An EBow

Playing the EBow on a Fender Telecaster

The EBow or ebow (brand name for "Electronic Bow" or Energy Bow) (often spelled E-bow in common usage)^[1] is a hand-held, battery-powered electronic device for playing the electric guitar, invented by Greg Heet in 1969. Instead of having the strings hit by the fingers or a pick, they are moved by the electromagnetic field created by the device, producing a sound reminiscent of using a bow on the strings.^[2] E-Bow the Letter was the first single from R.E.M.s tenth studio album New Adventures in Hi-Fi. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1052x1335, 695 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): E-Bow Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1052x1335, 695 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): E-Bow Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution‎ (2,560 × 1,920 pixels, file size: 2. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution‎ (2,560 × 1,920 pixels, file size: 2. ... 1950s-style Telecaster with natural finish, with metal bridge cover removed. ... This article is about brands in marketing. ... A cello bow In music, a bow is a device pulled across the strings of a string instrument in order to make them vibrate and emit sound. ... Two different electric guitars. ... Various guitar picks. ... A bowed guitar is a method of playing an electric guitar, in which the guitarist uses a bow to play the guitar, as if it were a violin or cello, or other member of the violin family. ...

The EBow is used to produce a variety of sounds not usually playable on an electric guitar. By varying the EBow's linear position on the string, the user can produce different string overtones, and also fade in and out by lowering and raising the EBow. Furthermore, starting with the current generation of EBow (PlusEbow, the 4th edition Ebow), the user also gains an additional mode known as harmonic mode, which produces a higher harmonic sound instead of the fundamental note.

An early pioneer of EBow playing was Bill Nelson, who introduced it to Stuart Adamson of The Skids. Adamson went on to use it heavily with Big Country, and it formed an integral part of their well-known "bagpipe sound". Guitarist Steve Hackett used the EBow to create the ethereal counter melody in "The Carpet Crawlers" from Genesis' 1974 concept album "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway." Mick Ronson used an EBow at The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert playing the song "Heroes" live on stage with David Bowie and the surviving members of Queen. Blondie, Tom Petty and Blue Öyster Cult were also early users. The EBow has also been a familiar element in the sound palette of guitarist Phil Keaggy since the early 1980s. Béla Fleck has used one on an acoustic banjo in concert, also creating a bagpipe like sound. The 80's band A Flock Of Seagulls used the EBow in two songs off of their 1983 album [Listen] in the songs Wishing (If I Had A Photograph Of You) and The Fall. The Smashing Pumpkins use one in the song, Porcelina Of The Vast Oceans, off Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. Australian band The Church make extensive use of the EBow and featured an EBow solo in their 1988 hit single "Under the Milky Way." The sound of Robin Guthrie of the band Cocteau Twins is partly derived via the EBow and a host of effects pedals. Billy Howerdel of A Perfect Circle has been known to use an EBow to replace synthesizer parts with guitar as he did on the 2000 album Mer de Noms, where he had stated that almost no synthesizers were used on the entire album. On the album "(What's the Story) Morning Glory?" Noel Gallagher of Oasis is listed as playing "lead guitar, vocals, piano, mellotron, (and) E-bow." An E-Bow is used by R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck in many of their songs, most notably on their album New Adventures in Hi-Fi and featuring in the song titled "E-bow The Letter". Bill Nelson (born William Nelson on 18 December 1948) is a prolific guitarist, songwriter, painter and experimental musician from Wakefield, Yorkshire, England, UK. He currently lives in Selby, Yorkshire, England, UK. // Nelson was educated at the Wakefield College of Art, where he developed an interest in the work of poet... Stuart Adamson (born William Stuart Adamson, 11 April 1958 – December 16, 2001), was an English-born Scottish Musician (Guitars / Vocals / Keyboards / Songwriter). ... The Skids The Skids were an art-punk/punk rock and new wave band from Dunfermline, Scotland, founded in 1977 by Stuart Adamson (1958 - 2001, guitars / vocals / keyboards), Richard Jobson (vocals / guitar), Thomas Kellichan (drums) and William Simpson (bass guitar / vocals). ... For other uses, see Big Country (disambiguation). ... A bagpipe performer in Amsterdam. ... Steve Hackett (born Stephen Richard Hackett on February 12, 1950, in Pimlico, England) is a writer and guitarist. ... The Carpet Crawlers, also sometimes listed as Carpet Crawl, The Carpet Crawl or Carpet Crawlers, is a song originally from the 1974 Genesis concept album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. ... Genesis are an English rock band formed in 1967. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Mick Ronson (May 26, 1946 – April 29, 1993) born in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire was an English guitarist, composer, multi-instrumentalist, arranger and producer. ... Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert poster The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert for AIDS Awareness was an open-air concert held on Easter Monday, April 20, 1992 at Londons Wembley Stadium, televised live worldwide to an estimated audience of one billion viewers. ... David Bowie (pronounced ) (born David Robert Jones on 8 January 1947) is an English musician, actor, producer, arranger, and audio engineer. ... Queen are an English rock band formed in 1970 in London by guitarist Brian May, lead vocalist Freddie Mercury, and drummer Roger Taylor, with bass guitarist John Deacon joining the following year. ... For other uses, see Blondie. ... Thomas Earl Tom Petty (born October 20, 1950) is a singer, songwriter, and guitarist. ... Blue Öyster Cult is an American rock band formed in New York in 1967 and still active in 2008. ... Philip Tyler Keaggy (born March 23, 1951 in Youngstown, Ohio[1]) is an American acoustic and electric guitarist and vocalist who has released more than 50 albums and contributed to many more recordings in both the contemporary Christian music and mainstream markets. ... Béla Fleck (born July 10, 1958 in New York City, New York) is an American virtuoso banjo player. ... For the bands self-titled debut album, see A Flock of Seagulls (album). ... The Smashing Pumpkins are an American alternative rock band that formed in Chicago in 1988. ... Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (sometimes abbreviated to Mellon Collie or MCIS) is a double CD and triple LP that was released on October 24, 1995 by The Smashing Pumpkins through Virgin Records. ... The Church are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1980. ... Under the Milky Way is a 1988 song by The Church. ... Robin Guthrie (born 4 January 1962, in Falkirk, Scotland) is a musician best known as co-founder of the Cocteau Twins. ... Cocteau Twins were a Scottish alternative rock band active from 1982 to 1997. ... Singles from (Whats the Story) Morning Glory? Released: 24 April 1995 Released: 14 August 1995 Released: 15 September 1995 (Australia only) Released: 30 October 1995 Released: 19 February 1996 Released: 13 May 1996 (Australia and USA only) (Whats the Story) Morning Glory? is the second album by the... Oasis are an English rock band that formed in Manchester in 1991. ... New Adventures in Hi-Fi is R.E.M.s tenth album, and their fifth major label release for Warner Bros. ...

