Parallel Wiring: Brazil and the invention of the solid body electric guitar The sound of the Trio... more Parallel Wiring: Brazil and the invention of the solid body electric guitar The sound of the Trio Elétrico is the sound of carnaval in the northeastern Brazilian state of Bahia. In 1950 two local musicians, Dodô Nascimento and Osmar Macêdo, paraded during Salvador's Carnival performing in a 1929 Ford equipped with two speakers. These speakers were amplifying their unique electric instruments; a solid body electric guitar trio of cavaquinho (the Brazilian soprano guitar), violão (the six-string guitar) and triolim (tenor guitar). This was the very first Trio Elétrico to perform in Bahia and from that moment Trio Elétricos and the guitarra baiana became synonymous with carnaval in Salvador and Brazil. During the 1930s and 40s when the electric guitar was being developed in North America, the electric guitarra baiana appeared independently in Salvador, Bahia. This curious coincidence has inspired claims that the solid-body electric guitar may have been invented in Brazil. The invention of the electric guitar in the 20 th Century had an enormous impact on the practise, popularity and commercialisation of music. The relationship between the guitar and the listening public was forever altered with the introduction of electromagnetic pickups, amplification and the solid body electric guitar. The creation and development of the electric guitar and its related electronics reflected the changing times, both artistically and culturally (Brosnac 1975).The evolution of the guitar into an electronic instrument was inevitable, increased volume becoming a musical necessity with the expansion in the size of bands in the 1930's. Without going into advanced electronics and engineering, it is fair to say that the pickup is the essential element in any electric guitar. The magnetic field created by the pickup transforms the vibration of the string into an electronic signal that can then be amplified (Tolinski and Di Perna, 2016). Traditional acoustic guitar building focuses on the soundboard as the source of tone production, and the early electric guitar experiments focused on attempts to amplify the vibrations of the guitar's soundboard. However, it was George Beauchamp that realised the string is the best source of vibration (Tolinski and Di Perna, 2016). In 1930-31 Beauchamp had mounted his early pickup experiments on a piece of two-by-four inch timbre using just a single string as the source of vibration, with his design proving to be successful he went about building a full-sized guitar prototype. Tolinski and Di Perna (2016) suggest that while others had tried this kind of thing, it appears only Beauchamp followed through his experiment to its logical conclusion. Beauchamp enlisted the help of his friends, Aldoph Rickenbaker, Harry Watson and Paul Berth to design and build a full-size electric guitar. Together the four men created the Ro-Pat-In company. The initial design they came up with was the 'Frying pan' also called the 'Panhandle' and 'Pancake'. These descriptive names appear apt as the instrument's long neck and small circular body shape resembled a frying pan. The original prototype was made from wood; however, the production models were made from aluminium, a result of the Ro-Pat-In legacy of having worked in The National String Instrument Corporation making cast-iron Dobro instruments. (Tolinski and Di Perna, 2016). The instrument was primarily designed for playing Hawaiian-style, that is horizontally on the lap, although it could be also played using a traditional posture, at the time referred to as Spanish Style. In 1932 the A-25 production model, 25 referring to the scale length in inches, was launched followed by the A-22 which went on to outsell the 25-inch model. The guitar was branded Ro-Pat-In, then Rickenbahcer and ultimately Rickenbacker Electro. The market in the early 1930's was essentially professional players. (Tolinski and Di Perna, 2016).
The invention of the electric guitar in the 20th Century had an enormous impact on the practise a... more The invention of the electric guitar in the 20th Century had an enormous impact on the practise and concept of music from the moment it was first heard. The relationship between the guitar and the listening public was altered forever with the introduction of electro-magnetic pickups, amplification and the solid body electric guitar. The creation and development of the electric guitar and its related electronics reflected the changing times, both artistically and culturally, especially in the U.S.A along with other parts of the world.
Parallel Wiring: Brazil and the invention of the solid body electric guitar The sound of the Trio... more Parallel Wiring: Brazil and the invention of the solid body electric guitar The sound of the Trio Elétrico is the sound of carnaval in the northeastern Brazilian state of Bahia. In 1950 two local musicians, Dodô Nascimento and Osmar Macêdo, paraded during Salvador's Carnival performing in a 1929 Ford equipped with two speakers. These speakers were amplifying their unique electric instruments; a solid body electric guitar trio of cavaquinho (the Brazilian soprano guitar), violão (the six-string guitar) and triolim (tenor guitar). This was the very first Trio Elétrico to perform in Bahia and from that moment Trio Elétricos and the guitarra baiana became synonymous with carnaval in Salvador and Brazil. During the 1930s and 40s when the electric guitar was being developed in North America, the electric guitarra baiana appeared independently in Salvador, Bahia. This curious coincidence has inspired claims that the solid-body electric guitar may have been invented in Brazil. The invention of the electric guitar in the 20 th Century had an enormous impact on the practise, popularity and commercialisation of music. The relationship between the guitar and the listening public was forever altered with the introduction of electromagnetic pickups, amplification and the solid body electric guitar. The creation and development of the electric guitar and its related electronics reflected the changing times, both artistically and culturally (Brosnac 1975).The evolution of the guitar into an electronic instrument was inevitable, increased volume becoming a musical necessity with the expansion in the size of bands in the 1930's. Without going into advanced electronics and engineering, it is fair to say that the pickup is the essential element in any electric guitar. The magnetic field created by the pickup transforms the vibration of the string into an electronic signal that can then be amplified (Tolinski and Di Perna, 2016). Traditional acoustic guitar building focuses on the soundboard as the source of tone production, and the early electric guitar experiments focused on attempts to amplify the vibrations of the guitar's soundboard. However, it was George Beauchamp that realised the string is the best source of vibration (Tolinski and Di Perna, 2016). In 1930-31 Beauchamp had mounted his early pickup experiments on a piece of two-by-four inch timbre using just a single string as the source of vibration, with his design proving to be successful he went about building a full-sized guitar prototype. Tolinski and Di Perna (2016) suggest that while others had tried this kind of thing, it appears only Beauchamp followed through his experiment to its logical conclusion. Beauchamp enlisted the help of his friends, Aldoph Rickenbaker, Harry Watson and Paul Berth to design and build a full-size electric guitar. Together the four men created the Ro-Pat-In company. The initial design they came up with was the 'Frying pan' also called the 'Panhandle' and 'Pancake'. These descriptive names appear apt as the instrument's long neck and small circular body shape resembled a frying pan. The original prototype was made from wood; however, the production models were made from aluminium, a result of the Ro-Pat-In legacy of having worked in The National String Instrument Corporation making cast-iron Dobro instruments. (Tolinski and Di Perna, 2016). The instrument was primarily designed for playing Hawaiian-style, that is horizontally on the lap, although it could be also played using a traditional posture, at the time referred to as Spanish Style. In 1932 the A-25 production model, 25 referring to the scale length in inches, was launched followed by the A-22 which went on to outsell the 25-inch model. The guitar was branded Ro-Pat-In, then Rickenbahcer and ultimately Rickenbacker Electro. The market in the early 1930's was essentially professional players. (Tolinski and Di Perna, 2016).
The invention of the electric guitar in the 20th Century had an enormous impact on the practise a... more The invention of the electric guitar in the 20th Century had an enormous impact on the practise and concept of music from the moment it was first heard. The relationship between the guitar and the listening public was altered forever with the introduction of electro-magnetic pickups, amplification and the solid body electric guitar. The creation and development of the electric guitar and its related electronics reflected the changing times, both artistically and culturally, especially in the U.S.A along with other parts of the world.
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