The steel-string guitarist puts his money where his mouth is on his new CD, Sonora [Redtail], which features several solo guitar pieces, as well as collaborations with violinist Hugh Marsh, cellist Anne Bourne, and bassist Michael Manring. While the focus is on his exquisite picking, Turner employs a wide range of techniques, including bending,

slapping, two-handed tapping, and banging the instrument. He also uses a couple of less common approaches.

“I do something called ‘harmonic scratching’ that I learned from a guitarist named Dean Magraw,” he explains. “I scratch on the wound strings with a fingernail, and then bend the fretted note, the neck, or the body at the same time. I also really enjoy ‘harmonic stopping,’ in which you stop a ringing harmonic by gently tapping another harmonic on the same string.”

Turner first took up the instrument at age 31, following careers as a professional photographer and a Motocross racer, and focused exclusively on open tunings from the outset.

“I’ve never played anything in standard tuning,” says Turner. “It began when I listened to a Will Ackerman record that had all the tunings listed. I immediately got out the tuner, started messing around, and got turned on by the complex resonances that aren’t possible in standard tuning. I particularly like C, G, C, G, C, D (low to high) because it’s so low, dark, and resonant. I also love E, B, E, F#, B, E, which I discovered from listening to Alex de Grassi. It has that element of visceral darkness, too, yet it can be played in a way that’s beautiful and uplifting.”

Turner’s principal guitars include a rosewood and cedar Linda Manzer cutaway, and a custom R. Taylor made from California sequoia redwood and Mexican cocobola.

“The Manzer is the most amazing guitar I’ve ever played,” he says. “It has an incredibly liquid high end, a very present midrange, and a very deep and focused low end. Every single note on the instrument rings out

with tremendous harmonic complexity and beauty. The Taylor is also a real stunner with its monster low-end overtones.”

Turner was determined that every nuance of his sound be revealed to listeners on Sonora, and proper mastering played a key role in achieving that aim.

“I believe acoustic guitar recordings should sound as if you were sitting three feet in front of the instrument,” he says. “Today, mastering a record often means making it as loud as possible, and that usually involves over-compressing the audio, which can kill the dynamics of the instrument, and create distortion, as well. A great recording should start with optimal microphone placement to ensure the guitar sounds the best it possibly can with the least amount of EQ. From there, it’s a matter of applying subtle compression that keeps the dynamics of the signal intact. I use tools such as the Waves Renaissance Compressor and L2 Ultramaximizer limiter, which make the process easy. Loud mastering is something that should be left to major-label mastering engineers who have commercial and radio pressures to contend with. The smaller studio guys should simply try to make the record that sounds best to their ears, and leave it at that.”