Tony MacAlpine (born August 29, 1960) is an American musician and composer. In a career spanning four decades, he has released twelve studio albums. MacAlpine is best known as an

instrumental rock Instrumental rock is rock music that emphasizes instrumental performance and features very little or no singing. Examples of instrumental music in rock can be found in practically every subgenre of the style. Instrumental rock was most popular f ...

and heavy metal solo guitarist, although he has worked with many different bands and musicians in guest appearances and collaborations.

Biography

Having started playing piano at the age of fiveProkofiev, Dane (2012-10-06)
An Interview with Tony MacAlpine (6th October, 2012)"
. YouTube. Retrieved 2012-10-19."Tony MacAlpine Interview"
. The Prog Report. 2014-04-09. Retrieved 2014-04-10. and guitar at twelve, MacAlpine studied classical piano and violin for a number of years at the Springfield Conservatory of Music in

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, as well as various music programs at the

University of Hartford The University of Hartford (UHart) is a private university in West Hartford, Connecticut, United States. Its main campus extends into neighboring Hartford and Bloomfield. It enrolled approximately 6,000 undergraduate and graduate students as ...

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

."Tony MacAlpine Biography"
. tonymacalpine.com. Retrieved 2012-10-11. Reffett, Dave (2011-10-08)
"Interview: Tony MacAlpine Discusses Gear and Tone and Answers Readers' Questions"
. ''

Guitar World ''Guitar World'' is a monthly music magazine for guitarists and fans of guitar-based music and trends. The magazine has been published since July 1980. ''Guitar World'', the best-selling guitar magazine in the United States, contains original a ...

''.

NewBay Media NewBay Media, LLC was a magazine and website publisher founded in 2006 and headquartered in New York City. NewBay Media served five marketplaces — Music, Pro Audio/AV, Video & Broadcast, Consumer Electronics, and Education. In April 2018, ...

. Retrieved 2012-10-11. One of his musical influences is

Frédéric Chopin Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period who wrote primarily for Piano solo, solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown ...

, to whom he pays homage in his interpretations of the latter's études, which are featured on the majority of his studio albums. Together with his first studio releases, '' Edge of Insanity'' (1986) and '' Maximum Security'' (1987), he had a prominent role on other works during the popular shred era, including keyboard performances on the debut albums of fellow guitarists Vinnie Moore ('' Mind's Eye'', 1986) and Joey Tafolla ('' Out of the Sun'', 1987). Soon after his own debut, he played guitar in a heavy metal supergroup named M.A.R.S. (MacAlpine/ Aldridge/ Rock/ Sarzo), which resulted in the 1986 album '' Project: Driver''. As part of a band effort named 'MacAlpine', '' Eyes of the World'' was released in 1990 as a more commercially oriented attempt to emulate other

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

acts at the time. The venture was short-lived, and his subsequent album '' Freedom to Fly'' (1992) was a return to his instrumental-based work. A further consecutive string of instrumental albums followed throughout the 1990s, most of them through the renowned

Shrapnel Records Shrapnel Records is an American record label group founded by record producer Mike Varney. The group principally uses the ''Shrapnel Records'' record label, a guitar-oriented label which features shred guitar, hard rock, metal and progressive ...

label: '' Madness'' (1993), '' Premonition'' (1994), ''

Evolution Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...

'' (1995) and '' Violent Machine'' (1996). For his last album of the decade, '' Master of Paradise'' (1999), MacAlpine briefly assumed singing duties in an effort to experiment with different styles. After the release of ''

Chromaticity Chromaticity is an objective specification of the quality of a color regardless of its luminance. Chromaticity consists of two independent parameters, often specified as '' hue'' (''h'') and ''colorfulness'' (''s''), where the latter is alte ...

'' in August 2001, he took an extended hiatus from recording solo albums and worked with a variety of other musicians and bands, most notably with supergroups CAB and

Ring of Fire The Ring of Fire (also known as the Pacific Ring of Fire, the Rim of Fire, the Girdle of Fire or the Circum-Pacific belt) is a tectonic belt of volcanoes and earthquakes. It is about long and up to about wide, and surrounds most of the Pa ...

