Emmett Chapman

Emmett Chapman (born September 28, 1936) is a jazz musician best known as the inventor of the Chapman Stick and maker of Chapman Stick family of instruments.
Originally a guitarist, Chapman began recording and performing beginning in the late 1960s. He played with several different popular artists, including Jazz guitarist Barney Kessell and popular singer/songwriter Tim Buckley, before taking his own band on the road.
In 1969, Chapman modified his homemade nine-string "Freedom Guitar" to accommodate his "Free Hands" tapping method. While some guitarists had done two-handed tapping with the fingers of the right hand parallel to the strings, Chapman's method had the fingers of both hands perpendicular to the strings. This culminated in the creation of the Electric Stick, which he later named the Chapman Stick. He founded his company, Stick Enterprises in 1974, and has made more than 6,000 instruments since then. Chapman holds 14 patents for various aspects of the...