *combined http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1929-18-11.html
I should say that personally (as Paco did) I do also prefer Brazilian Rosewood or similar tonewoods for the back and sides, woods in the category of full concert "Negra male" guitar and the newest ones in AG are made with Brazilian Rosewood or with closely related tonewoods like:
1) Cocobolo Rosewood http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1932-11-11.html
2) Tulipwood http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1929special-27-11.html
3) Cocuswood http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1932-6-9.html
4) Hawaiian Koa http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1929-42-10.html
5) Brazilian Rosewood http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1929special-18-14.html
6) Kingwood http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1929special-3-shinglewood-hayab-%20cherryf-brazilian-rednat-10.html
7) Bahia R. http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1929special-4-shinglewood-hayab-eyebirdsf-bahia-natural-21.html
8) Dark Tulipwood http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1929special-25-24.html
9) Jacaranda http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1929special-22-11.html
10) Northeastern Brazil Pinkwood http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1929special-27-11.html
I don't like "Blancas" much, except for some specific recordings of music which require that particular kind of female sound, I mean for music like this. https://youtu.be/eRwpWRdELG8?t=116
As you could see from the previous pictures it is possible to innovate through the use of "uncommon" tonewoods (raw materials) to make flamenco guitars. After all, what does it mean, the so-called flamenco sound? https://youtu.be/7CxetnPeLqs?t=174
Having also proved that a nice sound comes only from the playability of the instrument (how easy is to play a particular guitar), and based on the quality of sound I got in recordings such as this, https://youtu.be/tTv7GWozkj4?t=195 I can't but feel very excited to personally live day after day with the joy of exploring the flow of my playing, through all these superb enhancements of AG which will hopefully inspire other intelligent luthiers and guitar players to search, research and fight for the excellence of what is different, (in the most positive sense) and get what archaic instruments can't offer us anymore today. Thus, creating an ideal scenario to produce guitar music, playing as effortless as in a dream.
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*Chapter 8)
Wittner pegs (the best mechanical-inside pegs for flamenco ever created)
The inclusion of Wittner pegs gave indeed an incredible boost to the sound for AG Marcelo Barbero (1904-1956) guitars http://andalusianguitars.com/MB1945-42-9.html and for AG Santos Hernandez (1873-1943) models as well http://www.andalusianguitars.com/SH1927-17-11.html they provide projection never seen before in other-centered sound whole guitars.
Until Wittner pegs https://www.wittner-gmbh.de/feinstimmwirbel_e.html#flamenco27 appeared in the international guitar market scene, for a very long time, increasingly enough from the 70s and after, in the name of dealing better for "practical purposes" in performance, it so happened that the regular machine heads http://andalusianguitars.com/SH1927-16-18.html replaced the original flamenco wooden pegs, those old fashion friction pegs which no doubt had many inconveniences as they were most impractical to tune fast and accurately during performances, nevertheless it is true that for flamenco music those archaic wooden peg guitars invariably sounded much better than equivalent guitars equipped with regular machine heads, this is due to the fact that the wooden pegs were in direct contact with the wood of the headstock wood, see next video to understand what I mean with no gaps around. https://youtu.be/pMfQhRnYdfc?t=841 Therefore even old wooden pegs could transmit efficiently a deep vibration throughout the neck and in a very strong way indeed, to understand how all the parts of the guitar are interconnected and interrelated with each other please watch the next video https://youtu.be/xW4yBLO2Qbo?t=284
To the surprise of the traditionalists and their blind followers, all these realities here fully contradict the "Torres dogma" (1817-1882) about the so-called "supremacy of the top," as the only part of the guitar to be regarded as important. An assumption, which of course is a total fallacy as you can clearly see from what has been proved in the following video. https://youtu.be/HtF8Tkq2MMU?t=845 No matter what they (who improperly compare Torres with Stradivarius) may say, I know they can't really prove with facts, what they propose in any way.
