Angine de Poitrine: The Viral Sensation Redefining Guitar with Microtonal magic
Quirky Quebec duo Angine de Poitrine is making waves online,with their recent performance on KEXP amassing over 3.5 million views. Central to their unique sound is a handcrafted microtonal guitar that has opened up a realm of exceptional sonic possibilities for guitarist Khn de Poitrine.
A Unique Instrument: The Microtonal Guitar
Similar to Jack White’s innovative ‘Ugly Stick,’ which merges guitar adn bass elements, Angine de Poitrine’s guitar features a double-neck design with unconventional fret spacing. While we’ve encountered some fascinating double-neck guitars in the past, such as Bumblefoot’s fretless creation, this instrument stands apart.
In an interview with Noize, drummer Klek de Poitrine takes full credit for this unconventional instrument. “I constructed the first microtonal guitar we used,” he shares. “I modified a guitar by adding extra frets with a saw. The moment we started playing it, we couldn’t stop laughing. However, since I’m not a guitarist, I wasn’t fully utilizing its capabilities.”
“I handed it over to Khn and said, ‘You need to try this; it’s utterly nonsensical,’” he continues. “As soon as we began playing, we were in stitches over the friction and the closeness of the notes.”
More Than Just a Tool: The Band’s Creative Foundation
For a band that, as Klek describes to Flood Magazine, thrives on “finding humor in grotesque improvisations,” this one-of-a-kind instrument serves as more than just a tool; it’s a vital part of their creative identity.
Their sound is a vibrant blend of math rock, Zappa-esque phrasing, progressive elements, and jazz influences. The latter, notably shaped by Klek’s admiration for Japanese and Indian music, is where they delve deepest with the guitar’s microtonal range.
Exploring New Musical Territories
Obsessed with the “friction between notes,” their harmonic explorations can be likened to the works of John Scofield’s Überjam or Miles Davis’s So What. They also draw inspiration from Turkish rock and the Gamelan music that King Crimson famously incorporated in discipline. Yet, as they progress, they are truly making this eccentric instrument their own.
“We’re delving deeper into a personal language that’s firmly rooted in a rock groove aesthetic,” Khn explains. ”Although we haven’t been playing with this for long, in my two decades of guitar playing, I’ve only spent about four or five years exploring microtonality. It’s a door we’ve just begun to open.”
“Our aim,” he states, “is to treat these notes as integral to our music, not merely as embellishments but as the very essence of our language.”
Australian psych-rock innovators King Gizzard are another group known for their exploration of microtonal tunings. The realm of notes between the notes remains a vast and uncharted territory in the electrifying world of guitar music.
