News - Peter Blanchette, Composer & Archguitarist

Peter Blanchette, Composer & Archguitarist

			Left: detail from an engraving by Marcantonio Raimondi (Italy), made before 1510. Note the player's use of his instrument case as a footrest and, unlike modern classical guitarists, he sets the instrument on his right leg. Players in these time often used straps as well. Stanul and Blanchette, never having been rigid about playing posture, also use straps on the archguitar.
Above: drawing of a large 16th century vihuela, known as the "Guadalupe" vihuela (due to a marking on a later marking), from the Musée Jaquemart-André collection in Paris. Though the instrument's design is utterly sublime in all respects, it was the shape that particularly attracted Blanchette and Walter Stanul for their design of the 9, 11, 12 and 13-string archguitars that Stanul began buillding in the 1980s.			Left: in Blanchette's right hand, a Liuto Attiorbato, used for continuo playing, in his left hand, the 1981 "Rock Steady" 11-string archguitar. Both instruments by Walter Stanul.

Click to play Flash movie: "A Brief and Incomplete History of the Archguitar"
Movie will launch in a separate window and may take up to one minute to load...