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Tom McMahon
Tom McMahon: Spring 2011
by Dan Bilawsky
Instruments often tell stories through music, but it's rare that a story can spawn an actual instrument. When author Frank Herbert's Dune hit book store shelves in the '60s, he probably never imagined that his book would become a movie or a television mini-series, but that's not the only thing that came to life from the pages of his writing. The baliset--a stringed instrument played by tapping the strings against the frets--was born from Herbert's words. Diehard fans know that ...
read moreTom McMahon: Small Talk
by John Kelman
The Baliset, as Tom McMahon explains on the cover of his d'but recording, Small Talk , --is a unique eleven-string instrument that is played by tapping the strings against the frets. The large range of the Baliset--over five octaves--fills out the trio, as bass and treble parts are played simultaneously." Like artists including Charlie Hunter with his eight-string hybrid and Tony Levin with his Stick, McMahon's instrument requires a certain independence of thought, a certain pianistic approach that most string ...
read moreTom McMahon's New Release "Spring 2011" Available at Bandcamp.com
Source:
Michael Ricci
Tom McMahon has released a four song EP at Bandcamp. This is the first in what will be a series of releases featuring Ottawa musician and composer Tom McMahon on Baliset with Mike Tremblay on Saxophone and Mark Rehder on drums. A high emphasis on melody and texture, with the unique blending of Baliset and Sax, sets these recordings apart. Drawing from their diverse backgrounds the trio explores the terrains of classical harmonies and pop forms, all the while keeping ...
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