Hans Reichel (10 May 1949 – 22 November 2011) was a German

improvisational Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...

guitarist, experimental luthier, inventor, and type designer.

Career

Reichel was born in

Hagen Hagen () is the Largest cities in Germany, 41st-largest List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany. The municipality is located in the States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located on the south eastern edge of the R ...

, Germany. He began to teach himself violin at age seven, playing in the school orchestra until age fifteen. Around the same time, he began to play guitar and became interested in

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

, and later,

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by wikt:nonconformity, nonconformity, Free improvisation, free-form improvisation, sound experimen ...

Cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...

, and

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

. He left music in the late 1960s to pursue font design and typesetting. He returned to music in the early 1970s, when he recorded a tape of guitar music. This recording was sent to the jury of the German Jazz Festival in Frankfurt, where he was asked to appear in a special concert for newcomers. Discussions with Jost Gebers, the founder of

Free Music Production Free Music Production (FMP) is a German record label that specialises in free jazz. Origins FMP originated from the New Artists Guild, which was an informal cooperative of musicians in the mid-1960s. In 1968, The New Artists Guild sponsored the T ...

, led to the release on his debut album, ''Wichlinghauser Blues'' (FMP, 1973). During the 1980s and 1990s, Reichel recorded solo albums and duets with Rüdiger Carl,

Tom Cora Thomas Henry Corra (September 14, 1953 – April 9, 1998), better known as Tom Cora, was an American cellist and composer, best known for his improvisational performances in the field of experimental jazz and rock. He recorded with John Zorn, ...

Eroc Joachim Heinz Ehrig (born 15 November 1951), better known by his stage name Eroc, is a German musician and sound engineer. He served as the drummer and band leader of the German progressive rock group Grobschnitt from 1970 until 1983. He also rele ...

Fred Frith Jeremy Webster "Fred" Frith (born 17 February 1949) is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer, and improviser. Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock ...

, and

Kazuhisa Uchihashi Kazuhisa Uchihashi (内橋和久, ''Uchihashi Kazuhisa'') is a Japanese guitarist involved in free improvisation music. Born in 1959 in Osaka, Uchihashi began to play the guitar at age 12, playing in various rock bands, though he later studied j ...

. He was featured in 'Crossing Bridges', a 1983 music programme based around jazz guitar improvisation, and broadcast by

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

He was a member of the September Band with

Paul Lovens Paul Lovens (born 6 June 1949) is a German musician. He plays drums, percussion, singing saw, and cymbals. He has performed with the Aardvark Jazz Orchestra and Berlin Contemporary Jazz Orchestra. He was born in Aachen, Germany. In the early ...

, Rüdiger Carl, and

Shelley Hirsch Shelley Hirsch (born June 9, 1952 in Brooklyn, New York (state), New York) is an American vocalist, performance artist, composer, improviser, and writer. She won a DAAD Residency Grant in Berlin 1992, a Prix Futura award in 1993, and multiple awards ...

. He also worked with groups led by

Thomas Borgmann Thomas Borgmann, born in 1955 in Münster, is a German musician (tenor, soprano, and Sopranino saxophone) and composer of Jazz, free Jazz, and free improvisation music. Biography Borgmann began his career in the early 1980s, working mainly ...

and Butch Morris. The record labels Intakt, Rastascan, and

Table of the Elements Table of the Elements is an American record label. It concentrates on re-released and specially recorded experimental music, including many avant-garde musicians of the 20th and 21st centuries: such as John Cale, Tony Conrad, La Monte Young, L ...

released some of Reichel's albums, compensating for the limited distribution of FMP. In 1997, he was named one of the "30 Most Radical Guitarists" by ''

Guitar Player ''Guitar Player'' is an American popular magazine for guitarists, founded in 1967 in San Jose, California. It contains articles, interviews, reviews and lessons of an eclectic collection of artists, genres and products. It has been in print si ...

