Re: tunings

[matthias@bahianet.com.br (Matthias Grob)]

>I now only play in RF's new standard tuning for guitar.

I am ashamed to ask in this club. I almost participated on a course, but I
cannot learn such way. So please, tell me the RF tuning. Thanks.

>I also make extensive use of various pitch devices so
>I can access both very high and very low tones.

Yes, me too. Sad that not even the PCM80 is clean when it comes to shift a
frequency mix (several notes, chords).

My PARADIS has two frets more on the E string, so I have low D constantly
without any change in fingering (exept to remember to press E)

These days I thought about tuning (Not an issue for me so far) and wished
deeply a tuning with equal distance between strings so any fingering can be
applied anywere. I tuned B and high E string a half tone up. It is
marvelous somehow, much easier for the brain. But then again some chords
become nightmares.
Maybe its not me to develop such stuff.

I always remember Rainer Franzmann.
He was an architect, in love with guitar. He thought about the instrument
in a free way I never saw elswhere.
He visited me in Biel in '91 with a crazy big proposual to create the
perfect guitar with polyphonic stuff and lots of controlers all over the
instrument - a lot of genious ideas and a lot of far off dreams about
electronics.
He showed a prototype of a guitar with a "tremolo" that detuned
harmonically and was operated from the neck. Incredibly intuitive to use!
Ljubo built such in his guitar, the idea lives. It also had an elbow
controller, a very intuitive expression way - and 8 strings. He said that
he does not like 6 string tuning because fingering is to hard and unequal.
This seamed very logic to me. He called his tuning "symetric" and it was E
G#  c  e  G#  c1  e1  g#1.

I met him again in Frankfurt with a bunch of guitar creaters (Rolf, Ljubo)
and he used to spread an incredible creative, alive energy.
I was busy with projects I thought were a little closer to what clients
could understand and I did not understand why he was in a hurry so much,
until I heard that he had died, about a year after. Then I remembered the
dark shades under his eyes.
Death must be harder when the projects are on paper only, everbody calling
it genious, but nobody executing it.

I do not know where his prototypes went, and all the nice drawings 
(architect!).
If anyone heard about this or has a way to find something - he lived in
Freiburg.
I have a 13 pages project of his in hands. Should I publish it? Am I alowed
to do so? Well, anyway, its in german and I have no scanner, so it would be
hard work...

Matthias