Maker Music Festival: FrankenGuitars Project

FrankenGuitars Project

Exploration of noise production (both acoustically and electronically), through wasted guitars intervened with various objects such as aluminum cans and rulers, graters, rocks, bells and much more.

This project explores the possibilities of noise production (both acoustically and electronically), through wasted guitars intervened with various objects such as aluminum cans and rulers, graters, rocks, bells and much more. It seeks new ways of approaching the instrument that I have practiced for so many years, not only in terms of sound and technical possibilities but also in its aesthetic approach.

The performances derived from this project usually occur with the solo instrument or in conjunction with other tools such as no-input mixer, tape loops, effect pedals and different software processors.

This video is a recording session excerpt of my albums "It´s Alive!" and "Harsh Guitar Noises", and of my performance for the "1er Festival de Compositores y Artistas Sonoros de Baja California" (1st Festival of Composers and Sound Artists of Baja California) in 2020.

Frequently Asked Questions

What inspired you to do this?

As a classical guitarist for 13 years and a composer for 9, I have had the need to explore and develop new ways of approaching the instrument that I have practiced for so many years, not only in terms of sound and technical possibilities but also in its aesthetic approach. It is from this that the curiosity to use guitars thrown away by other people was born, guitars that probably would never be played again, and intervene them with very varied objects in order to expand their range of sounds and turn them into totally new instruments.

How long did it take to make it?

So far only one guitar is considered finished (the one that can be seen in the video), it took me about 3 weeks. I´m also in the process of creating others that I have at home.

How long have you been doing things like this?

I started my path in experimental music and sound art about 2 years ago, exploring new forms of sound construction.
This project specifically started at the beginning of the pandemic and more recently I have been developing a project with circuit bendt toys.

How much did this cost to do?

Taking into account that it is a wasted guitar and I intervened it with recycled materials that I had at home, it was really cheap to make. Perhaps the most expensive thing was installing the acoustic guitar pickup, but it was also very cheap.
Maybe $25 dollars.

Are there plans available to make this? Do you sell this?

For now I do not plan to sell this one, perhaps in the future I would like to have some for sale, as the project progresses.

What’s next?

This project will continue as long as I find more guitars that other people no longer use and that I come up with more ideas to intervene them. On the other hand, I have been developing a noise exploration project with circuit bent toys recently, I will probably do both at the same time.

Fabián Coronado : Guitarist, composer and sound artist

I´m a mexican guitarist, composer, sound artist and profesor, graduated from the Bachelor of Music of the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California (Autonomous University of Baja California). My compositional work displays a wide variety of influences ranging from traditional forms of classical music, ambient music, jazz, and heavy metal, to techniques and styles such as graphic scores, improvisation, and electronics. As a sound artist, I´m interested on the production of acousmatic pieces from field recordings and on sound actions in combination with free improvisation, mainly focused on generating noise with tools such as prepared guitars, no input mixer, tape loops, circuit bent toys, effect pedals, contact mics, software synthesizers and more.

I´m part of the organizing committee of the recent "Festival de Compositores y Artistas Sonoros de Baja California" (Festival of Composers and Sound Artists of Baja California), an artistic-musical event that seeks to share the music of contemporary composers, sound artists and experimental musicians from Baja California. I´m also a member of the interdisciplinary group "Colectivo Ø", founder of the "Ensamble de Guitarras Nuova Musica" (Nuova Musica Guitar Ensemble) and was a participant in the contemporary dance group "Clica, arte escénico" (Clica, performing art).

I´m currently in constant exploration, experimentation and production of acousmatic and noise-making work, labor as proffesor at the Facultad de artes de la UABC (Faculty of Arts of UABC) in Ensenada and at the Centro Estatal de las Artes (State Center for the Arts) in Tecate.