Tapboard

The term Tapboard is used to describe two separate guitar-based instruments designed to employ variations of the touchstyle/tapping technique.

Francis Dunnery's Tapboard

The first recorded Tapboard instrument was devised by former It Bites guitarist Francis Dunnery between 1988 and 1989. While recording demos for It Bites, Dunnery developed a two-handed tapping technique by laying his electric guitar on his lap and "idly tapping" on the fretboard with both hands, drawing on his additional skills as a drummer. Although not previously enamoured of tapping-style guitar playing, Dunnery was interested enough in his discovery to develop an instrument for it, collaborating with Dave Farmilow (chief repair technician at Arbiter Guitars, who were at the time the UK distributors for Fender Guitars).

The Tapboard is designed to be played on the lap, on a table or on a table-style stand, in much the same position as a pedal steel or lap steel guitar. The playing style involves the use of all ten fingers (and thumbs) in a vaguely pianistic style, with the resulting sound being similar to that of a Chapman Stick.

Dunnery has commented "it's a very rhythmic instrument. And you can always see exactly what you're doing, you can work the patterns out. The things you do are totally different from what you can do on a guitar. You can hit two notes together at either end of the fretboard, you can stagger notes, like you're playing a piano, and play 'impossible' scales.” ["It Types" (feature on Francis Dunnery and the Tapboard in Making Music #103 by Julian Colbeck, saved on Mandy's It Bites fanpages and retrieved 23rd September 2008) - [http://www.mandy.co.uk/it-bites/articles/pr_tap1.html] ]

The instrument consists of two standard guitar necks glued flush together, side-by-side, with both fretboards deeply scalloped to aid control of note articulation. It features two sets of pickups (one of which is apparently taken from a Hohner Clavinet) mounted in a substance which appears similar to "Blackpool rock." There are twelve strings (with twenty-four machine heads available), all with an extremely low action. The Tapboard is also infamous for featuring a chrome shower hose (which travels from one end of the instrument to the other) with an egg-timer at one end. These appear to have been added as a joke and for decoration, reflecting the eccentric nature of the instrument and Dunnery's ambivalent relationship with the more ludicrous aspects of rock performance. (He has joked that the feature was added "to see how fast I'm going - eight thousand notes in the time it takes to boil an egg"). ["It Types" (feature on Francis Dunnery and the Tapboard in Making Music #103 by Julian Colbeck, saved on Mandy's It Bites fanpages and retrieved 23rd September 2008) - [http://www.mandy.co.uk/it-bites/articles/pr_tap1.html] ] ["Tapping A New Talent" (feature on Francis Dunnery and the Tapboard in Sounds by Julian Colbeck, December 3rd, 1988, saved on Mandy's It Bites fanpages and retrieved 23rd September 2008) - [http://www.mandy.co.uk/it-bites/articles/PR_D3_88.HTML] ]

The Tapboard was used on several It Bites tours from 1989 to 1990, and made an appearance at the It Bites convention in London in 1990. On record it was used on It Bites' "Eat Me In St Louis" album in 1989 (on the outro for Leaving Without You and the instrumental Charley), and on two single B-sides during the same period (Having A Good Day and Reprise).

The Tapboard was never produced commercially and was not used for subsequent Dunnery recordings and concerts, following Dunnery's journey towards simpler composition and playing styles. Dunnery apparently still possesses the instrument, and claimed to have been using it while recording his 2005 album "The Gulley Flats Boys" (although there is no aural evidence of its use on the final release). Some fans claim that the Tapboard is used on the track I'm In Love (from Dunnery's 2001 album "Man"). [Reader review of "Man" album by "Nicky" at www.rateyourmusic.com, June 7, 2002, retrieved September 23, 2008 - [http://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/francis_dunnery/man/] ]

zendofi Tapboard

Another Tapboard instrument is played by Hungarian progressive rock/jazz-fusion bassist Balazs Szendofi (a member of Mindflowers, The Piccolo Inn, The Holdudvar and The Self-Searching System). Szendofi plays a “Szendofi 12-string Grand Tapboard”, which he describes as a “custom creation” designed by his own father. Szendofi’s Tapboard playing can be heard on Mindflowers’ "Nuances" album (2005). [Review of Mindflowers' "Nuances" album on Guitar9 website, retrieved September 23, 2008 - [http://www.guitar9.com/nuances.html] ]

It’s not known whether there is any connection between the Szendofi and Dunnery Tapboards.

External links

* [http://www.mandy.co.uk/it-bites/articles/pr_tap1.html/ "It Types"] (feature on Francis Dunnery and the Tapboard in Making Music)

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLh0nV6qihg/ "Tapping A New Talent"] (feature on Francis Dunnery and the Tapboard in Sounds by Julian Colbeck.

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLh0nV6qihg YouTube video of Francis Dunnery playing Reprise on the Tapboard] (originally filmed at the It Bites Convention 1990 (poor quality footage).

References