Zentherstick

Music:

Member Since: 1/23/2006
Band Website: zentherstick.com
Band Members:

The members of Zentherstick

Tony Korologos: Zendrum (zen)

Tony Korologos has been playing "traditional" drums for 35 years. After years of playing in one of Salt Lakes most popular bands, Tony got bored with his drum kit and decided one night to switch everything around backwards. Playing the same old songs left handed proved to be a fun challenge.

Tony's most recent challenge has been leaning to play his latest kit: the Zendrum. The toughest part is trying to play parts with two hands, which on a traditional drum set would require two hands and two feet.

Though there are standard configurations and techniques which have been set for playing the Zendrum, Tony decided not to use them or even view them. Instead Tony decided to set up his own configurations and develop his own techniques for playing this great instrument.

Matthew Loel T. Hepworth: Theremin (ther)


Matt didn’t play a musical instrument until he was 15. He bought a second-hand guitar and from that moment on, he was hooked. His father performed and taught music, and his mother taught dance. They encouraged Matt to explore not only guitar, but other instruments as well. One day, Matt’s dad said, “You’re doing great on the guitar, now try a trumpet.” He wanted his son to be versatile.

He never tried the trumpet, but he did try a bass guitar. Those low notes really spoke to him. Playing bass got him a gig in his High School jazz band. That gig would introduce Matt to Tony Korologos and Kent Rytting. They would get together after school and jam. (The trio would eventually become SPAZZ and, eventually, ZenTherStick.)

Later, he got involved in synthesis, keyboards, vocals, MIDI, and recording. He went on to become an authority on music technology. He has a music technology consulting business and also works as a professional photographer and a videographer.

But in 2001, a remarkable chain of events led him to the Theremin. “I was thumbing through an old issue of Keyboard magazine and happened across the obituary of (Theremin virtuoso) Clara Rockmore. It reminded me that I always wanted to try a Theremin. Later that day, I went to the mail to retrieve my new copy of Keyboard. In that issue was a review of the ‘build your own Theremin’ kit from Bob Moog’s company, Big Briar. I read the article, but before I could fully appreciate the coincidence, I turned on my satellite dish. To my amazement, Sundance Channel was showing a documentary called, “Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey.” I couldn’t ignore fate. I called Big Briar and ordered my Theremin.”

Learning the Theremin was, and is, a daunting task for Matt. “This is the most infuriatingly wonderful instrument I’ve ever played. Clara (Rockmore), Sam (Hoffman), Lydia (Kavina), and Pamela (Kurstin) make it look so easy, so effortless. Little did I know what I was getting into.”

But he keeps practicing and honing his skills. “I know I’m getting better, but there are days when I can’t stand to listen to myself practice. I’m very grateful to Tony and Kent for their support and encouragement.”

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Kent Rytting: Stick (stick)

Kent didn't listen to music, or even own a single record until he was 13, but started played guitar at 14. Kent played lots of guitar. Kent loved applying patterns of guitar, essentially playing "Math" on an instrument. He started tuning his guitar in symetrical ways, to simplify the paterns, and create less distance between the muscle memory and the music. Guitar was pretty much Kent's life from that time till he was in his late 20's, when he decided to go to school and get a real Job.

While Kent was in school, he was browsing local music store, and saw a polycarbonate Stick in the used instrument room and thought to himself "what the ???" (Which is the appropriate response when one sees a Stick, but not quite as loud as when one sees a Theremin). Weeks went by and he couldn't get the thing out of his brain. The symmetry of the Stick was very much in tune with his own experimentation with guitar and patterns. In some amazing verbal acrobatics and rationalization with his loving wife, he purchased the used Stick and within a few weeks, used it on some recordings of the "Spazz" album by ...uh...Spazz. Kent then tried to find a way to use the Stick in many different bands, mostly to the distain of many a band member ( Kent was a much better guitar player than a Stick player ). Eventually this let to the realization that he needed to be in a band that was based on the idea of starting anew, and luckily Matt and Tony felt the same way. He traded in the Polycarbonate 10 string stick for a Purpleheart Grand 12 string Stick and Joined the band Zentherstick.

Kent is grateful for the opportunity to play the Stick for more than a decade now, and just barely feels like he is getting acquainted with the instrument, Kent hopes that he will be able to continue to play Stick until one day he dies.

The instruments of Zentherstick

Zendrum

The Zendrum is a MIDI (musical instrument digital interface)triggering controller designed by drummers to allow musicians to express their creativity in rhythmic and intuitive ways. The Zendrum has 24 velocity sensitive pads which can trigger virtually any sound or MIDI instrument. The 24 pads are played with the fingers and hands of the performer.

Theremin

The Theremin was one of the first synthesizers ever created. This remarkable instrument came from the mind of Russian inventor Leon Theremin in 1920. The Theremin is the only musical instrument that is not touched by the performer.

Stick

The Chapman Stick is a unique electric stringed instrument invented and continually upgraded by Emmett Chapman. The Stick embodies a powerful new method of playing a stringed instrument, that of both hands approaching the fretboard from opposite sides with all 8 fingers perpendicular to the strings.