Back in the early 1990s, I was enjoying a great number of performing and composing opportunities as a part of the progressive thrash metal band Believer along with other regular regional gigs. I had completed my master's degree in violin performance at Indiana University of Pennsylvania in the spring of 1991 and really loved using the skills I had developed for a variety of performances. On the first two Believer albums, I exclusively used acoustic violin but always thought an electric violin would be cool for those recordings. I must have casually mentioned this to my friend, mandolinist Mike Marshall at some point. I had been looking at advertisements in magazines and I was well aware of the groundbreaking work of Mark Wood and Tracy Silverman. I had also seen the pictures of Mark O'Connor skateboarding while playing in electric violin and thought that looked so very cool. And, of course, I had been listening to Jean Luc Ponty and the progressive violin sounds of Kansas since I was a pre teenager.
One day I came home to my apartment after work and found a box on my front porch. I opened it up and couldn't believe my eyes. It was a black four string Zeta Stratos electric violin. It had come from Mike Marshall. I called him to ask him what was up and he told me that this electric violin was in his closet gathering dust and he thought I would put it to good use. I was absolutely stunned. How generous!
From the second I plugged it in, I was in love with everything about it. I felt like I had finally found "my voice."
I used that electric violin for recording the 3rd Believer record, Dimensions and was thrilled with the results. By this point, I was totally hooked. Dimensions garnered a great deal of national attention and was even nominated for a Dove award in 1993. I was feeling pretty empowered as an electric violin player at this point.
As Believer rode a wave of success with Dimensions, it began to be apparent that we would go on hiatus soon. I ended up buying a digital multi effects processor and dialed in some really beautiful chorus, reverb, and delay parametersat the suggestion of my friends Ted Hermanson and Joey Daub. I picked up a Lexicon Jamman unit that had the capability of looping for a total of 30 seconds. I recall that I also bought a DigiTech DHP 33 digital Harmony Processor. That unit allowed me to create diatonic triads out of single notes. Super cool! The three of us had been toying with the idea of an instrumental fusion trio featuring electric violin, bass guitar, and drums. The looper and the effects processors allowed me to create some pretty cool rhythm and harmonic underpinnings for the group. While that band never really got off the ground, it laid a firm groundwork for me to explore the possibilities of the electric violin much further.
I started wondering what the possibilities of obtaining a corporate sponsorship with an electric violin company might be. Truthfully, the only company I was even aware of was Zeta Music Systems. They had a fairly robust advertising presence in some of the magazines I was reading, particularly Strings Magazine. I am pretty sure that Mark Wood was advertising in Strings as well at the time and I had perhaps seen an ad for Jordan violins as well.
I really liked the Zeta that I had been playing so I decided to reach out to the company to see if they would be interested in working together. I put together a package of several Believer CDs, photos, a biography, and other promotional materials that I had gathered. I was really hoping that I could acquire some more equipment that could be used in my performing life but also used to demonstrate what could be done with electric violins in the classroom. I had taken my electric violin to school a few times and my students were really interested in it.
I started using the electric violin for some performances with my school orchestra. There was a piece for full orchestra by Václav Nelhýbel that included a violin cadenza in the middle of the work. I would have a student play the cadenza on electric violin and it would always be a crowd pleaser.
Meanwhile. I wasn't hearing back from the folks at Zeta so I decided to call them and try to get a telephone meeting. Eventually, I had an opportunity to speak with Randy Shamber who was running the company at the time. We talked a little bit and it was clear that he really didn't fully understand what Believer was trying to do. That made sense to me. Believer was quite progressive for its time and the whole idea of progressive thrash wasn't really in the mainstream. About that time, I had proposed to give some conference sessions for the Maryland Music Educators Association. I proposed two sessions that would highlight the work that I was doing with electric violin and the way I was using it in my classroom. My proposals were accepted. The next time I spoke with Randy at Zeta, I'll let him know that I had booked two conference sessions and I would love to do it with Zeta. But, if Zeta wasn't interested I would move on to another company to try to garner some interest elsewhere. I think Randy was shocked that I already had sessions booked and that was enough to get me over the hump to begin a relationship with Zeta Music Systems. We put an agreement together that would provide me with some more equipment and in exchange I would work off the equipment by giving conference sessions at a particular dollar amount per conference session.