On the other hand based on their steady reliability I recommend Wittner pegs as an impeccable, durable and weather resistant set of pegs, which are very easy to use for all and, which although visually are very similar to the old archaic wooden pegs of the past, this new Wittner pegs been mechanical inside definitively provide the best tuning capacity any tuning gear can offer today, besides transmitting the sound more efficiently as they are also in direct contact with the wood of the headstock, see next picture http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1932-10-19.html
The Symmetric placement of the pegs:
It is worth a mention that around 2018, AG guitars with Wittner Pegs - either center soundhole placement guitar models, as well as for their Simplicio models, AG effected a very beneficial change of placement of the pegs in the basses side, see about this new way to install the pegs in the following video https://youtu.be/GVzy8QjI-60?t=269 that is called "symmetric pegs placement" and it looks like this http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1932-9-10.html it certainly renders even more powerful the vibration ratio in the whole guitar and the that of the sustain of the instrument altogether https://youtu.be/UrMF_XDhiLw?t=69
As acoustically speaking this symmetric setting of the pegs multiplies efficacy vibration-wise, undoubtedly a guitar equipped with Wittner pegs is the best option in any AG guitar, Simplicio models with Wittner pegs https://youtu.be/PKthrYZa7Lk?t=115 as well as for those excellent updated centered sound hole modern guitar models https://youtu.be/lKw4tJNGoUk?t=2
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*Chapter 9
"Obsolete flamenco means: flamenco without improvisation" (Paco de Lucia)
(original newspaper in Spanish http://www.rdiaz.org/rdmagazine48-newspaper.html)
To give the context of this subject matter, let's start with the essence Paco revealed in the following two videos :
I) Paco saying that: "Flamenco doesn't belong anymore to the people of Andalucía" https://youtu.be/x2jP3JuyI4Y
II) Paco pointing out what is the new goal in flamenco guitar https://youtu.be/LvDTc1Q63W8
(see also Modern vs Old style of flamenco https://youtu.be/xFXUtMr6xYw?t=1m37s)
In flamenco circles, people often talk about the so-called "tradition," while many of them may not know at all what the very word tradition means.
The whole thing is far beyond the mere question of who likes the new flamenco music and who doesn't - although, for sure, there's plenty of material to discuss that. https://youtu.be/bz-YBHb8bYc?t=2 But if someone is blamed as guilty of a rupture inside a tradition, (Paco) https://youtu.be/fNXuSbplVy0 it is better to first take a look at what precisely a tradition is: Etymologically, the word comes from the Latin "traditio" which means a passing on, a releasing of something older to something newer, a handing over, a heritage, a continuation. Extradite, from the same root, tradition means bringing back. But "tradition" also indicates a giving up, as in a betrayal. In Spanish, there is the word "traición." Actually, tradition and betrayal have the same root. The ancient's had a sense as if these are children of the same mother so to speak; being able to distinguish one from the other primarily through the principles we project onto each.
The "authentic" flamenco was tribal in every sense of the word: very cultish, clannish, and restricted, and those are negative words in our culture. Nonetheless, it is the music of a secluded and isolated population. Flamenco was by gypsies, for gypsies, and about gypsies – about their own rhythms and aura. But even if old flamenco was clannish and culturally constrained, it was at the same time definitely a music bursting with life and juice. Back then, the Andalusian flamencos themselves were typically uneducated and illiterate. By modern standards, they would have been considered to be urban primarily, insofar because they lived inside of edifices, rather than in tents or convoys, although some did that too. Gypsies lived and survived in any way they could: They were laborers, farmers, small tradesmen, bakers, horse-traders, fast-talkers, and con-men. None went to college, got a degree, became an engineer or a physician or a professor. They didn't run say, a successful business enterprise, or have a successful military or legal or civil service career, become a painter or scriptwriter, a city councilman or a diplomatic or a cop or fireman or a manager...Nor would they become a trained and skilled technician, or a photographer or designer or an architect, or technologist, or anyone who was trusted with money, or one who fit the description of a biographer.
From the point of view of the mainstream society, these people were the throw-aways. Remember that under generalisimo Franco's repression, the "gitanos" were prohibited from higher education, although they had to go to regular school like everyone else. However, they didn't stay there too long either. Thus living inside such a lack of social services, electricity, running water, dental care and basic sanitation, was not unlike being a poor Afro-American man who also lived himself, the harsh history of the American South. It's not by chance that flamenco has been called the gypsy Blues, next you have Miles Davis saying that. https://youtu.be/5l_5sGXrTlA?t=58 And just like fine original Blues, flamenco music also happened in secluded surroundings, which may have included friends and neighbors. It was like a "cosa nuestra" – "our thing" – and it was problematic for non-gypsies to gain admission into these circles then.
Old fashion guitar players could not read music; all music was played by ear and by feel; the guitarist was there only to accompany the singer without ever calling attention to itself. I think this must have a lot to do with the "purity" as spoken of by traditionalists, mainly "Peñas" and their narrow-minded followers. If that was not enough, flamenco has been kept local and informal by the fact that it was almost impossible to make a living with it at all. Consequently, the "original" flamencos did never tour, travel, rehearse, record, or the like. They instead used to play only for, and between themselves, as they enjoyed only that. Besides, other outlets weren't available to them. And even if there had have been, there was not any wider market of spectators for that music anyway.
