5 Ways Keiji Haino Pushes the Guitar to Its Physical Limits

Microtonal bends He bends strings far beyond standard pitch intervals, creating unstable, out-of-tune sounds that conventional guitarists avoid.

Sustained feedback Haino uses amplifier feedback as a primary sound source, letting the guitar howl and oscillate without clear notes or chords.

Extended techniques He scrapes, taps, and strikes the guitar body and strings in unconventional ways, treating the instrument as a percussion object.

Volume as texture Extreme loudness is not for power but to blur the line between tone and noise, making the guitar sound like a raw electrical signal.

Minimal note selection He prioritizes physical sound production over melody or harmony, focusing on how much raw sound can be extracted from wood, metal, and electricity.