Joan Jean Jean Leno

Translated by Nolix

Reviewed by Tang Hanwei

Published in the April 2015 issue of the Philharmonic

The Kronos Quartet is known for its string quartets by contemporary composers, and cellist Joan Jeanrenaud naturally takes on the task of playing "special techniques". Perhaps that's why Strad is so particular about her article. This article first appeared in the June 2004 issue of String Instruments magazine and has since been republished on the website.

Most of us have played works from before the 20th century, but composers in the last 50 years have unearthed a palette of rich, varied, and even incredible timbres on stringed instruments, so the challenge for contemporary string musicians has long gone beyond the basic requirement of "playing beautiful timbre in 4/4 time". Depending on the requirements, we sometimes need to challenge the potential of the instruments in our hands, touching, plucking, beating them, or striking a wooden bow, playing behind the piano and horse, and even using electronic and computer technology. These moves must have seemed crazy to people in the past.

When interpreting contemporary music, it's easy for the layman to think, "That's noisy and crazy." "But in fact, you've been granted a much richer toolbox than ever before. It is in the process of analyzing it that you will find something beautiful and infectious. Your classical background shouldn't be a-for-tat counterpoint, in fact, contemporary music can provide you with the best foundation for listening with an "open ear" and exploring the unknown world of sound with your own instruments.

During my years in the Kronos group, I have been exposed to all sorts of possible sounds on our instruments. One of the most common examples of "stretch technique" in avant-garde music is plucking strings. Many cellists think that plucking the strings simply means simply plucking your strings, so they don't think much about it.

In fact, if you refer to the context of music, you can see that the purpose of plucking the string is ever-changing, so the way we need to practice it is different. In other words, the number of brilliant and different sound colors that can be presented under the bow is not less than the number that can be achieved by plucking the strings. We all have that ability.

One of the things you need to choose when plucking the strings is where to pluck them. Most of the time we choose a point between the fretboard and the horse, but in practice we can look into it, for example, close to the horse to get a taut, less resonant sound, but above the fretboard we get a much softer, bell-like tremor. I sometimes even pluck the strings in the pincase, or behind the horse.

Secondly, you need to take into account the way you pluck the strings: you can pull the strings from one side to the other, or you can pick them up and press them down. The double bass players used a lot of plucked strings, especially when I was working with the Kronos on jazz recordings like Eddie Gomez and Ron Carter, and I gradually learned how to make their sounds. The relationship between the cello and the double bass is so close that I often imitate their roles in the string quartet – for example, the part that provides the bass rhythm. In order to sound more like a double bass, I learned to pluck the strings to the right with my middle or index finger.

In addition, I gradually realized that I can use your thumb, index finger, middle finger and ring finger to pluck the strings. We will prioritize the use of our fingers, but don't underestimate the ability of our nails. Penderecki's First String Quartet, though only six minutes long, is like a dictionary of extended techniques, and uses a lot of fingernail plucking. Be careful, though—you can break your nails! Sometimes you can have something like a finger pick, but there's not always enough time to get one. I remember that after a lot of experiments, our Kronos violist Hank Dutt chose to pluck the strings with a credit card. Sometimes, if a composer realizes that certain techniques are physically impossible, they may look for another solution, such as changing the notation to "col legno battuto", and if some players do not want to use their own bow, they can use something like a pencil instead.

Here's what I learned from the guitarist's posture: when you alternate the strings with the two fingers of your right hand, it means faster plucking, which often works well with the changing technique. This simplified procedure meant that I only had to concentrate on one question at each point in time, because I only had to follow the shape of my right hand that I had already decided to use when dealing with certain paragraphs.

An Egyptian composer, Hamza El Din, who was also an odyssian, wrote a piece called "Waterwheel", which was later adapted by one of his students into a string quartet. And the main task I was responsible for in it was to pluck the strings. But I couldn't get it right—something that sounded like an ordyssey. I tried everything I could pluck and finally decided to finish it with a mixed plucked string for the left and right hands. You'll notice that the sound is more dynamic when you alternate your hands.

The American composer John Zorn wrote his work "Nine-Tailed Cat" on 26 index cards, each containing a completely separate musical style. One of them is an octave C major, and the effect is supposed to be "someone walking upstairs with all sorts of steps". So in order to get the sound I wanted, I had to find the right plucking position on the cello. At the very least, the plucking of the strings is reminiscent of footsteps going upstairs. So, I tried to make a tight, loud plucking sound next to the piano horse. In the same piece, I also used a "jack-in-the-box" style plucked string, which was like a spring clown popping out of a box. So I used a lot of kneading, and you have to rely on your ears to decide how much to knead – there's a lot of variation.

Another technique that we use a lot is the tremolo pizzicato, which has a shimmering sound. In practice, when I fix a plucked string point, I move my fingers back and forth as fast as I can, and the result is a soft sound. The interesting thing is that if you're moving quickly from right to left, your nails tend to hit the strings.

Over the years, I have developed a lot of calluses on my hands because of the various pieces of music, but what is worse is the blisters, especially when we repeat certain passages over and over again (with our fingers), which is not comparable to that of other people who use a bow alone. So, I learned a trick from an Italian officer, to quickly puncture the blister with the tip of a needle before you even realize that the abrasion is bleeding, and the pus will run away.

Finally, a few things to say about amplification. Ever since Kronos played Steve Leahy, we've been recording music with power amplifiers, and you know, Leahy has a quartet and a pre-made tape. As a result, the plucked strings often become more audible. On the other hand, you need to be more vigilant about making mistakes. For example, in the Amsterdam City Hall Concert Hall, you don't need a strong amplification equipment, but sometimes we go to a real barn and you can't do without a power amplifier if you need to hear your plucked strings for a thousand people, so we never forget to bring our own sound engineer with us on tour.