Biondi Noya
Argo - Blue Arcanum
Essays: Opinion & Perspective
My Eight Talons
Music has evolved greatly, the branching path that leads to countless possibilities is now opened.
And so with the instruments.
There was an era where 7 strings guitars are so flashy, yet sometimes alienated by many. Once the ideas of 7 strings are acceptable, 8 strings guitars began to crawl into the surface. 8 strings guitars are welcomed by many reactions, just like what the older brother did. It always took time for people to be able to accept new things from their perspective.
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My primary instruments right now are 8 strings guitars. Have 2 of them, but I use Ibanez RG8 most of the time. There are plenty of reasons why I'd choose such an instrument.
My experience with 7 strings began in 2008. At the time, I was inspired by Dino Cazares and his band Divine Heresy. The brutality of Dino's playing is so captivating, it made me wanted to switch from 6 strings into 7 strings guitars. And then I began to focus on guitarists who use 7 strings like John Petrucci, Steve Vai, Jeff Loomis, Chris Broderick, and some others. I can say that I'm pretty well used to 7 strings.
One time later, when I learn music theories and open my eyes to the whole music itself (the whole music composition, not only the instrument I played; which is the guitar), I began to see the beauty of other instruments. At that particular moment, I really admired the Piano. It has a wide range of notes, a pure clean tone, and is considered the most important instrument to learn.
General music theories that related to harmonic and melodic concept usually requires Piano. I don't have time to learn the piano instrument technically but wanted to have such a wide range. And so I picked up 8 strings guitars.
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Since then it has become my primary instrument for any music I played. I can hear what it's like to play a beautiful triad on the lower pitch register, how it sounds if we are running long lines from the lower register into the higher one, just like what I need from Piano. It was also the main reason why I preferred a clean tone, to emulate Harp & String's pizzicato.
I feel like 8 strings guitars helped me a lot in many ways and it was the instrument that suits my needs.
For me, having an extra pair of strings is always a good idea.
In the end, music is a freedom of expression. As a guitarist, it doesn't matter how many strings you have on your guitar.
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It's all about achieving the music that you envisioned and picking the instrument that helps you to achieve what you want. (bn)
Creative 8 Strings Guitarists
​Since the arrival of 8 strings guitar, people have used it for various genres and purposes. These amazing 5 musicians, in my humble opinion, are 8 strings musicians who came with their very distinctive characters and interesting ideas. If you are also an 8 strings user, then you should check them out.
Just bear in mind that it has nothing to do with any particular order. They are just as good as each other in their way.
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Mick Gordon
Mick Gordon is a video game composer and an ERG user. His music composition is always interesting for me since his music is very 'purpose-oriented and that's what makes it so deep. He is known for doing the soundtrack for Doom & Need For Speed series.
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Josh Martin
Josh Martin is another crazy 8 strings user, always tapped his guitar, yet his music is so unique and beautiful. His unusual playing style making him one of the most technical players out there, but his music is colorful and beautiful. His band name is Little Tybee. You must check him out.
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Tosin Abasi
Tosin Abasi is probably the most well-known 8 strings player of the modern era. His music style is very technical, recognizable, and very unique. One of his very amazing techniques is his thumping style. His band is Animals As Leaders. He also has another interesting band named TRAM, with more timbres going on, yet very strong in the technical aspect.
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Javier Reyes
Javier Reyes is another guitarist that played his 8 strings in a manner of classical guitar. He was in the same band as Tosin, which is Animals As Leaders. His solo project is more melancholy and beautiful, as opposed to Animals As Leaders.
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Fredrik Thordendal
Meshuggah is probably the legend of 8 strings in the metal scene, bringing a technical rhythmic composition into the table that is known by modern players as djent. Fredrik Thordendal is a very great guitar player. With such monster stamina, planetary choice of notes, and the complexity of his rhythm playing, his style is very recognizable and probably influenced the generation after him. (bn)
Dragons & Monsters in my Bedroom
​People often ask me, why I collect so many toys (in this case, figures)? Isn’t that just a kid thingy?
To be honest, I don’t think that I am a big collector. I just picked up a toy that interests me, such as dragons, dinosaurs, and particularly video game characters.
But toys for me are not just useless plastic, or rubber, or whatever materials it is made of...
It always starts with a good imagination.
It exists in that realm, before it turns into a physical form, in our world and reality.
The base idea before anything is imagination. People imagining things before the creation process took place. What kind of character they want? What would they look like? What kind of expression would the toy have? What levels of details it would be? What kind of history that this character would have? What kind of environment they would represent?
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Once it is decided, they move into the next process: drawing and designing, which is something that not everyone is good at. Not to mention if the design is done manually, or might be operated with a complex computer thingy, which is once again, not everyone is good at.
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Yes, it required some skill for it to happen. After that, they run into some more steps that I won’t probably know. Such as revision, publishing, quality control, etc. So toys are the result of a ‘teamwork’ of many different fields. A toy is not a product of a single person only.
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Teamwork... Ain’t this lesson is applicable in our lives? No matter how good you are, you will always need other people.
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The creative process of anything before it became something, is always a good lesson to learn.
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The toy is the product of art, the product of creativity. product of a technology, product of teamwork, a product of many efforts and elements that happened before it.
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So for me as a musician or an artist, I’d like to surround myself with these things. They can serve me as a creative reminder, an inspirational surrounding that could motivate me and trigger my creativity as a musician.
Because everything starts from our head, our minds, our very plane of creativity. Our minds will manifest our reality.
If only we all know how to harness it, these toys can become a fountain of ideas.
Well at least I did... (bn)