Roger C. Field
This article contains content that is written like an advertisement. (February 2021) |
Roger C. Field | |
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Industrial designer , inventor, musician, filmmaker | |
Awards | Designers' Choice Award for the United States (1980) |
Roger C. Field (born 31 July 1945) is an English designer and the inventor of the Foldaxe folding electric guitar, which won the Designers' Choice Award for the United States in 1980. He is also an inventor with over 100 patents, an industrial designer, and a guitarist. He has been written about in Playboy magazine[1] 21 times in 16 countries, in Penthouse magazine four times in Europe, and in Esquire. He is in four different Who's Who[2] books in Europe including one for the European Union.
Early life
Field was born in London, England. His father was the owner and managing director of Siegmund Robinow & Son Ltd, a company in London and Hamburg, which at that time manufactured exclusive garments. After attending Stagenhoe Park near Hitchin from 1953–1958; he attended The King's School, Canterbury from 1958–1960; then Aiglon College in Switzerland from 1960–1963.
Field attended the
In 1969, he filmed the California College of the Arts at the request of Harry X. Ford, the president of the college in
Field, who was also an aviation enthusiast who had received a
Field is currently marketing his professional 35mm film camera invention for cinema and television. The camera considerably improves image quality by using unperforated 35mm film (which allows much wider exposed images), (U.S. patent 7,419,077). The camera could be used with Field's camera light screening unit (matte box) which been manufactured for many years by the Chrosziel Filmtechnik company in Germany. (U.S. patent 4,441,794).
Foldaxe
While designing passenger seats for the Airbus in 1975, Field had the idea for a folding electric guitar which he named "Foldaxe," for being transported as hand luggage under an aircraft seat. Guitarist Chet Atkins inspired Field in 1975 to design a folding guitar without the string tension changing and going out of tune.[5] Field solved this problem by designing a unique mechanism hidden in the guitar which, once the guitar has been tuned, keeps the string tension constant when folding and unfolding it so that it is always ready to play when unfolded.
Atkins appeared with
The Foldaxe was featured in Atkins's book Me and My Guitars.
The interest in The Foldaxe by Hank Marvin, guitarist for the Shadows, led Field to be the instigator in 2001 of the reunion of the Shadows.[10][11][12] Jet Harris of the Shadows addressed Field's intention to do so in the Otago Daily Times, after meeting with Field and Bruce Welch near Tilburg in the Netherlands.[13] Harris and Welch supported Field's efforts to influence Hank Marvin to return to the band.[14][15]
Field developed a guitar technique he calls 'Tap-Picking', a technique of adding additional bass notes to guitar fingerpicking by tapping and pulling-off the bass strings with the left hand at times when the right hand thumbpick and fingers are on the treble strings and cannot play bass notes.[16][17][18]
In the text of his tablature booklet with the
References
- ^ Articles in Playboy in Slovakia (2/'02), Brazil (6/'02), Russia (10/'02), Ukraine (10/'02), France (4/'03), Czech Republic (4/'04), Slovenia (6/'04), Bulgaria (4/'05), Hungary (3/'06), Romania (4/'06), Ukraine (8/'06), Lithuania (6/'12), Romania (9/'12), Croatia (11/'12), Mongolia (12/'12), Venezuela (2/'13), Portugal (4/'13), Czech Republic (11/'13), Slovakia (11/'13), Slovenia (3/'14) and Greece (10/'14). Articles in Penthouse in Germany (10/'01 and 8/'07), the Netherlands (8/'03) and Greece (11/'07). Article in Esquire in Romania (Summer 2014).
- ISBN 3-905729-00-8
- ^ "Official CCA Alumni Directory - Roger Field". Docs.google.com. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
- ^ California College of the Arts (CCAC) "To be an Artist" film with Field's name in credits as director, etc.
- ^ a b Watson, Tom (April 2007). "Electric Guitar Design: When You Can't Hold 'Em, Fold 'Em". Modern Guitars Magazine. Archived from the original on 3 April 2008.
- ^ a b Sievert, Jon (January 1988). "Roger Field's Foldaxe". Guitar Player.
- ^ "Designers' Choice Award Certificate". Docs.google.com. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
- ^ "Letter from Raymond Loewy to Field, 22 March 1980 regarding the Foldaxe". Docs.google.com. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
- ISBN 0-634-05565-8.
- ^ World News Network article 16 July 2004 with photo of Hank Marvin of The Shadows and Roger C. Field holding Foldaxe]
- ^ "Munich Germany". Classical Guitar Magazine – UK: 39, 40. June 2005.
- ^ "Roger Field & die Klappgitarre". Gitarre & Bass Magazine: 88. September 2004. Archived from the original on 2 March 2012.
- ^ "Scoop, from out of left field". Otago Daily Times. June 2001.
- ^ "Pal Returns Shadows to Fame". Newcastle Evening Chronicle. May 2004.
- ^ "Geschichten von Arnie und den Shadows". Wiesbadener Tagblatt. May 2009.
- ^ "Tap-picking". Music Test – France. May 1992.
- ^ "Tap-picking". Zounds, das Musikmagazin – Germany: 89. September 1992.
- ^ "Tap-picking". Musikblatt – Germany: 89. August–September 1992.
External links
- World News Network article 25 July 2009 (The Guardian) with photo of Field in front of a poster of Arnold Schwarzenegger, much used by World News Network and the press
- "The Shadows come out of the darkness" Sunday Herald, Edinburgh 22 Feb 2004 article about Field having reunited The Shadows
- "Field days, from Schwarzenegger to the Shadows" The Scotsman, Edinburgh 29 April 2004 article about Field and Arnold Schwarzenegger and Field having reunited The Shadows.
- "Roger helped lift the Shadows" The Star, Sheffield 15 Oct 2009
- Cyprus Mail, Nicosia 20 April 2007[permanent dead link]