Around 1930, at a time of notable distress in Spain, some of the more ambitious gypsies formed groups and traveled, or started playing gigs or shows in other countries; These travelers gave the world its first taste of the regional folkloric flamenco, and by doing so they created an audience globally in a small way. It is important to notice that those first shows were stage performances – an entirely new phenomenon with ticket sales, a starting time, a program of set pieces, showy costumes, and in some cases an eye-catching finale at the end. Anyway, something had been created that amused and which gave some people a way to earn a living, which they wouldn't have had previously. Old flamenco was never something that started at 9 p.m. on Thursday the twenty-first and ended ninety minutes later in a theater.
By the way, the "upcoming" of flamenco shows, began about the same time that the classical guitar player Andres Segovia was touring the world. Thus, for the first time exposing audiences to the classical guitar repertoire itself. And it's possible that Sabicas from seeing Segovia playing on tour may have got the idea to play himself in venues. Sabicas started selling some guitar shows outside of Spain, gigs based on guitar solos only. But this time, in theaters, instead of in the usual "tablaos" bars, or private parties.
All these aspects were there along with the invention of nylon itself, which eventually became the material of choice to make guitar strings. It was the DuPont Company in 1930 that unintentionally discovered nylon; at first, they had no idea what to do with that new synthetic material which could be stretched into very thin but strong filaments; they tried various things (including nylon hosiery) and eventually discovered that they could market this product as fishing line. Remarkably enough, it was the fact that fishermen/musicians, in the seaports of Southern Spain, (the flamencos) who first thought to put fishing line on their guitars as strings: It was low-cost and they certainly lasted longer than the other strings made from animal gut.
Nowadays: the Italian string brand "Aquila" lead by Mr. Mimo Peruffo https://ricerche.aquilacorde.com/chi-e-mimmo-peruffo/ have created many different synthetic materials to emulate gut strings and beyond. In 2018 Mimmo also created some fantastic strings made out of Sugar, those are really excellent strings. https://youtu.be/2z_iJONh-Gc?t=278 But in the past, the only option for strings was gut strings. Therefore in a sense, we are indebted to the "flamencos" for their sudden discovery, and in a historical manner, so to speak, to the Augustine Strings which were the first company to popularize nylon strings for guitar, through Andres Segovia's endorsement.
Now getting back to my preceptor Paco de Lucia. http://rdiaz.org/rdfoto4.html His main contribution is that he included the improvisation factor in flamenco. https://youtu.be/CORMs2kp054?t=168 And of course he carried the torch to make flamenco respectable, many steps further than his predecessors. Paco made flamenco respectable by insisting that it should be included in more "formal" musical programs (i.e., that were more in line with the musical tastes of the middle class then) and those flamenco artists should be paid at least the same as other performers.
As proof of my teaching, https://youtu.be/njXa5p96kyg?t=5 and formal exploration of Paco de Lucia's compositional and improvisational style, https://goo.gl/TVhSwm and related to my research of his technique, here you have a link to my YouTube channel https://youtu.be/mjuUwHCihwI?t=183 with +2,500 videos about the subject.
Next are some important words of Paco which people seems to forget nowadays:
(original Newspaper in Spanish http://www.rdiaz.org/rdmagazine48-newspaper.html )
1) "I leave Spain because the atmosphere here is unbreathable for me… The prejudices, the flamenco orthodox people, the tradition… I don't like any of that. I want fresh air. I need to work freely, without static purism which ties me up. The orthodox have messed with me nonstop since I started to have success…"
2) "Here (in Spain) I'm always tense, neurotically thinking if I'm doing good or wrong, or if I am bothering someone with my work. I guess I will have to beg forgiveness "to Spain" because I'm a successful person…"
3) "I really want to work full-time with jazz players. I think they have a very decisive musical movement and I'm so interested in all that. My flamenco roots will never be lost, but I have so much to see and to learn regarding techniques, sounds, and rhythms."
4) "The purists want me to play the same things as always. They want me to play obsolete music without experimentation or improvisation."
