Ola Strandberg’s line of ergonomically designed instruments extrapolate the design ideas seen in other ‘headless guitars’, and his innovations in neck profile design, CNC milling, materials, fanfret and tempered fretboards- as well as Creative Commons licensing much of his design work- make him one of the most exciting designers/builders today. CTM & Parsons will be partnering exclusively with Strandberg in Spring 2014 in a collab course studying the ‘Radical Future of Guitar’.

This lecture will be accompanied with a special guest appearance by guitarist Allan Marcus of ARECIBO.

In 2013-14, CTM presents a series of lectures, workshops, & performances focusing on the cutting edge present and future of guitar and instrument design. Co-sponsored by Mannes School of Music, functioning as a platform to build cross divisional collaboration at The New School, and opening exclusive external collaborations, this series will bring internationally renowned luthiers, designers, builders, materials innovators, composers, performers, theorists, and sound designers together to explore points of connection between the traditions of musical instrument design and sound production, and new forms of design thinking facilitated by materials science, emergent materials, parametric design, the internet of things, physical computing, networked sound, and the politics of ‘noise’.

In the fall of 2013, our first guests in this project include some of the most internationally recognized and innovative guitar designers of recent decades [with more guests TBA for Spring 2014]:
Ken Parker, Ned Steinberger, Ola Strandberg, and Gary Lee.