Musicians have been using clay, or ceramic, wind and percussioninstruments for a long time. But a rock guitarist in Spain is now attractingaudiences with not only his music, but his unique ceramic guitar.

Luis Martin is the guitarist and lead singer in the Spanish band "LobosNegros." He says that widespread success does not come easy for rockguitarists. Mr. Martin says guitarists need something to set themselves apartfrom all others.

He says, "I wanted to achieve a different sound that everybody wants to useto play their music, whether the style is rock n' roll, rockabilly, blues, reggaeor whatever."

The idea to use a ceramic guitar came from Luis Martin’s hometown ofTalavera de la Reina in central Spain. The town is known for the ceramic artfound in many houses there.

Manuel Carrillo makes ceramic guitars in Talavera de la Reina. He says ittook him some time to master the process of making a guitar body without anycracks or deformities.

He says, "A very thin wall of clay is made for the outside of the body, then weget rid of the leftover liquid. Then we make openings in the body, so the guitarmaker can assemble everything he needs. And then, once the clay is baked, it is glazed and decorated."

Luis Martin says that, back in the 1950s, rock musicians in the United Statesdiscovered the unique quality of bouncing sound off ceramic material.

Ceramic Guitar Good for Rockin’ Too

He says, "In the 50s, voices and a lot of guitars used to be recorded inbathrooms with a microphone in the middle. The ceramic tiles in thebathrooms created a special sound."

A ceramic guitar costs about $3,000 and weighs 3.5 kilograms. Each one isunique and has different decorations.

Luis Martin and his band now plan to travel around Spain hoping to attractfans with their new ceramic sound.

I’m Jonathan Evans.

George Putic reported this story from Washington. Jonathan Evans wrote it for Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor.

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Words in This Story

ceramic – adj. made of clay that has been heated to a very high temperatureso that it becomes hard

decorate – v. to make something more attractive usually by putting somethingon it

deformity – n. a condition in which part of something does not have thenormal or expected shape

glaze – v. to give a smooth and shiny coating to something

unique – adj. used to say that something or someone is unlike anything oranyone else