'' magazine. He died at the age of 62 in Wuppertal, Germany.

Invented instruments

Reichel constructed and built several variations of guitars and basses, most of them featuring multiple

fretboard The fingerboard (also known as a fretboard on fretted instruments) is an important component of most stringed instrument String instruments, stringed instruments, or chordophones are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating s ...

s and unique positioning of pickups and 3rd bridges. The resulting sounds exceeded the range of conventional

tuning Tuning can refer to: Common uses * Tuning, the process of tuning a tuned amplifier or other electronic component * Musical tuning, musical systems of tuning, and the act of tuning an instrument or voice ** Guitar tunings ** Piano tuning, adjusti ...

and added unusual effects, from odd overtones to metallic noises, to his play. DaxoTongues

His

daxophone The daxophone, invented by Hans Reichel, is an electric wooden experimental musical instrument of the friction idiophones category. Etymology The ''dax'' in ''daxophone'' is derived from the German word ''Dachs'', meaning "badger" and refer ...

is a single wooden blade fixed in a block containing a

contact microphone A contact microphone, also known as a piezo microphone, is a form of microphone that senses audio vibrations through contact with solid objects. Unlike normal air microphones, contact microphones are almost completely insensitive to air vibrat ...

, which is played mostly with a bow.

Partial discography

*''Wichlinghauser Blues'' (1973, FMP 0150) *''Old Tune/Heimkehr der Holzböcke'' (1974, FMP S 5) *''Bonobo'' (1975, FMP 0280) *'' Guitar Solos 2'' (1976,

Caroline Records Caroline Records is a record label originally founded in 1973. Initially founded in the United Kingdom to showcase British progressive rock groups, the label ceased releasing titles in 1976, and then re-emerged in the United States in 1986. ...

C 1518. Three solos on compilation LP.) *''For Example'' (1976, FMP R123. Solo track on commemorative/compilation 3-LP set.) *''Erdmännchen'' (1977, FMP 0400. Duo with Achim Knispel.) *''Buben'' (1978, FMP 0530. Duo with Rüdiger Carl.) *''Sven-Åke Johansson mit dem NMUI im SO 36 '79'' (1979, FMP S17) *''Sven-Åke Johansson mit dem NMUI im SO 36 '79'' (1979, Olof Bright OBCD10/GROB650. Full version of concert previously released on FMP S17.) *''The Death of the Rare Bird Ymir'' (1979, FMP 0640/FMP CD 54) *''Bonobo Beach'' (1981, FMP 0830/FMP CD 54) *''Bergisch-Brandenburgisches Quartett'' (1982, Amiga 856031. With Johansson/Carl/Petrowsky.) *''Duet Improvisation'' (1985, Vand'Oeuvre 8501. With

Keith Tippett Keith Graham Tippetts (25 August 1947 – 14 June 2020), known professionally as Keith Tippett, was a British jazz pianist and composer. According to AllMusic, Tippett's career "..spanned jazz-rock, progressive rock, improvised and contemporary ...

.) *''Kino: studio opera with

'' (1986, Teldec Import Service TIS 66.23921. Re-issued on CD in 1997.) *''The Dawn of Dachsman' (1987, FMP CD 60) *''Coco Bolo Nights'' (1988, FMP CD 10) *''Angel Carver'' (1988, FMP CD 15. Duo with

.) *''Live at the Knitting Factory, Volume One'' (1988/9, Enemy EMY111. One track in duo with Tom Cora.) *''Dix improvisations'' (1989, Victo CD 09. Two tracks on a compilation CD.) *''X-Communication'' (1990, FMP CD 33) *''Show-down'' (1990, Intakt CD 023. Duo with Wädi Gysi.) *''Stop complaining/Sundown'' (1990/1991, FMP CD 36. Duos with

and

.) *''Mini-suite: ntitled' (1991, Rastascan BRD 010. One track on compilation CD.) *''Shanghaied on Tor Road: The World's 1st Operetta Performed on Nothing but the Daxophone (1992, FMP CD 46) *''Hans Reichel'' (1993,