. Nearly a decade later, in June 2011, he released his self-titled eleventh studio album through guitarist

Steve Vai Steven Siro Vai ( ; born June 6, 1960) is an American guitarist, songwriter, and producer. A three-time Grammy Award winner and fifteen-time nominee, Vai started his music career in 1978 at the age of eighteen as a Transcription (music), transc ...

's Favored Nations label. From 2001 to 2005, MacAlpine played both guitar and keyboards in Vai's touring band The Breed. He is featured on the band's DVD release '' Live at the Astoria London'' (2003), along with two DVDs of the G3 tour: '' G3: Live in Denver'' (2004) and '' G3: Live in Tokyo'' (2005). During that time, he was also the guitarist for

progressive metal Progressive metal (often shortened to prog metal) is a broad fusion music genre melding heavy metal music, heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified electric guitar, guitar-driven sound of the former with t ...

supergroup Planet X, alongside keyboardist

Derek Sherinian Derek Sherinian (born August 25, 1966) is an American keyboardist who has toured and recorded for Alice Cooper, Billy Idol, and Joe Bonamassa, among others. He was also a member of Dream Theater from 1994 to 1999, is the founder of Planet X (ban ...

and drummer Virgil Donati. He played with them for three albums in the first part of the decade—''

Universe The universe is all of space and time and their contents. It comprises all of existence, any fundamental interaction, physical process and physical constant, and therefore all forms of matter and energy, and the structures they form, from s ...

'' (2000), '' Live from Oz'' (2002) and '' MoonBabies'' (2002)—and rejoined them in 2009 for a string of live performances, and at that time a possible new album.Pavlichko, Matt (2011-07-07)
"Interview: Tony MacAlpine on His New Self-Titled Solo Album"
. ''

''.

. Retrieved 2012-10-11. His most recent collaborations have included Seven the Hardway, a progressive metal group with whom he released their self-titled album in 2010,Hodgson, Peter (2010-08-10)
"Interview: Tony MacAlpine of Seven The Hardway"
. I Heart Guitar. Retrieved 2012-10-11. and a guest appearance on Sherinian's seventh studio album '' Oceana'' (2011). In the second half of 2012, MacAlpine toured Europe and Asia as part of PSMS ( Portnoy/ Sheehan/MacAlpine/Sherinian), an instrumental supergroup.Cavuoto, Rob (December 2013)
"Tony MacAlpine Interview: New DVD Release Live In Tokyo"
. ''Guitar International''. Retrieved 2014-03-01. ''Instrumental Inspirations'', a DVD of their live material, was released October 21, 2012. Additionally, in an October 2012 interview, he stated that he was working on new studio material (one of them being a "strictly classical record" recorded solely on piano), as well as a new album with Ring of Fire. ''Battle of Leningrad'', Ring of Fire's fourth studio album, was released on January 28, 2014. MacAlpine's twelfth studio album, '' Concrete Gardens'', was released on April 21, 2015.""Concrete Gardens" - Out Now!"
. tonymacalpine.com. 2015-02-21. Retrieved 2015-04-25.

Style and influence

MacAlpine was highly influential in the neoclassical metal genre, becoming known for his instrumental rock style of playing that displays highly advanced shred techniques; one of his most oft-used techniques being 'sweep

tapping Tapping is a playing technique that can be used on any stringed instrument, but which is most commonly used on guitar. The technique involves a string being fretted and set into vibration as part of a single motion. This is in contrast to stand ...

