The idea that the guitar can emulate a percussion instrument is quite common either in art or popular music, like Malcolm Arnold's fantasy for the guitar and his use of different techniques in the guitar. This piece was one of the inspirations for the piece we have been working on.
Another inspiration is a popular song from a Brazilian guitarist called Baden Powell. He wrote a song called "berimbau" in the 60s. in that piece, the idea of berimbau is much more conceptual than properly an "emulation" of the berimbau's timbre per se. The lyrics talk about a lover who gets into a "capoeira fight" because of the loved one (Capoeira is a Brazilian fight/dance where the berimbau is played).
After exploring Loughran's idea of using a pencil as an exciter to hit the strings (the berimbau is played using a long stick to hit a single string attached to a bow), I complimented the aleatoric intro with the use of the technique.
A few different techniques emerged from my research with the pencil as an exciter:
The ricochet.
Tremolo.
Scratch the strings.
The image below shows the where the aleatoric part stands at the moment:
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