This study uses a general historical overview of luthiery that provides the reader with a basic understanding of construction techniques and terminology as a point of departure. From the outset the lack of consensus over an ideal or desired construction technique is highlighted. However, Torres is credited with the establishing of a perceived Spanish tradition of guitar construction and acknowledged as the “father” of the modern guitar. This will serve as a basic framework in which a discussion of six prominent past and present international luthiers can occur. These luthiers, namely Antonio de Torres, Hermann Hauser, Robert Bouchet, Daniel Friederich, Jose Romanillos and Greg Smallman are included in this study by virtue of their influence on the South African luthiers that are featured here. It is noted that these six luthiers, with the exception of Greg Smallman, all adhere to the “Spanish tradition” of guitar construction. Smallman can be considered a foremost proponent of a more recent “modern” school of guitar construction characterized by various innovative construction techniques. These are a result of new demands placed on the guitar as performance instrument because of larger concert venues and more collaboration with different instruments, resulting in a need for a stronger tone and more projection and penetration in sound. These two “poles” of luthiery are then manifested in the discussion on the seven featured South African luthiers. Alistair Thompson, Colin Cleveland, Mervyn Davis, Garth Pickard, Marc Maingard, Rodney Stedall and Hans van den Berg are discussed with special mention made of the features of their instruments, woods used and thoughts on luthiery, against the backdrop of their biographies. The four South African luthiers who build within the “Spanish tradition” (Pickard, Maingard, Stedall and Van den Berg) are distinguished from the three who build outside this so-called tradition (Thompson, Cleveland, Davis). South African luthiery is therefore shown to be an accurate microcosm of luthiery in global terms with styles of construction ranging from very “traditional” to very “modern”. The critical reflection on the information contained in this study appears in the form of a hermeneutic critique on luthiery that occurs within the parameters of the thought of two prominent hermeneutic thinkers, Martin Heidegger and his student, Hans-Georg Gadamer. It is shown that the collaboration that often occurs between guitar makers and performers can be related back to Gadamer and his analysis of Heidegger’s notion of the the hermeneutic circle. It is also argued that luthiery as practiced by the international and South African luthiers featured in this study can be seen both as art and technology in ancient Greek terms in that they are both a mode of revealing. Finally, it is shown how luthiery in its entirety can be viewed as a tradition and that different luthiers respond and add to this tradition in various ways.

The purpose of this study is to provide a broader understanding of the Yepes ten-string guitar. Since its inception, twenty-eight years ago, no authoritative work has been published providing inferential detail which explains the concept and development of the Yepes guitar. As a result, this instrument has been, and still is, criticized by some, largely from ignorance or lack of knowledge about the instrument. In an attempt to rectify this situation and make the instrument's extended possibilities known, the author has undertaken extensive research and has interviewed, amongst others, leading international authorities associated with the Yepes ten-string guitar. As a result of these efforts, a clearer and more positive understanding of the instrument has emerged. This in turn has become the foundation on which this dissertation has been written. The opening chapter of this dissertation provides an overview, showing how the guitar emerged and developed before the concept of multi-string guitars became established in Europe, during the second half of the eighteenth century. Aspects pertaining to the early guitar's physical features, performance practices, music, tuning and stringing methods are discussed. Several multi-string vihuelas and guitars are also mentioned. The following chapter presents a survey of numerous experiments carried out during the 1770-1900 period; to 'improve' the capabilities of the guitar. Here a number of early multi-string instruments related to the Yepes ten-string guitar are discussed. These include guitars with added basses, guitars with added trebles, guitars with added basses and trebles, and guitars with multiple necks. The third chapter shows how out of an enormous variety of eccentric forms of the guitar, some professional guitarists opted for multi-string guitars (with added basses) as their instruments, whilst others preferred the six-string variety. The music of guitarist-composers who composed for multi-string guitars is discussed alongside those who wrote specifically for the six-string guitar. The rationale for the tuning and disposition of strings on most of these multi-string guitars, past and present, as well as several illustrations showing their physical features are included. The penultimate chapter comprises an interview with Narciso Yepes and other leading figures associated with the ten-string guitar. The reasons behind Yepes' unique concept for the ten-string guitar, arguments for and against the instrument, as well as its tuning and problems related to playing this instrument are discussed. The chapter includes an inquiry(with examples) showing how the ten-string guitar can be used, amongst other things, to facilitate the playing of difficult passages in music originally composed for the six-string guitar. The extension of the repertoire with music composed specifically for this instrument is also briefly discussed. A comprehensive discography of recordings made by Narciso Yepes on the ten-string guitar is presented in the appendix. A more detailed discussion of the ten-string guitar repertoire in the twentieth century is presented in the final chapter. It includes several compositions originally intended for the traditional guitar, which have become associated with the Yepes guitar. At least five compositions composed and dedicated to Narciso Yepes by various composers are also examined. It is concluded that this instrument clearly offers more than what has been assumed over the past twenty-eight years.

