See the scene in John Wick 2 featuring composer Tyler Bates on set playing the GuitarViol! @ 00:47
GUITARVIOL The Film Composer’s Secret Weapon
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Follow alternative stringed instrument maker Jonathan Wilson on his GUITARVIOL’s path from a small garage to the big screen, a story told by Hollywood’s top film composers (Tyler Bates, Jeff Cardoni, Charlie Clouser, Nathan Matthew David, Fil Eisler, John Frizzell, Kevin Kiner, Gary Lionelli, Heitor Pereira, Brandon Roberts, and Loga Ramin Torkian), who’ve used the “TogaMan” (Wilson)’s bowable guitar/cello-like instrument as a “secret weapon” (in films ranging from 300, John Wick, and later SAW films, to Despicable Me, Puss in Boots, and Guardians of the Galaxy) for over two decades. Includes special appearance by renowned cellist Tina Guo. Culminates with the inimitable instrument maker/artist’s discovery of a “super wood.”
“It’s cool that the vision of Jonathan could find a place and prove itself—be it for movies, for video games, for advertisements… I think it’s an instrument that lends itself to all of it. I’m very proud that I’m one of the first ones to use it, and to have met Jonathan at such an early stage.”
– HEITOR PEREIRA (GuitarViol in Curious George, Despicable Me, Angry Birds, Puss in Boots)
“By the time I got to the end of the journey that was 300, this instrument had transcended into my life and my soul. I knew that forever it would be part of my vocabulary as a musician.”
– TYLER BATES (GuitarViol in 300, Watchmen, John Wick I-IV, Guardians of the Galaxy)
“The GuitarViol totally changed my compositional life. It’s taken me on an incredible journey to places I never thought I would go before.”
– KEVIN KINER (GuitarViol in Ahsoka, Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi, Dark Winds, Narcos)
“It was almost like love at first sight. [Jonathan] let me play his instrument, and within with the first note, I knew that I wanted to have one.”
– LOGA RAMIN TORKIAN (GuitarViol in Stillwater, Song of the North, Samir, Feathers of Fire)
“What I love about using the GuitarViol in a score is: When someone says, ‘What is that sound? Is that acoustic, or electronic?’ And I say, ‘Yes.’”
– JOHN FRIZZELL (GuitarViol in Legion, Texas Chainsaw, The Following, Whiteout)
“It’s the sound of something I’m very, very excited about and passionate about. It really opened up a whole new chapter with what I could do with film scores.”
– FIL EISLER (GuitarViol in Outer Banks, Empire, The Titan, Revenge)
“The GuitarViol is an inspiration machine for me. It’s how I start so many of the sounds that I’ll use in my projects.”
– NATHAN MATTHEW DAVID (GuitarViol in Underrated, The Brothers Sun, Joy Ride, Young Rock)
“It opens up a whole new world of expression and possibilities. It’s a never-ending source of inspiration.”
– GARY LIONELLI (GuitarViol in O.J.: Made in America, Last Days in Vietnam, The Soul of America, Taken Hostage)
“This has been a really valuable tool in my arsenal, to create these very personal, weird little sonic sculptures. I’m glad that it exists, and I’m glad that it’s in constant and current production, because it would be a shame to have to go without it.”
– CHARLIE CLOUSER (GuitarViol in SAW: Jigsaw/Spiral/X, Wayward Pines, Childhood’s End)
“I completely see, especially at this point, the GuitarViol’s caught on so much, that it is its own instrument. It is not a ‘bowed guitar,’ and it is not a ‘small cello that’s tuned like a guitar.’ It’s its own thing.”
– BRANDON ROBERTS (GuitarViol in The Twilight Zone, Free Solo, Chaos Walking, Underwater)
“We all owe [Jonathan] a debt of gratitude for inventing this thing that’s really changed the way we think about getting a sound from in our head to out into the world.”
– JEFF CARDONI (GuitarViol in The Kominsky Method, White House Plumbers, Furlough, CSI: Miami)
Coming SUMMER 2025
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An entertaining mix of Historical, Educational, Compositional, and Inspirational…
A SUPER deep dive–for the 430+ GuitarViol players out there, fans of these 11 film composers, media composers (who are also instrumentalists), eclectic guitarists, instrument builders, and fans of uncommon instruments (in general).