Beryllium, 7" Vinyl) *''Variations on Jay'' (1993, Table of the Elements Oxygen, 7" Vinyl) *''AngelicA 93'' (1993, CAICAI 004. Solo plus other combinations, including an appearance by the 'All Daxophone Band'.) *''Kumunguitar'' (1993, ¿What Next? WN0012. Duo with

Jin Hi Kim Jin Hi Kim (born February 6, 1957 in Incheon, South Korea) is a composer and performer of ''geomungo, komungo'' and electric komungo, and a Korean music specialist. Kim is known as a pioneer for introducing ''geomungo'' (거문고, a Korean fre ...

.) *''Conduction 28/Conduction 31'' (1993, New World Records 80484. Lawrence D. 'Butch' Morris.) *''Conduction 31/Conduction 35/Conduction 36'' (1993, New World Records 80485. Lawrence D. 'Butch' Morris.) *''Lower Lurum'' (1993/1994, Rastascan BRD 016) *''Le bal'' (1994, Ellipsis Arts) *''Buben...plus'' (1994, FMP CD 78. New duos with Rüdiger Carl, released with older material.) *''The Vandoeuvre Concert'' (1994, FMP CD 72. As part of the September Band: Carl/Hirsch/Lovens/Reichel.) *''Looking at Flees with

Henry Geldzahler Henry Geldzahler (July 9, 1935 – August 16, 1994) was a Belgian-born American curator of contemporary art in the late 20th century, as well as a historian and critic of modern art. He is best known for his work at the Metropolitan Museum ...

'' (1994, FMP MJ 01. September Band one track on compilation.) *''Thomas Borgmann's Orkestra Kith 'n Kin'' (1995,

Cadence Jazz Records Cadence Jazz is an American record company and label specializing in noncommercial modern jazz. It is associated with '' Cadence Magazine''. Cadence Jazz was founded by Bob Rusch in Redwood, New York in 1980. By 2000 the label had issued mo ...

CJR 1081.) *''Book/Virtual COWWS'' (1978–1996, FMP OWN90007/9. Various tracks on Rüdiger Carl compilation.) *''Hans Reichel/Rüdiger Carl'' (1997, Hurta Cordel 97) *''The Return of Onkel Boskop'' (1983/1997, Repertoire REP 4688-WY. Duo with Eroc.) *''King Pawns'' (1997, Zen-006. Duo with Kazuhisa Uchihashi.) *''Festival Beyond Innocence: 2 1997–1998'' (1997, Innocent Records FBI 103. Two solos + trio track on compilation CD.) *''Cue sheets II'' (2000, Tzadik 7513. Steve Beresford; one track features Reichel.) *''Total Music Meeting 2001: Audiology — 11 groups live in Berlin'' (2001, A/L/L 002. One track by Manuela on this compilation CD.) *''Yuxo: A New Daxophone Operetta'' (2002, A/L/L 003) *''Self Made'' (2009, AM 192. Duo with Ganesh Anandan.)

Typefaces

Hans Reichel designed a few typefaces, among them one of today's most popular type designs in advertising and in marketing ( FF Dax). * 1983 Barmeno BQ * 1995-2000 FF Dax * 1996 FF Schmalhans * 1999 FF Sari * 2001 FF Routes * 2004 FF Dax Compact * 2005 FF Daxline *2001 FF Anuel

References

External links

Daxo official websiteFMP-Publishing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reichel, Hans German jazz guitarists German male guitarists Free improvisation 1949 births 2011 deaths People from Hagen Experimental luthiers Inventors of musical instruments 20th-century German musicians 20th-century guitarists 20th-century German male musicians German male jazz musicians FMP/Free Music Production artists Intakt Records artists German luthiers