Ellen Fullman, The Long String Instrument

David Weinstein sits down with composer and instrument builder Ellen Fullman and the two play tracks and discuss the history and practice of her extraordinary instrument consisting of hundreds of strings stretching over one hundred feet in length. Played by rubbing and exciting the strings longitudinally, Fullman tunes the strings in Just Intonation, based on the natural overtone series. The result is ethereal, spacious, viscerally rewarding chords and clusters. While the instrument drives a major part of her creative output, she is also fascinated by a range of subjects that enrich her work, from architecture to the blues.

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