At a media conference covered by LionhearTV on January 23, indie-musician Abby Clutario discussed her experience playing the Chapman Stick as a musical instrument.
Clutario recounted how she discovered the string instrument through the progressive rock band Cynic and musician Greg Howard.
“Actually ang pinaka-una ko atang music na narinig sa kaniya isang fusion na music sa isang banda. It’s a foreign band called Cynic, ang tutugan nila, medyo nasa fusion, medyo nasa prog din.
“Kaya ko po ‘yun napapakinggan is because ‘yun din po ‘yung roots ng aking unang-unang band na independent na Fusebox, it’s a progressive rock band, di ba? Tapos noong time na ‘yun, siyempre marami kaming pinapakinggan. That was– I think that was one of the first.
“And then when I started researching it, ‘yung talagang tunog ng Chapman Stick na nahiligan ko sa artist na si Greg Howard. Tapos new age ‘yung tipo ng music na tinutugtog niya using the Chapman Stick which is that kind of genre is really what I like and nangibabaw din kasi doon ang tunog at timbre ng Chapman Stick. Na sobrang na-inlove ako.”
Admittedly, she had difficulties procuring the musical instrument because of its availability.
“Ang Chapman Stick, it’s a U.S. made instrument, pero it’s a custom instrument. And since it’s a family owned business also, ‘yung Stick Enterprises, medyo mahirap din makakuha, kasi sa U.S. lang din talaga pwedeng makaka-order.”
She then shared how she got a hold of the custom-made musical instrument through one of her previous bandmates.
“So mga 10-12 years back, mayroon pang ano noon, mga music forums, tapos mayroong nagbenta, so second hand na Chapman Stick dito sa Pilipinas. And then, that time, ‘yung aming gitarista, siya talaga ‘yung interesado. Tapos for some reason, gusto niyang bilhin hindi niya makuha, and then our keyboardist at that time, siya ‘yung nag-secret na binili niya ‘yung Chapman Stick.
“Tapos he gave it a one or two weeks bago niya sabihin sa amin, I think it was about a month na bago niya sabihin samin na naka-acquire siya ng Chapman Stick kasi nahirapan daw siya tugtugin. So when he finally said the secret, sabi namin, ‘Ah okay, anong plano mo diyan?’ Sabi ko, ‘Pwede ko bang hiramin, kapain ko lang. Tapos kung ayaw mo na, pwede ko namang hulugan sayo.'”
Clutario then detailed how she learned about playing the instrument through online communities.
“Mayroon naman na active na Stick community at that time, kadalasan mga U.S. players at mga European Stick players ang mga na-meet ko through online forums. And then they showed me ang mga una mong kailangan matutunan, and then also nag-research na rin ako bumili ako ng mga books na available sa music store, sa Stick Enterprises, and later on nakapag-lesson din ako sa mga nag-offer ng lesson.
“Actually, ‘yung unang naging teacher ko ay the same guy na naringgan ko ng single na new age music para sa Chapman Stick, si Greg Howard. It took me about siguro three months to get to know the Chapman Stick from the da– that I purchased it, from my bandmate.”
She also discussed her 12-year venture of learning about the instrument, which she is still mastering to this day.
“I’ve been playing the Chapman Stick na for about 12 years, parang mahigit isang dekada ko na rin siyang pinagpra-praktisan. And I’m still mastering it, okay? Marami pa rin akong gustong matutunan kasi it’s very flexible instrument, hindi lang siya tinutugtog sa prog, sa new age, naririnig ko rin siya sa pop, sa classical. So very natural sounding kasi siya.”
Clutario signed her contract with AltG Records, a sub-label of GMA Music, in November 2022.
She recently released her cover of Up Dharma Down’s song, Tadhana, under AltG, which is available on music streaming platforms such as Spotify.