About the same time, I convinced my school to purchase a quintet of Zeta instruments as well. We bought two violins, of viola, a cello, and an upright bass and almost immediately I started what I believe is the first ever electric string quintet in a public school, the Eleanor Roosevelt High School Zeta Ensemble.
I gave those first sessions at the Maryland Music Educators Conference in Ocean City, MD. My school's Zeta Ensemble came out and performed as part of those sessions. We really were something new and different in the field of string education at the time. I had a small but enthusiastic crowd in the room and, again, I felt like this was the beginning of something big for me. I went to work on acquiring more speaking engagements.
Recording project Freeway
At about that same time, the guys from Believer let me know that they were going to sell the ADAT didgial recording system they had purchased to record Dimensions. This included three eight track ADAT machines and a really nice 24 track mixing console along with a variety of other outboard gear. I listened with interest and decided to make an offer on the equipment. It was really a win-win for all of us. I would buy the equipment with the understanding that if they ever wanted it back, it would go right back to them. I really wanted to learn how to use all of this recording equipment and see how my creativity could thrive with 24 tracks of blank tape in my home at all times.
Almost immediately, I began writing for my first solo recording. I had written a couple of tunes using the looping technology for that fusion trio a few years earlier. They would be foundational to the record. But, I also took the opportunity to collaborate with friends including Kurt Bachman of Believer and Glenn Fischbach who had been my student at Eleanor Roosevelt and at that time was studying at the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music. I spent quite a bit of time writing music, recording multitracks, and experimenting with effects processing while preparing that record. When it came time to mix the record, I called on my former student, David Prince, who was studying recording engineering at Peabody Conservatory. While mixing the record, David taught me so much about production concepts. He was just so fantastic to work with. I owe him a great deal.
We had that record mastered at a small mastering facility in Fredericksburg Virginia and printed 1,000 cds. I quickly went to work booking solo performing engagements to sell CDs and hone my live solo performance act. As it turned out, Borders Books and Music was a thriving bookstore chain at the time and always had live performances on Friday nights. I must have booked 15 scheduled performances at different Borders locations around the Mid-Atlantic region. These performances were really successful. People bought my CD and I had sold 1,000 in a fairly short period of time. Most nights I would go home having sold at least 35 or 40 CDs. It was a great time for independent music.
By this time, I was beginning to develop a national reputation as a expert in electric and MIDI violin technology in the orchestra classroom. I had an article published in the ASTA journal and began to accept speaking engagement opportunities at state and national level conferences as well as retailers across the United States. During this time, I presented at the Midwest Clinic, the MENC (now NAfME) national conference, ASTA, and ASTA Sweden.
Another amazing part of this experience was helping to support different rock bands that were using electric violin. One day I received a call from the new CEO of Zeta Music Systems, Mike Replogle. He told me that there was a hot up-and-coming band in Charlottesville Virginia called the Dave Matthews band which included a violin. He wanted me to travel to Charlottesville with him to spend some time with Boyd Tinsley, the violinist. That sounded like a great idea to me. We traveled out to Charlottesville and I spent quite a bit of time with Boyd's string tech, Monk, and eventually with Boyd. I taught them about all of the technological possibilities that existed with these awesome instruments. I made a second trip to Charlottesville with Mike about a year later on the eve of thier Crash tour. We had an awesome dinner with the band and attended rehearsal afterwards. It was so much fun. These were really great formative times for all of us.
Educator Workshops
At some point in the late 90s, we decided that it would be great to bring more educators into the fold as clinicians with Zeta Zusic Systems. We held Clinician Workshops in Oakland at Zeta headquarters 2 summers (1996, 1997?) in a row and laid the groundwork for some really good educational seminars moving forward.
A number of things changed with zeta in the early 2000s. And by 2002 or 2003, it was apparent that the company wouldn't be around much longer. Things changed quickly and we separated ways.
I will forever be grateful for all of the experiences I had with Zeta Music Systems. I loved the instruments, technology, and the company. They provided me an amazing platform and huge exposure in my early career. I owe a lot of my career successes to the foundation that Zeta helped me generate.
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