A door is a movable structure used to open and close off an entrance, typically consisting of a panel that swings on hinges or that slides or rotates inside a space.

When open, doors admit ventilation and light. The door is used to control the physical atmosphere within a space by enclosing the air drafts, so that interiors may be more effectively heated or cooled. Doors are significant in preventing the spread of fire. They also act as a barrier to noise.

They are also used to screen areas of a building for aesthetics, keeping formal and utility areas separate. Doors also have an aesthetic role in creating an impression of what lies beyond. Doors are often symbolically endowed with ritual purposes, and the guarding or receiving of the keys to a door, or being granted access to a door can have special significance.^[1] Similarly, doors and doorways frequently appear in metaphorical or allegorical situations, literature and the arts, often as a portent of change.

Applications[link]

Architectural doors have numerous general and specialized uses. Doors are generally used to separate interior spaces (rooms, closets, etc.) for privacy, convenience, security, and safety reasons. Doors are also used to secure passages into a building from the exterior for reasons of safety and climate control.

Doors also are applied in more specialized cases:

• A trapdoor is a door that is oriented horizontally in a floor or ceiling, often accessed via a ladder.
• Blast-proof doors are constructed to allow access to a structure but also to provide protection from the force of explosions.
• A garden door is any door that opens to a garden or backyard. It is often used specifically for double French doors in place of a sliding glass door (also known as Patio doors). In such a configuration, it has the advantage of a very large opening for moving large objects in and out.
• A pet door (also known as a dog door or cat flap) is an opening in a door to allow pets to enter and exit without the main door being opened. It may be simply covered by a rubber flap or it may be an actual door hinged on the top that the pet can push through. Pet doors may be mounted in a sliding glass door as a new (permanent or temporary) panel. Pet doors may be unidirectional, only allowing pets to exit. Pet doors may be electronic, only allowing pets with a special electronic tag to enter.

Door knock[link]

A door knock is a tapping action performed upon the outside of a door in order to signal to those within that one wishes to gain entry. A knock may be performed on or with a door knocker. One stylized form of knock is the call of "Shave and a Haircut".  Play (help·info)

Design and styles[link]

A carved cedar door in the Great Mosque of Kairouan (also called the Mosque of Uqba), in Kairouan, Tunisia.

Door of Florence's Baptistery called Gates of Paradise

A decorated door from the Namdroling Monastery, southern India.

Door in rural Punjab

Portafinestra is a common window-door type in Italy, also known as a French door or a Patio door in the UK

Many kinds of doors have specific names, depending on their purpose. The most common variety of door is the single-leaf door which consists of a single rigid panel that fills the doorway. Many variations on this basic design are possible, such as the double-leaf door or double doors and French doors that have two adjacent independent panels hinged on each side of the doorway.

A half door or Dutch door or stable door is divided in half horizontally. Traditionally the top half can be opened to allow a horse or other animal to be fed, while the bottom half remained closed to keep the animal inside. This style of door has been adapted for homes.

Saloon doors are a pair of lightweight swing doors often found in public bars, and especially associated with the American west. Saloon doors, also known as cafe doors, often use bidirectional hinges which close the door regardless of which direction it is opened by incorporating springs. Saloon doors that only extend from knee-level to chest-level are known as batwing doors.

A blind door or Gibb door is a door with no visible trim or operable components. It is designed to blend with the adjacent wall in all finishes, and visually to be a part of the wall, a disguised door.

A barn door is a door characteristic of a barn. They are often/always found on barns, and because of a barn's immense size (often) doors are subsequently big for utility.

A French door is a door (installed singly or as one of a matching pair or series) consisting of a frame around one or more transparent and/or translucent panels (called lights or lites); it is also called a French window as it resembles a door-height casement window. A pair of French doors does not generally include a central mullion (as do some casement window pairs), thus allowing a wider unobstructed opening. The frame typically requires a weather strip at floor level and where the doors meet to prevent water ingress. An espagnolette bolt allows the head and foot of each door to be secured in one movement. The slender window joinery maximizes light though into the room and minimizes the visual impact of the doorway joinery when considered externally.

A louvred door has fixed or movable wooden fins (often called slats or louvers) which permit open ventilation while preserving privacy and preventing the passage of light to the interior. Being relatively weak structures, they are most commonly used for wardrobes and drying rooms, where security is of less importance than good ventilation, although a very similar structure is commonly used to form window shutters.

A composite door is a single leaf door that can be solid or with glass, and is usually filled with high density foam. Most composite doors carry Secured by Design accreditation and PAS 23 and PAS 24.

A flush door is a completely smooth door, having plywood or MDF fixed over a light timber frame, the hollow parts of which are often filled with a cardboard core material. Skins can also be made out of hardboards, the first of which was invented by William H Mason in 1924. Called Masonite, its construction involved pressing and steaming wood chips into boards. Flush doors are most commonly employed in the interior of a dwelling, although slightly more substantial versions are occasionally used as exterior doors, especially within hotels and other buildings containing many independent dwellings.

A moulded door has the same structure as that of flush door. The only difference is that the surface material is a moulded skin made of MDF. Skins can also be made out of hardboards.

A ledge and brace door is a door made from multiple vertical planks fixed together by two horizontal planks (the ledges) and kept square by a diagonal plank (the brace).

