Native to Chicago, Ricky Davis has grown up developing a highly innovative style of acoustic guitar playing and digital music composition.
Shortly after he started writing music, Ricky tried putting the guitar on his lap and fell in love with “lap-tapping.” For hours upon hours at a time, Ricky would tap out bizarre and adventurous melodies with his right hand and use his left hand to play supportive harmonies. At the time, this was a technique that only a handful of people around the world were practicing. Almost as rare was his combination of open tunings and hand percussion on the guitar. Together, they allowed him to play chords
|
and melodies with his left hand while simultaneously making beats with his right. The open tunings also allowed him to create melodies that had many overlapping notes, giving the instrument a more resonating and ringing quality.
Although universal interest in these techniques has increased over the past decade, they are still quite uncommon. For this reason, the performance remains visually stimulating and Ricky continues to stay at the forefront of innovation with the acoustic guitar. He achieves this in part by integrating these techniques into a band setting. When people watch and listen, they get the full sound and vitality of a band but also a sight they’re not used to- like seeing a guitarist play on his lap.
|
Ricky composes parts for his performers using digital music software. He creates high quality demos and scores for his fellow musicians to learn from.
Ricky also writes pieces without the acoustic guitar in this software. Anything goes as far as sounds used/production techniques. He’ll use any instrument he can get his hands on, and may also incorporate found sounds from nature and/or software instruments. He’ll mix these extensively and apply effects such as delay and compression to create unique soundscapes.
|
Ricky continues to be influenced by a diverse range of music styles. He is inspired by music that is radically unique, regardless of when and where it was made. From Bjork to Radiohead to Debussy to Jon Gomm, Miles Davis, Brian Eno, Animals as Leaders, Dr. Dre, Sigur Ros, The Beatles, Steve Reich, Nine Inch Nails, Javanese Gamelan, Digitized Indian Music, Rock infused with African rhythms, traditional Scottish music, Georgian polyphonic singing, the sounds of nature, and much more – Ricky loves listening to anything that will stretch his imagination.
Ricky earned a bachelor's degree in performance/composition from California Institute of the Arts in May of 2015.
Ricky earned a bachelor's degree in performance/composition from California Institute of the Arts in May of 2015.
|