Unorthodox methods of singing or of playing musical instruments
A prepared guitar, in which various metal objects have been inserted between the strings and the neck.
In music, extended technique is unconventional, unorthodox, or non-traditional methods of singing or of playing musical instruments employed to obtain unusual sounds or timbres.[1]
Composers’ use of extended techniques is not specific to contemporary music (for instance, Hector Berlioz’s use of col legno in his Symphonie Fantastique is an extended technique) and it transcends compositional schools and styles. Extended techniques have also flourished in popular music. Nearly all jazz performers make significant use of extended techniques of one sort or another, particularly in more recent styles like free jazz or avant-garde jazz. Musicians in free improvisation have also made heavy use of extended techniques.
Examples of extended techniques include bowing under the bridge of a string instrument or with two different bows, using key clicks on a wind instrument, blowing and overblowing into a wind instrument without a mouthpiece, or inserting objects on top of the strings of a piano.
Twentieth-century exponents of extended techniques include Henry Cowell (use of fists and arms on the keyboard, playing inside the piano), John Cage (prepared piano), and George Crumb. The Kronos Quartet, which has been among the most active ensembles in promoting contemporary American works for string quartet, frequently plays music which stretches the manner in which sound can be drawn out of instruments.
preparation of a guitar by inserting screws or pieces of metal in the bridge or between the strings.
detuning a string while playing
"3rd bridge", a guitar technique using the part of the string between the nut and the stopping finger; see Xenakis' cello piece Nomos Alpha for a similar effect.
rudimental or "dynamic" double bass on the drum set, using hand rudiments such as double stroke rolls and flam taps and playing them with the feet
stacking 2 or more cymbals, one on top of the other, to change the sound properties of the instrument
bowed vibraphone, cymbals, and gongs
resonance effects (e.g., cymbal played on a timpani; cow bell struck against a bass drum, etc.)
pitch bends on mallet percussion
harmonics
custom-built percussionmallets, occasionally made for vibraphone or tubular bells (and other pitched-percussion in increasingly rare circumstances) which feature more than one mallet-head, and so are capable of producing multiple pitches and difficult chords (though usually only the chords they were designed to play). These mallets are seldom used, and percussionists sometimes make them themselves when they are needed. When implemented, they are usually only used once or twice in an entire work, and are alternated with conventional mallets; usually they are used only when playing a different instrument in each hand.
striking a gong and then inserting the vibrating metal into a tub of water, creating a glissando.
Turntablism, such as scratching records or otherwise manipulating a record or turntable platter, often done in combination with a DJ mixer, to create unique sound effects and rhythms
Using a "kill switch" on an electric guitar to create quasi-scratching rhythmic sounds.
Circuit bending: DIY experimenting with electronic keyboards and electronic toys.
playing electric instruments unplugged, or amplifying acoustical parts of normally electronic instruments (e.g. finger noise on the keys)
exploitation of inherent equipment "defects" (e.g., deliberately driving digital equipment into aliasing; exaggerating hum or hiss coming from speakers, acoustic feedback, key click on a Hammond organ etc.)
Organ
Playing on stops that are partially drawn (has an effect only if the stops are on purely mechanical action, with a slider windchest).
Manipulating stops while holding one or more notes (possible on most organs, but most effective if the stops are on purely mechanical action, with a slider chest).
Stuart Dempster; The Modern Trombone: A Definition of Its Idioms, The New Instrumentation 3. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1979. ISBN978-0-520-03252-1.
Michael Edward Edgerton; The 21st-Century Voice. The New Instrumentation 9. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 2004. ISBN978-0-8108-5354-6.
Evan Hirschelman; Acoustic Artistry: Tapping, Slapping, and Percussion Techniques for Classical and Fingerstyle Guitar. Private Lessons (Musicians Institute). Milwaukee: Musicians Institute Press/Hal Leonard, 2011. ISBN978-1-4234-0571-9.
Linda L. Holland and Evan Conlee. Easing into Extended Technique, 5 vols. [Ridgefield, Wash.]: Con Brio, 1999.
Thomas Howell; The Avant-Garde Flute: A Handbook for Composers and Flutists. The New Instrumentation 2. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1974. ISBN978-0-520-02305-5.
Ruth Inglefield and Lou Ann Neill; Writing for the Pedal Harp: A Standardized Manual for Composers and Harpists. The New Instrumentation 6. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1985. ISBN978-0-520-04832-4.
J. Michael Leonard; Extended Technique for the Saxophone. Wayland, MA : Black Lion Press, 2004.
Philip Rehfeldt; New Directions for Clarinet, revised edition. The New Instrumentation 4. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1994. ISBN978-0-520-03379-5. Reprinted, Lanham, MD: The Scarecrow Press, 2013.
Jamie Leigh Sampson; Contemporary Techniques for the Bassoon: Multiphonics. Bowling Green, OH: ADJ·ective New Music, LLC, 2014. ISBN978-0-615-99938-8.
Patricia and Allen Strange; The Contemporary Violin. The New Instrumentation 7. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2001. ISBN978-0-520-22409-4.
Bertram Turetzky; The Contemporary Contrabass, new and revised edition. The New Instrumentation 1. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1989. ISBN978-0-520-06381-5.
The Orchestra: A User's Manual by Andrew Hugill with The Philharmonia Orchestra. Includes definitions, descriptions and video interviews of extended techniques for most all common orchestral instruments.
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