Category Archives: instrumental guitar

Blasted Surf and Apache Rock videos

Blasted Surf – intense splashy surf instrumental, demanding stamina and speed. Lead guitar Conrad of Insanitizers, with bass guitar and percussion previously recorded. Just one guitar but often sounds like two. The guitar is a combination of two 1967 Japanese guitars, 24-3/4″ scale. Its two pickups have separate volume controls. Here bridge pickup is fully on, and neck pickup is just enough to smooth tonal edges. Original song, c. Conrad Swartz 2023 (BMI).

Apache Rock, extending the twangy percussive guitar approach of Jorgen Ingmann’s original recording by adding twangy percussive embellishments. Conrad performs with bass and percussion previously recorded. Here both bridge and neck pickups are fully on, for mellow yet chimey tone. Original arrangement by Insanitizers.

Insane Knot Tie Soars

That’s two things besides an unrealistic sentence. As a pun on Insanitizers it emphasizes that a local impresario calls us INSANE-a-tizers. It is also the name of our new Amazing Album. It is available as a physical commercially duplicated CD album or a digital download album, at Insanitizers.Bandcamp.com, Insanitizers.com, Amazon etc., and streaming on all platforms on Feb. 8, 2023. Every track is a new recording and will energize you to success.

This photo represents the album. An adaptation of it is printed on the disc.

Here is the track listing with our comments.

01 Bold Renegade. Reflecting its Zorroistic theme, “this bold renegade carves a Z with his bladeā€¦” it starts and ends with triple slashes. During the bridge section are guitar whip lashes you may need headphones to hear, no muscle strain involved.

02 Dazzled. Motivated by big band classic “Big Noise from Winnetka” but its melodies are not similar. What is similar is unusually expressionistic percussion. For part of this song the melody (lead) is carried by a growling funky twangy guitar in the bass range.

03 Twang Shake The entire melody is played on one mysterious extra-twangy guitar. Twangs are measured in units of Eddies, one twang is one Eddy, two twangs is Twain Eddies.

04 Waterfall Barreling Splashy surf, over the falls in a barrel, overarched by a psychedelic bridge

05 Dark Eyes. A classic Russian folk song. The literal translation of the name from Russian is “Black Eyes” but here it’s all mystery, no trauma. Our energetically rocking version has no overlap with the Welkish arrangement of this song by The Ventures.

06 The Lost Rescue. Surf guitar original with a Mendelssohnian feel. Yup, that’s spelled right.

07 Dance Like a Robot. Features up-and-down glissando slides. Fun mechanoid metal man, not metal music. Think Kryten from Red Dwarf.

08 A Day in Tokyo. As intended, it sounds Japanese but we don’t know why it does, it just does. Beautiful echo tones.

09 A Night in Vienna. Polka, March, and Surf take turns on an Austrian carousel. Vienna is supposed to be a hotbed of espionage and carousels. A hotbed of carousels?

10 The Space Force. The actual Space Force only wishes it had as magnificent a theme.

11 Jaws on Bald Mountain. Beyond Bald Mountain, tied onto the back of a horse, in the middle of the night, clothesless (please note the discretion).

12 Love in Purgatory. Heart-tugging melody introduced by harpsichord and continued on gorgeous guitar tones.

13 GooglEyes. Jolly and bouncy. Yes you’re feeling lucky today.

14 Rocket Pack. Beyond Telstar.

15 Stunt Pilot. Beyond Ghost Riders

16 Waterboard. Beyond sanity.

Something special in our new recording “Satumaa”

The expressiveness and tones in our new recording of “Satumaa,” the national tango of Finland, befits the title. “Satumaa” means wonderland. The song is a classic in Finland, and it appeared as a vocal (in Finnish) in 1955. If you aren’t familiar with the Finnish language you can still understand the beauty of this song with our instrumental version. You can hear it on Spotify, Deezer, Pandora, or Tidal, and paid subscriptions are not necessary at least for some of these. Links to the song on Spotify, Deezer and Pandora are below…

Spotify

Deezer

https://www.deezer.com/us/album/343189937

Pandora
https://www.pandora.com/artist/insanitizers/satumaa-single/AL3XqfnVJxpdjjm

wild variations on classics

Conrad writes: I performed these on the most inexpensive strat-type guitar I know of. Before doing this I leveled the frets, thinned the neck, replaced bridge & middle pickups, added weights to the internal vibrato bar, installed roller saddles, and adjusted intonation. This allowed a a string height of less than 1/16″ above the 12th fret, necessary for these two rapidly paced interpretations.

The upper one uses the middle pickup throughout. The lower one uses the middle pickup for the first half of the song, and the neck pickup for the last half.

“Space Force” Wins Best Instrumental Album Award

August 15, 2020. Insanitizers “Space Force” album today received the award for Best Instrumental album from The Akademia Group (TheAkademia.com). “It is the opinion of The Akademia Board that this work represents an important contribution towards the diversity and advancement of the global music community. There were hundreds of submissions received this month in your category, which made making a final decision extremely difficult.”

The Insanitizers’ “Space Force” album takes you on new adventures with gorgeous guitar tones you’ve never heard before, brilliant catchy melodies and lively beats. It features dramatic variations in timbre within and between songs. First edition CD albums are now shipping. Order directly from us for $13 (postpaid in USA, add $1 tax in WA state) via Paypal to insanitizers@gmail.com. Or order albums and download MP3s at insanitizers.bandcamp.com

Check our “Awards and Reviews” page for comments made by album listeners.

New “Space Force” album CD available 8/17/2020

The album is now being manufactured. Below are a link to view its gorgeous artwork in 3 dimensions as a short video, and the front cover. The music is as dramatic and entertaining as the artwork, the album is a show in itself. The people who gave us helpful impressions of the recordings as we developed them were impressed by the new and beautiful other-worldly tones. In response to the song “Space Carnival” one said “More rides, please! “

Telstar Guitar Rocks

What’s special? Combining chords with notes, abundant twangy vibrato, gorgeous reverb tone, new arrangement including original intro and ending. These complex chords usually go with jazz, but here they add energy.

Unsolicited comments posted by other guitarists: “Your exploding it with chords and reverb and vibrato is so fulfilling. Nailed it, amazing job!” “Who would have thought Telstar sounds so good as a guitar piece!” “A beautiful piece of music, and beautifully played may I say. Telstar had an unbelievable uplifting quality.”

The Steinberger USA guitar sports an aftermarket vibrato bridge with exceptional responsivity and tuning stability. What happened to the guitar’s headstock? It’s orbiting the Earth!