Christopher Riggs
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I'm a teacher who also plays experimental music on the electric guitar.

Using springs, magnets, pieces of metal, dowels, and violin bows, I make my instrument sound like underwater pterodactyls, cellos from space, the inside of a trash compactor, alien insects, malfunctioning mp3 files, or washing machines filled with marbles. I achieve these unguitar-like sounds without the aid of processing or effects.

I perform and record as a solo artist. I do not sell recordings of my music. Instead, I keep an archive of my solo recordings available for download on this website for free and labeled according to the date and time they were recorded. Each recording is available in flac, mp3, and wav formats under the section labeled Musicking. I'm borrowing Christopher Small's term to describe my current solo practice: music as a verb rather than a noun.

I received my Bachelor of Music in 2007 from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and my Master of Arts in Music Composition from Wesleyan University in 2012. You can download my MA thesis here.

I live in Chicago, IL with my wife and two daughters and teach 2nd grade for Chicago Public Schools.

My music is available for free, but maybe you'd like to leave me a tip to help me maintain this website.