In other words, Paco's own definition of obsolete flamenco is a flamenco devoid of improvisation, either be it parroting falsetas or otherwise. https://youtu.be/x--ycB-bjSI?t=374
I invite you to reflect deeply on what Paco said, in contrast with some people who may also say, (just for political reasons) that Paco de Lucía does represent the "new orthodoxy". But I believe, those who say that, are doing it so as a desperate attempt to justify their own mediocrity.
The reality is that today, inside the Spanish flamenco guitar community there is absolutely zero new ideas concepts or techniques for flamenco music creation, nowadays there is nothing around which Paco had not already done himself 30 years ago https://youtu.be/VkhcS6Hx_QI?t=236
At present Paco's work continues to be vanguard as none of the present flamenco players today, have been able to (so far) equal the complexity, mastery, depth, and beauty of Paco's music.
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*Chapter 10
The lateral sound port (a surrounding experience)
The AG lateral sound port both for centered sound hole guitars, http://andalusianguitars.com/SH1927-17-8.html and in the Simplicio models, http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1932-11-15.html not only serves as a monitor for the player, but it increases projection and provides a surrounding sound effect, giving a robust presence to the audience. When recording with these advantageous lateral sound port guitars, by placing the microphones in many different ways, you can create exquisite nuances and enjoy truly progressive ways to record guitar music today.
In the following video, you can listen to how, even when playing with a sponge, a mute "sordina" on, even if recorded with the most conventional video camera, the lateral port will project outwardly with abundant volume and clarity. https://bit.ly/2KBRGVJ
I would say that a guitar without a lateral sound port is completely obsolete projection-wise when compared with guitars like this. http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1932-9-5.html This deficiency produces a poor presence in tone, as a result of that inherent bottled encapsulated unidirectional delivery of sound, (There is an example of that in the next video) https://bit.ly/2TzyIC7 that besides the contracted range of harmonics therein, as opposed to the huge presence you can get by harnessing the possibilities offered by the lateral sound portal. To understand, listen to how it sounds as I play in the following video https://bit.ly/2ZadjR0
Guitars deprived of the lateral sound port inevitably enclosed opaque frequencies, same which are removed when the lateral sound port is there. To discern more about the many aspects associated with this area of acoustics, please watch this video https://bit.ly/2ZceYpq
The AG lateral sound port both for centered sound hole guitars, http://andalusianguitars.com/SH1927-17-8.html and in the Simplicio models, http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1932-11-15.html not only serves as a monitor for the player, but it increases projection and provides a surrounding sound effect, giving a robust presence to the audience. When recording with these advantageous lateral sound port guitars, by placing the microphones in many different ways, you can create exquisite nuances and enjoy truly progressive ways to record guitar music today.
In the following video, you can listen to how, even when playing with a sponge, a mute "sordina" on, even if recorded with the most conventional video camera, the lateral port will project outwardly with abundant volume and clarity https://bit.ly/2KBRGVJ
I would say that a guitar without a lateral sound port is completely obsolete projection-wise when compared with guitars like this. http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1932-9-5.html This deficiency produces a poor presence in tone, as a result of that inherent bottled encapsulated unidirectional delivery of sound, (There is an example of that in the next video) https://bit.ly/2TzyIC7 that besides the contracted range of harmonics therein, as opposed to the huge presence you can get by harnessing the possibilities offered by the lateral sound portal. To understand, listen to how it sounds as I play in the following video https://bit.ly/2Mk65rJ
Guitars deprived of the lateral sound port inevitably enclosed opaque frequencies, same which are removed when the lateral sound port is there. To discern more about the many aspects associated with this area of acoustics, please watch this video https://bit.ly/2Z5WMS3
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*Chapter 11
Special guitars
Short scale 610mm guitars (big sound and small size)
Guitars specially designed for left-handed players.
The creative minds in AG brought them not only to craft perfect guitars, specially designed for left-handed players, http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1929-23-7.html but also centered sound hole for left-handed players too. http://www.andalusianguitars.com/MB1948-34-16.html Here is a video about them. https://youtu.be/NTSRR-Vli_o?t=4 But expanding even further their horizons, around 2016 they started a project to explore the field of short scale instruments. Harnessing their amazing expertise in the whole Simplicio area, with deserved success, they end up producing very nice short scale flamenco guitar designs. These instruments, although comparatively much smaller, as you can see in the next picture, http://www.andalusianguitars.com/FS1929-16-8.html they do not sound less in any way when compared to standard 650mm scale length guitars. AG short scale guitars are not just for children, woman or for people with very small hands size. Regardless of hands size, these guitars may be very suitable for anyone indeed.
