Edward began as an instrument innovator in 1994. Inspired by Budhaditya and Bimalendu Mukherjee, and countless other instrument makers and modifiers worldwide...
Triple-neck fretless guitar:
Designed and built by Edward Powell in 2006-07, with the help and guidance of master oud builders Faruk Turunz, Svat Cetincan, Ramazan Celay, and their assistants. The instrument is essentially a cross between an oud, a sarod, and a guitar. The main challenge in its construction was to find a compromise between the extremely high tension on the steel-strings side, and the very low tension on the nylon side. The guitar took 7 months of daily effort to complete and has (to-date) been opened (thru the back) 9 times for adjustment to the bracing. The result is a very rich projection from the steel side, and an astonishing depth and warmth from the nylon side - truly a successful experiment!
Alto and baritone ouds:
Edward has designed and build 2 original ouds. The baritone oud has a longer than normal string length and a wide body to produce a great bottom end. The alto-oud is the opposite, with a small body and tight soundboard bracing this instrument has incredible punch and projection.
Gambri-bass and afro-bass:
Edward
fell in love with the sound of simple African stringed instruments, in
particular the Moroccan "gambri". An original gambri has an
astonishingly simple neck, actually just a round broomstick with the strings
tied on with leather straps. There are no tuning pegs at all. Although
a gambri is ideally suited to the local music from where it came, Edward
felt the urge to get a similar sound from an instrument that would have
a standard fingerboard and tuning pegs, hense the 'gambri-bass' which
is a Moroccan gambri exactly except with a bass guitar-type neck. The
"afro-bass" is simply a larger and more sofisticated version
of the "gambri-bass"... both of these basses can be heard throughout
Edward's most recent CDs; BLUESAND and SPIRITDANCE.
Sargamtar and sartar:
The result of Edward's early experiments in designing and constructing original instruments these are essentially two VERY long necked fretless guitars, although their bodies share little with those of most guitars. The sargamtar's very delicate sound belies it's very primative construction, which resembles that of simple African made from stretched skin (as soundboard) over a rough structure. The sartar is a more sofisticated version sharing building techniques with those of ouds and guitars, and having 7 double courses of steel strings. This is a very powerful instrument but difficult to play!
© 2007 EDWARDPOWELL.com