NoHo News : In Tune With the Universe

Published Twice Monthly - Early July 2000 - Vol. 2 No. 14 - Web Edition

In Tune With the Universe

Amplified music as we have known it since the dawn of the electric guitar could become a thing of the past if Maestro Alex Gregory has his way. He is the inventor of music for the new millennium: five-stringed electric instruments, tuned in fifths, and a concept for harmonic drumming. It is a revolutionary technological advance based on mathematical theory, proven scientifically. It is called PentasystemTM.

What is so fascinating about Pentasystem is its amazing correlation to the physical laws of the universe, and specifically to the String Theory, which purports, very simply put, that space and time consist of 11 dimensions or "strings" (5 strings plus 6 strings equal 11? Whatever.) The truly remarkable thing about Pentasystem is that the 5 stringed instruments designed by the "Maestro" are more in tune than their 6 stringed predecessors, practically eliminating dissonance to the human ear. All electric stringed instruments are currently tuned in fourths and are only 20% in tune, which creates distortion, "beating" - a noisy clash of harmonics, a massive drop in consonance.

Pentasystem, LLC, a company formed last November by musician/composer/writer Robert F. Calkin and the Maestro himself, is based on seven 5-stringed instruments, tuned in fifths (the TM Pentabass, Pentacello, Pentatar, Pentaula, Pentalin, Pentasitar, and PentaBouzouki, all carrying trademarks) and the DrummephoneTM, a harmonic drumming machine which allows, for the first time in history, the drummer to play in tune with the music. Penta instruments are 97% in tune, have even decay, and are easier to learn because of their absolute symmetry. The radical new "compound headstock" design of the stringed instruments allows for super-low tuning with unparalleled definition.

Robert Calkin, a modern metal guy, is the first Pentabass player in history and has been making the CD Another Millennium with the Maestro and the Penta Orchestra, made up of about 11 musicians (11 dimensions?) They recorded it at Artisan in Hollywood and mastered it at Oasis in Studio City, scheduled for release this summer. The Penta Orchestra is the Maestro's composition project - all the instruments used are Pentasystem, whose prototypes are made by Fender and B.C. Rich. Listening to a sampler of this groundbreaking CD in their Hollywood studio, I could hear lower lows and higher highs, and basically felt the room burning up - rock operas and Yes come to mind. Maestro-flash metal guitarist plays interludes from Beethoven's 9th on his Pentolin, which sounds like a mandolin on an acid trip. He says the instrument is played like Paganini, using classical violin techniques. Digital drums have been programmed with analog drum sounds.

Calkin will be touring with the Orchestra for the next 2-3 years starting in Japan this fall. He has toured with heavy metal outfit Rude Awakening as their bassist for 14 years and has made 6 albums with them. He is well known in the underground comic scene (Clean Dirt and Iconoclast Comix). He develops intellectual properties for film, theatre and TV and has a screenplay and musical in the pipeline. Calkin is also interested in the String Theory, but especially believes in the 5 stringed electric instruments the Maestro has pioneered.

The paradigm that Maestro Alex Gregory has implemented could forever change the way music is heard, played, and contemplated. I became very curious about this interesting man, the Maestro. What is he like, what does he like, and what made him think of this brilliant yet seemingly simple solution to dissonance? He must have really good hearing for one thing!

Here's what the Maestro has to say about himself and the state of his art.

Anna How did you acquire the title "Maestro?"

Maestro It came to be through a battle of the wits. Being a musician, traveling a lot, I got tired of being hassled all the time at the customs counter because I'm a musician. Actually I'm a doctor, I have a Ph.D. in Musicology from the University of Milan but I can't put that on my British passport because I'm not a medical doctor. So I protested, because I should be able to use that title on my passport, and not get hassled at customs. And through Parliament, by Her Majesty Herself, I was given the title "maestro," the first person in the world to be given it.

Anna What were you like as a child?

Maestro Until I was seven, I was an unbelievably vicious Viking, nobody could tame me, until I got into sports.

Anna How old were you when you began playing a musical instrument?