Below you will see a list of 9 guitars which I have personally tested for AG, and I should say that, although I don't have very small hands myself, I really liked all of them. For certain pieces which require big stretching on the left hand, I found these small guitars really comfortable to play with and, certainly all are exceptionally ergonomically to play any style.
Therefore unless you have a really big body or big hands size, these instruments may fit very well for any person. Their unique feature regarding playability is that they enormously release the left hand from tension all the time while playing, thus are very practical guitars. Also in the case where you have more than one guitar, you will not experience any unfavorable gap when you go back to play standard size guitars. This is because the right hand the measurements between strings etc are exactly the same. So this is another huge plus the AG short scale guitar range.
Next, you can see and listen 11 short scale Simplicio AG guitars I have reviewed so far:
1) http://www.andalusianguitars.com/FS1929special-9-10.html
video 1 https://youtu.be/MiimuWNCt3c
2) http://www.andalusianguitars.com/FS1929-12-13.html
video 2 https://youtu.be/9MRj0adxK5A
3) http://www.andalusianguitars.com/FS1929-14-10.html
video 3 https://youtu.be/4PECsQEf2DM
4) http://www.andalusianguitars.com/FS1929-15-12.html
video 4 https://youtu.be/mfae7dUKjSU?t=156
5) http://www.andalusianguitars.com/FS1929-16-8.html
video 5 https://youtu.be/fc8wSXjzo6s?t=95
6) video 6 https://youtu.be/490zPhcJKDk?t=66
7) video 7 https://youtu.be/-2OKkByWBbY
8) http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1929-27-7.html
video 8 https://youtu.be/UQ0UfSyTKgo
9) http://www.andalusianguitars.com/FS1929special-19-10.html
video 9 https://youtu.be/PbtN-iA5zXQ?t=86
10) http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1929-25-11.html
video 10 https://youtu.be/BKBhachEJ2k?t=25
11) Video 11 https://youtu.be/0sPXuIU_y5c
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*Chapter 12
Flamenco double cutaway guitars with access the whole fretboard (optional with 24 frets)
http://andalusianguitars.com/AG-Special-Features-12-1.html
First of all, we should clarify what is the difference between a regular cutaway guitar and those extraordinary double cutaway guitars of AG. To do that, please watch the following video https://youtu.be/BKBhachEJ2k?t=25
I started playing a double cutaway guitar in 2017 because I got tired of not getting much of a challenge, being inside my zone of comfort. I mean playing the full body guitar, that zone which I strived so much to master, nonetheless influenced by some friends who own themselves guitars like
this http://andalusianguitars.com/FS1932-7-11.html
this https://youtu.be/bxNt9f6Bz3w?t=122
or this https://youtu.be/O-Km-qbDg0E
I got the intuition that it might actually be very productive for me to try as well as it could give me a valuable experience one way or the other. Remembering what I learned from maestro Kenny Werner http://rdiaz.org/rdfoto28.html (next is his web site and a valuable book of his, which I recommend to any musician. https://kennywerner.com/effortless-mastery) Kenny really strikes me when he said: "in music, the only way to be comfortable is to step out of your zone of comfort." Thus encouraged that way, last year (2017) I finally got the determination along with my first double cutaway guitar. http://andalusianguitars.com/AG-Special-Features-12-2.html So I happily started an adventure, as I forced myself to play no matter what, only with this specific guitar all the time for about 4 months which I did. And I realized that indeed, it can be very useful for any player practice with such guitars, especially those people who are used to play with full body guitars all the time. Therefore, even if that were not your main instrument, as it was my case, you can still derive a great benefit from it. At present, I am still learning to play the double cutaway and it is so much fun as you can see on this video here, with the advantage of being able to play standing which I never did in the past. https://youtu.be/VOvWYNoQAlo?t=26
Based on the satisfying results I got from recordings like this, https://youtu.be/uPGvC41CbaA?t=491 (on that fragment I played two double cutaway guitars) my conclusion is that playing it, even if just for certain periods of time inside your practice plan, if properly done, you can be sure that through this specific guitar model, http://andalusianguitars.com/AG-Special-Features-12-4.html you can actually learn more about the full body guitar itself. This is by far the most surprising thing about my undertaking with double cutaway guitars. The logic behind this is that with it you easily explore zones of the guitar which one wouldn't do at all while playing a full body guitar. That in itself will broaden in no time your whole perception of the fretboard in a new holistic manner so to speak, and even more so with 24 fret guitar like this. here https://youtu.be/W7nYOd8Ewgc The idea is that through this study you will be able to expand furthermore all that you can play with a full body guitar. At present, although still studying inside those cryptic realms, I am motivated to continue exploring, because I am discovering many concealed possibilities. I mean many otherwise unnoticeable things are there which have now revealed themselves as very valuable possibility assets, every time I play the full body guitar http://andalusianguitars.com/AG-Special-Features-1-2.html which is my main instrument.
