Added: 5 years ago
From: rpmartino
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  • revisiting this  its wonderful

  • Just perfect...awesome...

    How much did you pay for that instrument ?

  • Awesome!

  • I saw this vid along time ago and didnt comment, now ive come across it again and it sent me in a trance like most music does not, It is wonderful and played so well, Ive loved this song since its release in the 70s, and this version radiates passion. thank you.

  • Absolutely beautiful !!! I love the "Stick" My best friend, Randy Strom used to play one before he switched to the Warr guitar.

  • Hi Rob,

    I watch all of your videos and become more and more intrigued every day. I am that musician who never learned to read music ... properly, but will pick up any instrument. I'm curious to know what formal training you've had. The Chapman Stick is so unique and seems to be an newer instrument. This makes me curious as to where one would find training on the Stick. I figure you to be in the engineering or mathematical field with enormous patience and technical capacity. Am I right?

  • @PasqualeFLIX Thanks for the comment indeed I do have college degrees in computer science and music but I don't think it's a requirement, steady practice (even just a little a day) and dedication is more important. There are some good learning resources out there (books, DVDs, online lessons) and a little knowledge of some basic music theory like scales and chords will go a long way. Reading music is not a requirement (I read music but don't use it for the Stick) but it does help learning songs.

  • And It's Only the Giving (that makes you) What You Are. Gods Watch Over You

  • Admire your Tullishness. Good on You!

  • Sweeter than Redemption. Thank You, Gratitude

  • This should be the future of elevator music and get rid of that crap Muzac and replace it with stick music for hotels and stuff absolutely beautiful my friend, rock on!..you should do a duet with Ian Anderson..I bet when he watches this he is smiling somewhere even now Bravo..

  • i would be lost on that instrument...sounds wonderful...of course, playing J-Tull helps as well...great job!...

  • I discovered this a couple years ago and never get tired of listening to it. Absolutely beautiful piece of music. This version is better than the original, in my opinion.

  • That is just friggin awesome.

  • Thankyou for this amazing video. THIS is what Youtube was made for. So beautiful, and a great choice of a song to play, also.

  • I love this song. In every version I heard it.

  • Emozionante, commovente, bellissimo.....ancestrale

  • thanks man

  • he doesnt pluck the strings!

  • Bravo.

  • wow! one of my favorite Jethro Tull songs!! really nice!!

  • talent...i wish i could do this on my guitar :(

  • Very nice

  • nice arrangement and very musical performance!

  • brilliant

  • Golly, I don't understand the comments - standard, bunched, fret, arpeggios, bass, 5th, G, B, but this is so effing good - every now and again someone post something that makes you wish you could play - you BASTARD (!!!!) - you make me very, very envious...

    thank you for posting - if you ever perform in Tunbridge Wells, let me know so i can sit in the front row! Thank you!

  • Sweet interpretation of a lovely song, I love the tull

  • It's very impressive, have you considered leaving out the vibratos?

  • Holy good god in heaven, what the hell is that instrument? I've never seen one before and here I stumble across a master of it. . . That was gorgeous, thanks man.

  • Rob, this is Bob, the bassist for Several Species, Pink Floyd tribute in Baltimore. We talked via e-mail 2 yrs. ago. Just wanted to say again that you are very talented. Love your music!!

  • damn its not on itunes.

  • This is played so amazingly well-never seen this instrument before lovely mellow tones, so good to listen to

  • cojonudo!!!!! very well , manuel!!!! what a sound!

  • Another wonderful shot, Rob. Great!

  • WOW a Bard in 21 century. your bad ass dude

  • So...On a scale of one to ten...How difficult is it to learn how to play the Chapman Stick (even at a novice level...So learning how to play the most basic of pieces)? I'd imagine difficult.

  • it very much depends on your existing musical experience, but I know there are guys with little previous music background who could play a tune within a year of steady practice (that's the key). It wouldn't be too far removed (mentally) from learning a tune on piano as far as coordinating the two hands.

    Basically you'll get back whatever time you put into it. :-)

  • @WeCamefortheDead its extremely difficult put if you love it it becomes easy :)

  • I've been listening to this same video for years now. Thanks for giving us something this beautiful to listen too, man.

