RIP Emmett Chapman

[seismic1]

Emmett Chapman, the inventor of the Chapman Stick passed away on November 1

The Stick was a major contributor to some of my favourite '80s and '90s albums. Tony Levin, Trey Gunn and Nick Beggs all used this remarkable instrument, which I had an opportunity to play in 1982.

The Music Cafe here at KVR has featured a few Stick players during the last 15-20 years.

R.I.P. Emmett

[vurt]

damn thats sad

i remember har, was well in to his chapman stick

rip

[justin3am]

Oh wow. RIP
Yeah, I remember Har being a Stick player. I also have a coworker who has done some amazing stuff with his Chapman Stick. It's a beautiful instrument.

[raiderpdog]

RIP, interesting instrument for sure.

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jkgfj

[Winstontaneous]

Lower than a bass, higher than a guitar. Needs more fingers than a keyboard.

Few own it, even fewer can play it. Even fewer can make it sound good, even if they can. And even fewer than that have hit records with it.

Haha, true - I had a Chapman Stick for a while but sold it on and bought a piano.
RIP Emmett Chapman - he was an innovator and a bit of a prickly pear on the few occasions I contacted him for service. It was difficult to get him to accept legitimate criticism of the instrument regarding ergonomics and intonation.

Unfortunately (IMO) most Stick players tend to sound the same (the low string tension, small body, simple electronics, and tunings contribute to this) and end up making "Stick music" rather than "good music that happened to have been made with a Stick". Notable exceptions include Tony Levin, Greg Howard, Bob Culbertson, and Jim Lampi...I'm sure others have come up in the 10 years since I sold mine.

[Hink]

I posted this a while ago in what are you watching



the first music store I worked at I bought one and sold it...I had to get their info from the orion bluebook so I could call them and ask them how to tune it...4ths one way 5ths the other so so loose it was weird...it came in a bunch of gear but I sold it in 98 for 1600usd

[AnX]

damn thats sad

i remember har, was well in to his chapman stick

rip

Me too, he did a collaboration with me and Fitch and possibly DT....

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uiko