While the EBow is not normally used with the electric bass guitar, which has heavier strings, Michael Manring (who uses light bass strings) has persevered, and it features heavily on his 1995 album Thönk. He has even been known to use two at once. Steve Willett of Strange Boutique helped pioneer the use of bass EBow in the 80s post-punk goth scene. A sunburst-colored Fender Precision Bass The electric bass guitar (or electric bass[1][2]; pronounced , as in base) is a bass stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers (either by plucking, slapping, popping, or tapping) or using a pick. ... Michael Manring (born June 1960 in Washington, D.C.) is an electric bassist from the San Francisco Bay Area (Northern California). ... From Washington D.C., Strange Boutique rose out of the ashes of the Washington harDCore and transformed the Dark/Alternative music scene. ...

Although the EBow is most commonly played on the electric guitar because of the ease of use and the responsiveness obtainable from the pickup, it has also been used in applications with the steel-string acoustic guitar. For example, Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour used one on his Gibson J-200 acoustic in the 1994 song "Take It Back" to great effect. Generally an acoustic guitar gives a limited response for varying reasons, including the density and spacing of the guitar strings. But despite these limitations, using an EBow on an acoustic guitar gives a rich, flute and clarinet-like tone with a slow-swelling response. Two different electric guitars. ... Three magnetic pickups on an electric guitar. ... Playing a steel-string guitar without a pick (fingerpicking). ... Pink Floyd are an English rock band that initially earned recognition for their psychedelic or space rock music, and, as they evolved, for their progressive rock music. ... For the Canadian writer and television journalist, see David Gilmour (writer), for the jazz guitarist see David Gilmore. ... 1960 Gibson J-200 Gibson J-200 (Super Jumbo 200) is an acoustic guitar model produced by the Gibson Guitar Corporation. ... Take It Back is a song from Pink Floyds 1994 album, The Division Bell. ... For other uses, see Flute (disambiguation). ... Two soprano clarinets: a Bâ™­ clarinet (left, with capped mouthpiece) and an A clarinet (right, with no mouthpiece). ...

In 2007, the E-bow was featured very prominently in the soundtrack for Ken Burn's documentary, The War. Doug Wamble performed a haunting slide guitar solo in the piece "Movin' Back", which was a mix of harmonic and primary tone E-bow soloing on an acoustic with a magnetic pickup.

Besides its appearance in Rock and Jazz music, the E-Bow also made its way in the domain of contemporary music. John Cage used it in his harp piece A Postcard from Heaven (1982) and Karlheinz Essl employed the E-Bow in Sequitur VIII (2008) for electric guitar and live-electronics. For the Mortal Kombat character, see Johnny Cage. ... Karlheinz Essl (born August 15, 1960 in Vienna) is an Austrian composer, performer and improviser. ...

References

External links

• EBow website