The Glissando Guitar Orchestra

The glissando guitar is a technique first invented by Syd Barrett and developped by Daevid Allen who made it his trademark. Glissando involves stroking the strings with a metal rod. It’s different from using a bottleneck in that you put the metal rod on the strings and stroke the strings right there on the neck. It interacts with the harmonics of the guitar to produce a unique unearthly and angelic sound. The idea of a glissando guitar ensemble was first conceived by Gong members Daevid Allen and Steve Hillage as far back as 1974, but until 2006 there had been no performance or band with more than 2 gliss guitarists. The Gong Reunion (Gong Unconvention) in Amsterdam in 2006 was the first opportunity to make real this project. Since then, the Orchestra is still alive, uniting different guitarists from different horizons each time.