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, March 2017 / This thesis documents the development and realisation of an augmented instrument, expressed through the processes of artistic practice as research. The research project set out to extend my own creative practice on the guitar by technologically enabling and extending the instrument. This process was supported by a number of creative outcomes (performances, compositions and recordings), running parallel to the interrogation of theoretical areas emerging out of the research. In the introduction I present a timeline for the project and situate the work in the field of artistic practice as research, explaining relationship between the traditional and creative practices. Following on from this chapter one, Notation, Improvisation and the Cyber-Guitar System discusses the impact of notation on my own education as a musician, unpacking how the nature of notation impacted on improvisation both historically and within my own creative work. Analysis of fields such as graphic notation led to the creation of the composition Hymnus Caesus Obcessiones, a central work in this research. In chapter two, Noise, Music and the Creative Boundary I consider the boundary and relationship between noise and music, beginning with the futurist composer Luigi Russolo. The construction of the augmented instrument was informed by this boundary and aimed to bring the lens onto this in my own practice, recognising what I have termed the ephemeral noise boundary. I argue that the boundary line between them yields the most fertile place of sonic and technological engagement. Chapter three focuses on the instrumental development and a new understanding of organology. It locates an understanding of the position of the musical instrument historically with reference to the values emerging from the studies of notation and noise. It also considers the impacts of technology and gestural interfacing. Chapter four documents the physical process of designing and building the guitar. Included in the Appendix are three CDs and a live DVD of the various performances undertaken across the years of research. / XL2018

This dissertation is a comparative study of the classical guitar and the Pipa. One of the most popular plucked string instruments in the Western Hemisphere is the guitar and in the East, the Chinese pipa. The guitar and the pipa are the distant relatives and both share many commonalities in their history, technique, and construction. The purpose of this study is to illustrate the origins of the instruments, to show the similarities and dissimilarities of construction, and to compare the techniques used for both instruments.The study consists of six chapters. Chapter I presents introductory information as well as the purpose, significance, procedures, and delimitation of the study. Chapter II, a review of related literature, provides a brief description and evaluation of important sources utilized. Chapter III presents a brief history of the classical guitar and the Chinese pipa. Chapter IV provides an overview of the construction in which related to tone production itself of the guitar and the pipa. Chapter V gives a thorough discussion of the techniques used in both instruments. This chapter is further subdivided into four sections: Tone production, Right hand technique, Left hand technique, and "Special" techniques with regard to the use of timbre.By making comparisons between the guitar and the pipa, composers, performers, and luthiers would benefit. By learning the musical possibilities of each instrument, composers could expand the repertoire of each by borrowing their respective musical characteristics. Performers could improve both their techniques as well as add techniques to enhance their own musicality. Finally, luthiers would be able to experiment with their methods of building and perhaps produce higher quality instruments. The author hopes that the findings of this study, therefore, will not only add to musical knowledge in a global society, but also encourage further study. / School of Music

Musical instruments are not static, unchanging objects. They are, instead, things that materially evolve in symmetry with human practices. Alterations to an instrument's design often attend to its ergonomic or expressive capacity, but sometimes an innovator causes an entirely new instrument to arise. One such instrument is the Chapman Stick. This instrument's history is closely intertwined with global currents that have evolved into virtual, online scenes. Virtuality obfuscates embodiment, but the Stick's world, like any instrument's, is optimally related in intercorporeal exchanges. Stickists circumvent real and virtual obstacles to engage the Stick world. Using an organology informed by the work of Heidegger and Merleau-Ponty, this study examines how the Chapman Stick, as a material "thing," speaks in and through a virtual, representational environment.