  • Me too.

  • Rob, that's amazing! I have never seen the instrument (I suppose it's a Chapman Stick) but it makes beautiful noise! You are quite talented. Thanks for sharing your video

    Don St Louis USA

  • quite talented? are you deaf? ;p

  • This is really a great version, Ian would be proud.

    Love and greetings from Amsterdam, Holland.

  • Complimenti sei fantastico.....

  • That's great.

  • omg so beautiful, thank you for putting this online

  • You cought the spirit of the song, THANK YOU

  • incredible, sounds beautiful. from Argentina

  • WOW grazie you've touch my soul so much!!

  • i bet wish you were here from pink floyd would sound really good on the chapman stick.

  • fantastic.

  • this is so awesome!

    love it

  • Is Perfect, thank you , from Argentina

  • Beautiful arrangement. Long time Tull fan

    and a Touchstyle player... Mr Martino makes that look easy... It is not. BRAVO!

  • Though Mr. Martino makes this look easy, I think we must be somewhat skeptical of just how such beauty the average guy can coax from the stick. In this video we do not see the bridge/lower endings of the strings, so it is entirely possible that he is strumming some notes with his toes.

  • amazing bass/guitar. really smooth playing, awesome job. Tull FTW x2!!1!

  • It's neither a bass nor guitar, it's a chapman stick :P

    But you're so damn right :)

  • Tull FTW

  • As a long-fan of Tull and only a recent discoverer of the Stick, this video has made my mind up for me - I'm totally buying one. I think I'd like to make this my primary instrument. Very beautifully done. You've sold me.

  • I second that. These songs have made the stick my next big purchase... I would go on about how beautiful it sounds, but I think the music speaks for itself

  • Hey Rob, well done. I would love to hear more of Tull! :)

  • i am so trying to get me a stick

  • Superb.  Excellent, sir.

  • wohaaaaaaa.... that's great!!

  • beautiful.

  • hah, damn. i love that song too.

  • That was beautiful. And a perfect song to perform on the stick. One of Ian's finest songs, for sure.

  • Could you do Minstrel in the Gallery and Cold Wind to Valhalla

  • This was just beautiful!

    One of my favourite Tull-songs and you dit it great!

    Cheers from Sweden! :-)

  • wow

  • Amazing that is all I can say. Completely amazing. I'm a huge fan of the Stick and you play it beautifully. Keep up the amazing work hope to see more stuff from you soon.

  • wooooow. if i was a king i'd have u well paid to wonder around my castle playing this instrument :D

  • That would be awesome! Please conquer some land soon and make it happen.  :-)

  • well i don't have those kinds of resources, but i did subscribe :D

  • amazing!

  • I thought I had seen it all...very impressive....never seen one of those before...thanks again..

  • do you know Dun Ringill?

  • simply wonderfull , your works are great, congratulations..!!

  • supergut

  • hammerhart

  • A lovely song played lovely. Great interpretation of a classic - 5 stars.

  • that is amazing...keep playing till your fingers bleed

  • can this be compared to playing a piano that is split in two facing two different directions?

  • In some respects I suppose so, if the keys on the left hand are bigger than the ones on the right. :-)

  • me too :P but amazing technique and lovely sound

  • that was amazing!

  • jethro tull rocks!

    it sounds awesome!

  • play matalica-one on that stick!, i bet it wood sound cool

  • yes!!! beautiful job dude. from :38 to :50 was absolutely spot-on! keep playing you crazy ambidextrous bastard! :)

  • Those chapman sticks are amazing - really kind of an electronic grand piano with reverb..

  • ooooooooo i want a chapman stick so bad now!!!!

  • beautiful absolutely beautiful. Thank you

  • That was really beautiful, man.  Thanks for sharing it.

  • hey man youre AMAZINGLY EXELENT;)......i love thatvery relaxing sound of chapman stick;)

  • talent

  • Beautiful!

  • One of my favourite Tull songs, well played! Very relaxing at the end of a tiring day. Cheers! :)

  • aaaamazzzing!!!