Maestro I've been playing instruments since I was about one, all kinds of musical instruments.

Anna Who was a great influence on you artistically as a child?

Maestro I grew up mostly in Windsor and in Europe - Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Germany - and spent most of my time with my dad and uncle, who were artists and had a studio. There was a European competition when I was little, and I entered a sculpture of Adolf Hitler and won, I was 8 or 9 in England. But it was Beethoven, Paganini, and Ritchi Blackmore.

Anna What were you like as a teenager?

Maestro I seriously got into cycling at about 15 and broke everything you can think of. My friends were getting all the babes, and this really hurt because I was so much better than them, So I became serious (about music) at about 17 and 18, practicing 16 to 18 hours a day for four to five years. I jumped lots of years and passed all these exams and got out of the University at 20. (I was) obsessed - all I did was music - I was into metal, Deep Purple, Led Zepplin, and heavily into Beethoven and classical violin.

Anna What recording artists are your favorites now?

Maestro Marillion, Metallica's Black record, but they suck. Dave Lombardo on The Gathering by Testament - I really don't listen to any kind of music, only Beethoven.

Anna What do you think of the break-up of the Smashing Pumpkins?

Maestro Now they're smashed out. Billy Corgan owns a CelloblasterTM, released by Schecter in '98, precursor to the Pentacello.

Anna Is the Pentasystem based on physical laws of the universe or have anything to do with new physics’ String Theory?

Maestro It IS connected actually, but I just want to play guitar. This is revolutionary (pointing to his pentatar) the compound headstock has different planes. I have a patent on this. In '92-'97 I assigned Gibson's R&D to make prototypes for me. I get all these weird things coming to me in the middle of the night. I had this idea of a wide head stock with 7 different planes, and I drew it, and when I woke up, I took it to Gibson. They said I was insane when they tried to make it. It worked out. That is what the String Theory is, different angles create different dimensions - reality is based on 11 dimensions. Reality is really based on 360 x 360 ad infinitum. Actually, it's very complicated.

Calkin The compound (headstock) is based on the String Theory. There is no universal formula, and now (because of the String Theory) physicists can all communicate with each other. Alex (Maestro) has turned music into a universal language that everyone can understand.

Anna Can you hear music in outer space?

Maestro Yeah, basically music, sound.

Calkin Alex always says that humans respond to the vibration of a string being plucked. When it's hot, it travels slow.

Maestro Oh man, (when it's hot) my amplifier sounds like #*%@&!

Calkin The vibrating string is the most pleasurable sound. Basically, it's your mom. There are many notes in one vibrating string. The composition of one note is "harmonics." (To have) multiple notes in tune is the essence of what we're trying to achieve.

Anna What led you to the idea of the Pentasystem?

Maestro It all started with the 7 string electric guitar around '85. I invented the 7 string Stratocaster in '87. It has 2 patents. Eric Clapton, Yngwie Malmsteen and I were the first 3 signature artists. Because I wanted to do classical music, I stumbled onto the 4 string Mandolin, the piano guitar, and the Celloblaster while trying to start an orchestra, but all the other instruments sounded terrible. I changed to 5 strings, and Bob (Calkin) freaked out it sounded so good. Then I changed the other instruments, and everything sounded great - except the drums, which sounded diabolical.

Calkin Like telling him (Maestro) that he has to cure cancer before he can make the record.

Anna How do you foresee the dissemination worldwide of the pentasystem?

Maestro Timing is vital. Everyone is so bored that everyone's going to flip over it - the whole planet. Eddie Schreyer, of Oasis

Mastering Studio says it's (their new CD), “Unbelievable. It's the first time I'd buy a record just for the solos."
Pentasystem applies to all ethnic instruments, to all people.

B.C. Rich and Fender are the only companies making custom prototypes of Pentasystem stringed electric instruments at this time.

Hear Maestro Alex Gregory's unique and brilliant "licks" on his other CD, 12 Jokes for Heavy Metal Mandolin, modeled after Paganini's Italian "skertos," meaning "little caprices" or "jokes," available in Japan and or from www.nidusprod.com and check out www.pentasystem.com

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