Timothy McGuinness playing Laughlin Instruments

The mulit-talented Vancouver composer Timothy McGuinness owns and plays three Laughlin instruments. A 1980 24-fret Large cutaway guitar, a 1999 nylon string guitar and a 2009 guitar-shaped bouzouki. Tim has generously allowed some of his work to be made available here. Some pieces are impromptu improvisations to illustrate the instruments' sounds, others are excerpts from larger compositions.

Tim plays all his stringed instruments with sitar picks know as Mizrab on his index, middle and ring fingers.

Sixes and Sevens (MP3 5.8MB)   Tim recorded this improvisation on his guitar-shaped bouzouki after changing to octave strings on the G and D strings.

Bouzouki Improvisation #1 (MP3 5.7MB)   Tim recorded this improvisation a few days into his first venture playing an instrument tuned in 5ths.

Never Alone Intro (1.6 MB)   This 104 second piece is an excerpt from a longer composition. It was recorded with Tim's nylon string Laughlin.

That Place Excerpt (190 KB)   Tim's steel string Laughlin is the lead instrument on this hauntingly beautiful excerpt from another longer composition.

Spruce (175 KB)   This short piece was written and recorded by Tim in the early dialup internet days to feature the sound of his 1980 Laughlin steel string guitar.