Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Voodoo Shilton and Tetra Galactar

Voodoo Shilton has acquired another guitar and he calls it Tetra Galactar.  The picture below does not show the guitar and you will have to come to his show at Cat's Art MusikCircus for that but it shows him at a recent performance:


This picture struck me as much like the concerts Yanni did at one time when he would play in front of the Taj Mahal.  Here Voodoo plays in front of a Spanish castle and this adds very nicely to his style of play.

The reason for writing about the Tetra Galactar isn't for what it looks like but rather what it sounds like as the types of effects Voodoo is using are a strong departure from what performers with acoustic or near-acoustic guitars typically employ.  The most striking is an octave multiplier which will yield the note actually being played and will generate a note an octave above, below, or both.  I'm most envious as the Boss GT-100 is one of the most sophisticated stompboxes one can use with a guitar and it has an effects chain with thirteen points of audio modification ... BUT ... it does not have an octave multiplier.

An octave multiplier is a highly-esoteric effect and it's not something one can use a lot.  It's musically significant in what it does but it would become annoying if over-used.  To understand what I mean by that you will just have to come and hear him.  I've only recorded once with one in a song called "Finding My Way" (click on the title to hear it on SoundCloud).  What you will hear is NOT the same as the Tetra Galactar as Voodoo is using additional of what he calls 'alien forces' in creating the sound he makes.

When Voodoo said he was using 'alien forces,' if we were alone I would have said, "Ela, Ela! (Greek for 'come on!')  I've been doing this for a long time, what else have you got in your hat, Magic Man!"  (laughs)  If you don't care what he has in his hat and just want to hear the Tetra Galactar then come to hear Voodoo Shilton at Cat's Art MusikCircus on Friday.

You can also meet Voodoo Shilton on Facebook.

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