jeff feddersen : invented instruments

Invented Instruments

Starting in 1999, I've created several amplified electric musical instruments. The first - simple percussion instruments made out of scrap alluminum and amplified with piezo contact mics - have evolved into the Silverfish and the Giant Pole (a string/percussion hybrid).

Most recently, I've used those two instruments, as well as some of my own throat singning and distorted guitar, for the score of Brett Hatcher's 2006 film short The Fixer (tracks 1, 2, and 3).

In 1999/2000 in Minnesota, and occasionally thereafter, the instruments have been used in my band Zaftig. The original lineup included myself, Brian Whiton and Brett Hatcher (custom instruments), Meleck Davis (instruments and percussion), and Len Madsen (upright bass). We played several shows for the Future Perfect events, as well as the Soap Factory and 7th Street Entry, and we were nominated for a MN Music Academy award in 2000.

I was/am interested in Zaftig as a live, structured improv experience, but there are a few recordings from that time. The first here, Caravan, includes Joe Baumgart of Peal on tuba, and Ben Connelly on guitar. The next, City, was created by Meleck and myself for Robin Steim's modern dance of the same name. Both tracks were recorded by Mitch Hanley. The third, Shuffle and Groan, was a short piece recorded by Alan Baker.

Another instrument, the two-person Double Harmonics Guitar, was created with Tetsu Kondo as a modification on Glenn Branca's Harmonics Guitar, and has an altogether different sound from the other instruments.