', a variation of sweep picking. He has incorporated elements of classical, jazz, fusion, hard rock and heavy metal on both guitar and keyboard, and has been described as a

virtuoso A virtuoso (from Italian ''virtuoso'', or ; Late Latin ''virtuosus''; Latin ''virtus''; 'virtue', 'excellence' or 'skill') is an individual who possesses outstanding talent and technical ability in a particular art or field such as fine arts, ...

by Jason Ankeny at

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

Equipment

*''Edge of Insanity'': Kramer guitars, DiMarzio pickups, Peavey amplification *''Project: Driver'': B.C. Rich guitars, DiMarzio pickups, GHS strings, Peavey and Rockman amplification *''Maximum Security'': B.C. Rich guitars, DiMarzio pickups, Peavey amplification,

Ibanez is a Japanese guitar brand owned by Hoshino Gakki. Based in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Aichi, Japan, Hoshino Gakki was one of the first Japanese musical instrument companies to gain a significant foothold in import guitar sales in the United Stat ...

effects Effect may refer to: * A result or change of something ** List of effects ** Cause and effect, an idiom describing causality Pharmacy and pharmacology * Drug effect, a change resulting from the administration of a drug ** Therapeutic effect, ...

*''Eyes of the World'': Mason Bernard guitars, DiMarzio pickups, Dean Markley strings, Peavey amplification, Baldwin keyboards *''Freedom to Fly'': Peavey guitars,

Seymour Duncan Seymour Duncan is an American company best known for manufacturing guitar and Bass (guitar), bass Pickup (music technology), pickups. They also manufacture effects pedals which are designed and assembled in United States. Guitarist and luthier ...

pickups, GHS strings, Peavey amplification, Baldwin pianos *''Madness'': Washburn Mercury series guitars, Seymour Duncan pickups, Dean Markley strings, Hughes & Kettner amplification *''Premonition'': Washburn guitars, Seymour Duncan pickups, Dean Markley strings, Hughes & Kettner amplification *''Evolution'': B.C. Rich guitars, Seymour Duncan pickups, Hughes & Kettner amplification *''Chromaticity'': Carvin guitars and amplification *''Tony MacAlpine'': Ibanez guitars, DiMarzio pickups, Ernie Ball strings, Hughes & Kettner amplification, Source Audio effects, Toontrack software MacAlpine became a prominent user of

seven-string guitar The seven-string guitar adds one additional string to the more common six-string guitar, commonly used to extend the bass range (usually a low B) or also to extend the treble range. The additional string is added in one of two different ways: b ...

s after joining Planet X and still plays them regularly, along with eight-string guitars. A long-time endorsee of Carvin guitars (notably the T-Mac and DC series), he switched to Ibanez in 2010. Since 2011 he has played a customized RG Prestige eight-string model with EMG pickups, while his seven- and six-string models use DiMarzios. For amplification, he uses the Hughes & Kettner TriAmp for studio recording and the Coreblade model for live touring. An Ernie Ball wah and volume pedal completes his live setup. A detailed diagram of his 2011 gear can be found at Guitar Geek.

Personal life

MacAlpine currently resides in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commerci ...

. On August 25, 2015, he posted on his Facebook profile that he may have developed colon cancer, which forced cancellation of some dates on his tour to promote ''Concrete Gardens''. In August 2016 he wrote on his personal website, "I have been feeling back to normal and tests indicate that all is well in medical land. Deep and sincere thanks to you all for your wonderful support through this very difficult last 12 months." MacAlpine also revealed in an interview with Herman Li that, among his traumatic experiences, his wife had died and the release of his new record was a way for him to get back into creativity.Li, Herman & Macalpine, Tony (17-03-2022). Herman Li x Tony Macalpine Shred Session. Dragonforce , Facebook

Discography

Solo studio albums

*1986: '' Edge of Insanity'' *1987: '' Maximum Security'' *1992: '' Freedom to Fly'' *1993: '' Madness'' *1994: '' Premonition'' *1995: ''

'' *1996: '' Violent Machine'' *1999: '' Master of Paradise'' *2001: ''

'' *2011: '' Tony MacAlpine'' *2015: '' Concrete Gardens'' *2017: ''Death of Roses'' *2021: ''Equilibrium''

Solo live albums

*1997: '' Live Insanity''

Solo compilation albums

*2006: '' Collection: The Shrapnel Years''

MacAlpine

*1990: '' Eyes of the World''

