MUOTHAL, Switzerland – Swiss cable manufacturer Vovox carried out a sound experiment with a 596-meter guitar cable atop Glattalp Mountain.
More details from Vovox (www.vovox.com):
How long is the world’s longest guitar cable? No one really knows for sure, as there is no official record entry in the Guinness Book of Records. Normally, the cables for electric guitars or basses are roughly six metres long. In rare cases, they have been known to extend up to even twenty metres on very large stages. At any rate, 596m is an impressive and potentially record-breaking length. But the folks at Vovox, a well-known Swiss manufacturer of high-end audio cables, are not so interested in setting an official record. They want to know what kind of sound experiments can be carried out with such an extraordinarily long cable. How does the delicate signal, like that of an e-guitar, sound at the end of such a long cable? And what sound effects can be created when two guitar amplifiers are placed extremely far apart?
In order to shed light on this subject, the cable specialists from Kriens / Lucerne cheerfully set off on an expedition to Glattalp at the far end of Muotathal on August 23, 2017. Their quest necessitated a number of helpers to lug Blackhole amps, the Lehle P-Split for splitting the signals and Power-Blox for electricity. Naturally, this mission also involved Christy Doran, one of the most innovative jazz guitarists in Switzerland and a pioneer of the loop-delay technique. The lake on Glattalp, situated at 1850m above sea level and embedded between the Jegerstöcke and the Gross Chilchberg, offers not only a magnificent panorama, but also outstanding acoustic conditions for the experiment.
Following a sweat-inducing trek, two guitar amps fed by powerful battery modules were positioned far apart from each other on the lakeshore. Laying the potentially record-breaking cable over hill and dale, and occasionally in water, also involved a tremendous amount of physical exertion. And then the big moment: plug in the guitars, turn on the amps, now the first chord – followed by shouts of joy. Everything goes smoothly, better than that in fact. The sound of the electric guitar is impeccable, even after passing through the 596m Vovox cable. And the amp is perfectly audible despite the distance, nearly half a kilometre – as the crow flies – from Christy Doran. Just like the time lag between thunder and lightning, a delay also occurs here because of the distance. In this case, it amounts to nearly 1.4 seconds in relation to the second amplifier right next to the artist. Every note is therefore doubly audible, resulting in a complex three-dimensional echo amplified by the mountains and an effect exceeding all expectations, which brings a smile to the faces of all those present.
Was it a record? Actually, it doesn’t really matter to the sound savants. For them, the experiment was in any event well worth it. And what will happen with the record-breaking cable? It is not for sale, because it is marked by a minor yet unacceptable defect in quality for Vovox. Nevertheless, the cable has already served its greater purpose. Who knows – perhaps it’ll be unwound again one day for further sound experiments.
Documentation
The experiment was documented on video. Please see here
There is also a 360° video featuring the ambisonic soundtrack from part of Christy Doran’s performance. Please see here. Recorded by Marcel Vonesch, Lucerne School of Music.
For pictures of the experiment, please see the attached folder. Caption “The world’s longest guitar cable”:
1. Performance:
What a scenery for Christy Doran’s electrifying performance
2. Glattalp:
The place: Glattalp, a valley on 1850m above sea level in the Swiss Alps
3. Installation:
October 01, 2017
for immediate publication
Over rough and smooth, the Vovox cable is installed along the lake
4. Matthias Günthart – Blackhole Amplification:
Matthias Günthart from Blackhole Amplification putting the amp into operation at the end of the 596m long cable
5. Christy Doran:
Christy Doran is one of the most innovative jazz guitarists in Switzerland
6. Pedalboard:
View from the “stage”
7. Performance front view:
The guitarist Christy Doran surrounded by mountains, rocks and the lake
All pictures by Christian Felber MIGN, www.mign.ch
