background

Chris was first introduced to the concepts of electronic music at the Eastman School of Music by two colleagues who played in rock bands in high school (they had synths, guitars, effects, amps, and multitrack recorders in their dorm rooms). Having access to all this technology, Chris acquired a small Barcus-Berry transducer (a pickup that sticks on the bridge and feeds a small battery powered preamp with a 1/4" mono output) to feed into delays, reverbs, etc and out to a standard electric guitar amplifier. As a strictly classical instrumentalist this was a revelation - and a lot of fun!

However, the problems of feedback inherent in the pickup/amp setup and the desire to really delve into this technology lead Chris to research other avenues of approach. There were instrument makers that made electric cellos with built-in electronics... and you could get them with more than 4 strings! The idea of an electric cello with almost a 5 octave range was fascinating.

The 5-string electric cello Chris uses was built by Jensen Musical Instruments. It originally had a standard monophonic pickup and was pretty much "off the shelf", but made of beautiful cocobolo wood. Early on, Chris was using a 31-band graphic EQ fed into an Alesis Quadraverb for effects and out to a Gallien-Krueger 200MB mono amplifier (this was the beginning of an addictively fun but expensive hobby). He has since experimented with harmonizers, looping delay units, and other gear-lust related permutations as technology evolves. Chris uses the electric cello to explore sounds and musical ideas that he doesn't get exposed to as a classical player: the electric is approached using standard cello performance techniques, but that's where the similarity ends. He leans toward the abstract electronic side of the musical spectrum: looping, delays, reverbs, and other effects that make the instrument sound decidedly un-cello-like.

equipment

Chris' original electric cello was refurbished, customized, and retrofitted with updated electronics (see photos on the media page). It has the same physical dimensions as his acoustic cello (down to the curve of the upper bout and the shape of the knee braces) and uses a Series 2000 bridge pickup and an RMC Poly-Drive II preamp. The polyphonic output is Roland GK compatible and feeds a Roland VG-88: a complex floor-based unit geared towards guitarists that provides composite object modeling amp, cabinet, instrument, and microphone simulations, inteligent pitch shifting and harmonization, distortions, digital effects, and more. The divided pickup of the electric cello allows this unit to deliver per-string harmonizations with no crosstalk. For example: harmonizing the low C-string down an octave, leaving the G and D strings at pitch, shifting the A-string up an octave, and the E-string up 2 octaves effectively creates an 8-octave range without "glitching" (most harmonizers can't accurately analyze polyphonic input).

Chris had been using a Lexicon JamMan for looping delays, but recently acquired a Gibson Echoplex Digital Pro Plus, allowing the creation of on-the-fly abstract evolving textures and accompaniments. This unit is controlled by a Digitech PMC-10 Programmable MIDI Foot Controller allowing easy access to record, overdub, feedback, fading, loop multiplying, and more.

A Lexicon MPX-1 Multiple Processor Effects unit is in the rack for further sound-mangling.

studio

Also in a constant state of gear-lust driven evolution, Chris' studio is centered around an Apple Power Macintosh Dual 2 GHz G5 with 2.5GB RAM. He records into Mark of the Unicorn's Digital Peformer 4.6 via a MOTU 828mkII FireWire audio interface. Monitoring is done through Mackie HR-824 Studio Monitors.

Chris has recently begun experimenting with U&I Software's ArtMatic for creation of abstract computer animation to synchronize visuals with his electric cello music.

briareus

The Briareus Electro-Acoustic Ensemble (Christopher Glansdorp, electric cello and Tom B. Apple, electrified clarinet & MIDI wind controller) worked in the mid 1990's and was the recipient of a New Forms Florida grant which yielded their self-produced recording The Minor Arcana, inspired by especially striking images evoked by cards of the Tarot.

From the liner notes:
Briareus is a creature in Greek mythology with fifty heads and a hundred hands. Tom Apple and Christopher Glansdorp use electrified clarinet, MIDI wind controller and 5-string electric cello to harness this powerful beast of electro-acoustic sound forces. The result is the rich, colorful sounds of hundreds of voices controlled by the sensitive inflections of the individual artists in original compositions.

The mission of Briareus was to combine the best attributes of the classically trained artist with creatively applied electronic manipulation to produce a unique synthesis of performance tradition and technological innovation.

Listen to the three tracks of the CD via the media page.