Every instrument has an effect on us, even if you sometimes can't notice that. Sometimes one realizes it suddenly when you see yourself playing better, and, I feel that thanks to this double cutaway guitar, I can now actually play better both guitars.
I should say that 20 years ago I would never imagine myself playing these kinds of guitars. First of all, because there was no such a suitable flamenco cut away to play back then, but also due to following by inertia, without a second thought, a rather generalized narrow-mindedness in the flamenco community which inoculated us from trying newer different things, and that barred us from the sudden impulse to act contrary to the majority of players around. So, unfortunately, many nice things were lost that way, including questions about the benefits of possible changes in gear, https://youtu.be/fvolIJc4DIQ?t=151 and about the use of those "unusual" vehicles which may become the fertile ground to explore new exciting ways to play, or at least to have the joy of trying to go in a different and more exciting direction yourself.
Is interesting to mention that in Paco de Lucia's technique, (which is what I generally teach on Skye) to orient ourselves, we use our sense of touch as a reference. To know what I mean please watch the following video. https://youtu.be/WfToBXahZsk?t=148
Also inside our line of studies, (my students and I) we follow Paco's advise to practice certain things with a blindfold on. https://youtu.be/qcsLaSaxNs8?t=14 This, if learned in the right context, can make music much more exciting to you. Apart from learning all these concepts via Skype, twice a year people reunite here in Malaga from all over the world to explore these specific areas. https://youtu.be/ZIGp0gZDZok?t=168 In the near future, I plan to continue with this research also relating to the mastering of the fretboard with a double cutaway guitar as well.
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Chapter 13
FRETLESS FLAMENCO GUITARS
I remember once Paco told me (as he believed so) that emotion in flamenco comes from those notes "between the notes" namely from the micro-tone notes, if you observe highly emotional music like Blues or Cante flamenco (singing) there is a vast use of the micro-tone as a vehicle to interpret their melodies. In the other hand playing this guitar https://bit.ly/2kIs8MH is like singing through the guitar...
It feels like a human voice plus an Arabic lute and something else combined together all in one single timbre.
Although I am still learning to play this beautiful instruments I have already gotten so many benefits, for instance from the technique point of view I got more control of the fireboard , partly because I practiced triying to stay “in tune” by putting on one of my videos of scales with fretted guitars and playing along with that. This gave me more knowledge about the fretted fretboard itself and when coming back to the fretted guitars I feel clearly that I can play better. This is just one of the advantages I am experiencing on a regular basis through this adventure with the AG fretless instruments .
Although as a rare thing in 2009 I recorded “Jaya Gopinath” a particular piece for fretless guitar after that experience I did not played a fretless again until my friend Celso recorded Cancion de Amor by Paco de lucia on a Santos vintage fretless guitar of his collection https://bit.ly/2lYCOH5 then after that my friend Ricky who composed this piece here https://bit.ly/2kbAWdt I have had the good luck to instruct him about flamenco for many years now and he lend me one of his collection beauties a superb negra Simplicio top model fretless guitar that you can listen here https://bit.ly/2lURzLd at this point I got in love with the fretless universe and now the question was that I needed a fretless guitars myself as so far I was only playing a bit now and then with whichever fretless I could have landed by some of my students coming who had that.
After trying some of the Centered sound port fretless guitars which AG made in 2019, guitars like this of my friend and guitar collector Matthew Sullman https://bit.ly/2ktfYXQ I even tried a guitar owned by my friend Lee Taylor without fret marks as he was a bass player before https://bit.ly/2kTAv7V that guitar taught me that at my present point of development in fretless I really needed the fret wood marks as you can see here https://bit.ly/2lXWJWC that although by Paco’s advice I was used to train using a blindfold https://bit.ly/2kkfIds (useful practice even to avoid neck problems and situations like the one of my students describes in following link http://www.rdiaz.org/rdmagazine86-12jun16.html#magazinerec1 )
Fortunately enough around May of 2019 I got a Simplicio fretless which feels fantastic and led me to the doors of the polychromatic realms of music https://bit.ly/2mnVBfg which I am planning to explore further on.