  • Thanks for sharing... but you'll never capture the indefinable roguish charm of the original. Tull can't be tamed.

  • ok y would u say something like that? doesnt make sense to say that he never said was better than tull jesus cant sumonen post a video without getting unwantingly criticized

  • You're right, that was harsh. Sorry all!

  • watch?v=WcbSjC9tAY8 <- works also

  • I'm going to be getting a megatar. Eventually. I love the possibilities of two handed tapping.

    That was awesome.

  • You are the fucking TRUTH on the Stick.

  • Superb. A song I know well. Is this an adaptation of a piano arrangement?

  • Thank you... a lot of these Tull tunes I learned to play on acoustic guitar years ago, so the left hand part is developed from that, then I just figured out the melodies by ear for the right hand.

  • Yes, I agree...Dun Ringill would be fabulous...This sounds wonderful, maybe I should start saving for one o' those!

  • wo ive never seen that instrument b4

  • Really Nice! I would like to know which tuning you prefer.

  • Thanks! I use a non-standard mirrored 4ths tuning (E to F on bass, B to C on melody).

  • I wondered about that (tuning) too. Is that so that you can keep your fingers slightly spread, whereas standard guitar tuning would have them often bunched on the same fret? - makes a lot of sense if you are playing flowing arpeggios. Is that typical for stick players, or is it just a case of you using a tuning that facilitates your playing style? Love your music by the way.

  • Reversing the bass strings helps the fingers to be more stretched out and offers more accompaniment possibilities (same advantage for the more typical bass in 5ths). As for intervals, I chose 4ths over 5ths to suit my playing style. The 4ths are similar to guitar and bass tuning but without the inconsistent 3rd between the G and B strings (since there are no open strings there isn't much advantage to using the same intervals as guitar).

  • One of the most romantic songs ever written-and this has to be the best cover version I have ever heard...

  • That was bloody loverly that was!

  • dear rpm! your performance of these tull classics and the love that you put in playing them really made the day for me. In fact I was nearly driven to tears, since i grew up with that music. thank you so much and please: more, more, more!!! btw: has Ian A. heard this? you definitely should contact him with that stuff...

  • Wonderful. I might have said this before, but I'd absolutely love a Stick rendition of "Dun Ringhill". Do you take requests? :)

  • very nice man!

    congrats :)

  • i bet tuning that thing is a bitch

  • Not at all. :-)

  • Ian Anderson would be proud. Amazing instrument.

  • wow pretty cool, i never have seen that instrument before...nice work.

  • Ace work man. Perfect temperance for that song :)

  • very nice!

  • Amazing :)

  • Very nice!  U got the SKILL...

  • Excellently played.

  • I will never understand why this instrument was made or how it is played. Not that I don't like it.

  • the design allows the player to create the tone at the same time he plays the note, hence no plucking the strings to emit sound, and hence you can use all ten fingers to play notes. get it?

  • AMAZING! one of the best vids on youtube.

    the stick sounds sooo good especially played to an awesome song like that! Jethro rules

    great job man!

  • Wow!

  • Thank you so much for sharing your talent. This beautiful song brings back so many memories for me...and the love of my life.  Sadly, we are no longer together.

  • Excellent. With a 10 strings stick will sound like your performance?

  • Thanks. I use a different tuning (bass in 4ths) than most 10 string Sticks so it might not be easy to sound the same.

  • Super!!!

  • I did not know this song, but I recognized after a few notes, that it is Jethro Tull. Great interpretation.

  • dude!

  • Thanks for sharing. It sounds great!

  • Beautiful man!! You're really good!

  • Now THAT's impressive. Easily the best Wond'ring aloud cover i've seen on YouTube yet.

  • wow youre amazing dude!! congratulations keep on the good music

  • Dude, with playing like that you should be IN TULL , Beutiful.

  • I am wondering why this instead of 2 guitars or double necks?  Nice sound though...it still seems to be a guitar to me...