Vinnie Moore

*1986: '' Mind's Eye'' *1999: '' The Maze'' *2006: '' Collection: The Shrapnel Years'' (compilation)

Planet X

*2000: ''

'' *2002: '' Live from Oz'' (live) *2002: '' MoonBabies''

CAB

*2000: '' CAB'' *2001: '' CAB 2'' *2002: ''CAB Live at The Baked Potato'' *2003: '' CAB 4'' *2008: '' Theatre de Marionnettes'' *2010: ''Live on Sunset'' *2001: ''CAB Live at the Baked Potato: First and Second Set'' (DVD) *2002: ''CAB Live at The Musician Institute'' (DVD)

Mark Boals

*2000: ''

'' *2002: ''Edge of the World''

Steve Vai

*2003: '' Live at the Astoria London'' *2004: '' G3: Live in Denver'' *2005: '' G3: Live in Tokyo''

Ring of Fire

*2003: ''Dreamtower'' *2004: ''Burning Live in Tokyo'' (live) *2004: ''Lapse of Reality'' *2014: ''Battle of Leningrad''

Other appearances

*1986: '' Project: Driver'' – M.A.R.S. (with

Tommy Aldridge Tommy Aldridge (born August 15, 1950) is an American heavy metal and hard rock drummer. He is noted for his work with numerous bands and artists since the 1970s, such as Black Oak Arkansas, Pat Travers Band, Ozzy Osbourne, Gary Moore, Whitesn ...

Rob Rock Robert Rock (born June 29, 1959) is an American heavy metal singer who is best known as the longtime frontman of Impellitteri, a position he has held from 1987 to 1988, 1992 to 2000, and now from 2008 to the present day. Rock has also release ...

and

Rudy Sarzo Rodolfo Maximiliano Sarzo Lavieille Grande Ruiz Payret y Chaumont (born November 18, 1950) is a Cuban-American musician. He remains best known as the bassist for Quiet Riot, Ozzy Osbourne, and Whitesnake, and has also played with several well k ...

) *1987: '' Out of the Sun'' – Joey Tafolla *1999: ''VK3'' – Vitalij Kuprij *2004: Eric Clapton's Guitar Festival - "I'm the Hell Out of Here" (with

) *2007: ''Clinophobia'' – Devil's Slingshot (with Virgil Donati and Billy Sheehan) *2007: ''Ze re Tour 2007'' – Michel Polnareff *2010: ''On Revolute'' – Dave Weiner *2010: '' Seven the Hardway'' – Seven the Hardway (with Virgil Donati and Mark Boals) *2011: '' Oceana'' –

*2012: ''Plains of Oblivion'' –

Jeff Loomis Jeff Loomis (born September 14, 1971) is an American musician, best known for his role as lead guitarist in the progressive metal band Nevermore during its existence from 1991 to 2011, as well as brief tenures in its precursor, Sanctuary (band) ...

*2012: ''Instrumental Inspirations'' – PSMS (with

Mike Portnoy Michael Stephen Portnoy (born April 20, 1967) is an American musician who is primarily known as the drummer, backing vocalist, and co-founder of the progressive metal band Dream Theater. In September 2010, Portnoy announced his departure fro ...

, Billy Sheehan and Derek Sherinian) (DVD) *2013: ''Live in Tokyo'' – PSMS (with Mike Portnoy, Billy Sheehan and Derek Sherinian) *2018: ''Enfin!'' – Michel Polnareff

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Macalpine, Tony 1960 births American heavy metal guitarists African-American guitarists African-American rock musicians American heavy metal keyboardists Living people Musicians from Springfield, Massachusetts American lead guitarists American seven-string guitarists Eight-string guitarists Progressive metal guitarists Guitarists from Massachusetts 20th-century American guitarists 21st-century American guitarists 21st-century American keyboardists Planet X (band) members CAB (band) members 20th-century American keyboardists Shrapnel Records artists PolyGram artists Favored Nations artists 20th-century African-American musicians 21st-century African-American musicians Jazz fusion guitarists