  • Since the instrument was designed from the ground up to facilitate tapping I think it has some advantages over a traditional guitar design. All fingers have access to all 12 strings, and the upright positioning results in an ergonomic and "centered" feel, easier on the wrists, with the arms and hands having a lot of leverage by crossing over to reach the strings. I find the belt hook also tilts the fretboard back towards the shoulder and twists it into better view than a traditional guitar.

  • hmm, hows the action on one of those? i suppose its a lot easier to hammer than guitars... or else it would be a VERY hard intrument

  • Action is very low and the neck is completely flat, enough that strumming or picking the strings will cause a lot of fret buzz. But for tapping it's like butter. :-)

  • sweet. im thinking of buying one. that sound is just amazing.

    oh, and btw, Tull rocks, and you do this song justice.

  • How long did it take to get the two hands co-ordination down? I guess starting out on a wind instrument helps that, huh? I'm a bass player and I can't even begin to imagine playing two different things with the separate hands.

  • I would guess piano is a big help

  • I tried guitar for a year or so and would have thought this impossible then. I've since moved onto other things, and after 2 months of casual piano playing and a few years of drums, I would be much more comfortable on a stick than a guitar.

  • It not too different mentally from playing piano. Plus you're not really doing two completely independent things, they are usually related musically in some fashion, it's more about learning to switch attention from one hand to the other (whichever is doing the tricky part!)

  • gorgeous...

  • I read on your website where you started out on the flute. That bit o' knowledge helps put the Jethro Tull affinity in perspective.

    Wonderful music, and wonderful talent!

  • Amazing sound. Congratulations on all of these fantastic pieces. You should be extremely proud :)

  • once again my favorite song, great job Rob...

  • very very cool

  • DUDE

    YOU ARE THE BEST!! I love that song so much that I usually hate to hear it from anyone but Ian himself, but I would listen to you all damn day. Way to go, it was beautiful. Thank you!!

  • very very nice version of this song, it sounds wonderful on the Stick.

  • What are you, the Cliff Burton or Victor Wooten of CS? :)

  • Man how do you get the data rate right when you upload these things? your audio quality and video quality are awesome.

  • * * * * * *

    Excellent.....

  • How many strings, and what is the common tuning?

    Sounds great, and I would like to learn, but currently teaching myself 12 string acoustic guitar...got a long way to go to teach myself to play a stick......Chris

  • This is a Grand Stick which has 12 strings. Common tunings use a bass in 5ths/melody in 4ths system but I use a mirrored 4ths tuning.

  • beautiful song.:)

    I just got Stick yesterday. But, I don't understand how to play :(

  • i think its done by tapping on the strings

  • Damn i wanna play chapman stick so bad but theyre expensive :S

  • yea me too

  • Sweet! Thank you! :)

  • not only is this one of my favorite songs, but i have had the priviledge of jamming with a stick player on occasion, great work!! fantastic!!!

  • i bet that warps the shit out of ur hands

  • There are some techinque flaws in these videos of mine but actually I think playing the Stick is much easier on the hands than guitar or bass.

  • my dad thinks its a stupid instriment and you might aswell stick a symbol on in and go the whole 9 yards, but personaly i think that kick ass, sounded sweet as. how long you been going at it?

  • Got my first stupid Stick around 12 years ago but started focusing on it more seriously about 3 years ago. :-)

  • that is the best sringed instriment known to man

  • Man, are you sure you have only 1 brain?

    :|

  • I'm not even sure I have one whole brain!

  • i think that the stick must be the hardest instrument to play. great job

  • I thought that was beautiful. Thank you very much.

  • what is the tuning of that stick ?

  • That was very nice...loved it...keep doin what ya doin...

  • Great instrument, great player. Nice performance!

  • Just curious. How hard do you need to tap the strings? And does it use a coil pickup system like an electric guitar, or is it a piezo mic like you'd use in an acoustic guitar?

    Also, is it a stereo output? Can you split the signal in two and get bass in one channel and the higher strings in another?

    You're a brilliant sticker :) Thanks for sharing!

  • Thanks for your comment. Since the string height is so low, and the neck straight (no relief) only a light touch is necessary. The pickups are Villex magnetic bars, more like guitar