A wicket door is a pedestrian door built into a much larger door allowing access without requiring the opening of the larger door. Examples might be found on the ceremonial door of a cathedral or in a large vehicle door in a garage or hangar.

A bifold door is a door unit that has several sections, folding in pairs. Wood is the most common material, and doors may also be metal or glass. Bifolds are most commonly made for closets, but may also be used as units between rooms.

A sliding glass door, sometimes called an Arcadia door or a Patio door, is a door made of glass that slides open and sometimes has a screen (a removable metal mesh that covers the door).

Australian doors are a pair of plywood swinging doors often found in Australian public houses. These doors are generally red or brown in color and bear a resemblance to the more formal doors found in other British Colonies' public houses.

A false door is a wall decoration that looks like a door. In ancient Egyptian architecture, this was a common element in a tomb, the false door representing a gate to the afterlife. They can also be found in the funerary architecture of the desert tribes (e.g., Libyan Ghirza).

Types of mechanism[link]

The main types of door mechanisms

Hinged doors[link]

Most doors are hinged along one side to allow the door to pivot away from the doorway in one direction but not in the other. The axis of rotation is usually vertical. In some cases, such as hinged garage doors, the axis may be horizontal, above the door opening.

Doors can be hinged so that the axis of rotation is not in the plane of the door to reduce the space required on the side to which the door opens. This requires a mechanism so that the axis of rotation is on the side other than that in which the door opens. This is sometimes the case in trains, such as for the door to the toilet, which opens inward.

A swing doors has special hinges that allow it to open either outwards or inwards, and is usually sprung to keep it closed.

A selfbolting door is called as such because of its special hinges that permit the panel leaf to move laterally so that the door itself becomes a giant bolt for better security result. The selfbolting door principle can be used both for hinged doors as for rotating doors, as well as up-and-over doors (in the latter case, the bolts are then placed at top and bottom rather than at the sides).

French doors are derived from an original French design called the casement door. It is basically a double-leaved door with large glass panels in each door leaf, and in which the doors can swing both out as well as in. French doors traditionally have a moulded panel at the bottom of the door.

Dutch door or stable door; the top half of the door operates independently from the bottom half.

Garden door Similar to a French door; the hinge is next to the adjacent fixed door and the latch is located at the wall opening jamb. Typically only one door is operable. More secure than the French door.

Sliding doors[link]

It is often useful to have doors which slide along tracks, often for space or aesthetic considerations.

A bypass door is a door unit that has two or more sections. The doors can slide in either direction along one axis on parallel overhead tracks, sliding past each other. They are most commonly used in closets, in order to access one side of the closet at a time. The doors in a bypass unit will overlap slightly when viewed from the front, in order not to have a visible gap between them.

Doors which slide between two wall panels are called pocket doors.

Sliding glass doors are common in many houses, particularly as an entrance to the backyard. Such doors are also popular for use for the entrances to commercial structures.

Rotating doors[link]

A revolving door normally has several wings/leaves that hang on a center shaft forming compartments which rotate one way about a vertical axis. Doors using four wings are most common, but there are also examples with two, three, or six wings. The door may be motorized, or pushed manually using pushbars. People can walk out of and into the building at the same time. Between the point of access and the point of exit the user walks through an airlock. Revolving doors therefore create a good seal from the outside and help to reduce A/C and heating costs climate control from the building. This type of door is also often seen as a mark of prestige and glamour for a building and it not unusual for neighbouring buildings to install their own revolving doors when a rival building gets one.^{[citation needed]}

A butterfly door called because of its two "wings". It consists of a double-wide panel with its rotation axle in the centre, effectively creating two separate openings when the door is opened. Butterfly doors are made to rotate open in one direction (usually counterclockwise), and rotate closed in the opposite direction. The door is not equipped with handles, so it is a "push" door. This is for safety, because if it could open in both directions, someone approaching the door might be caught off-guard by someone else opening the other side, thus impacting the first person. Such doors are popular in public transit stations, as it has a large capacity, and when the door is opened, traffic passing in both directions keeps the door open. They are particularly popular in underground subway stations, because they are heavy, and when air currents are created by the movement of trains, the force will be applied to both wings of the door, thus equalizing the force on either side, keeping the door shut.

Others[link]

A up-and-over door mechanism with counterweight

Up-and-over or overhead doors are often used in garages. Instead of hinges it has a mechanism, often counterbalanced or sprung, that allows it to be lifted so that it rests horizontally above the opening. A roller shutter or sectional overhead door is one variant of this type.

A tambour door is an up-and-over door made of narrow horizontal slats and "rolls" up and down by sliding along vertical tracks and is typically found in entertainment centres and cabinets.

Automatically opening doors are powered open and closed either by electricity, spring, or both. There are several methods by which an automatically opening door is activated:

1. A sensor detects traffic is approaching. Sensors for automatic doors are generally:
   • A pressure sensor - e.g., a floor mat which reacts to the pressure of someone standing on it.
   • An infrared curtain or beam which shines invisible light onto sensors; if someone or something blocks the beam the door is triggered open.
   • A motion sensor which uses low-power microwave radar for the same effect.
   • A remote sensor (e.g. based on infrared or radio waves) can be triggered by a portable remote control, or is installed inside a vehicle. These are popular for garage doors.
2. A switch is operated manually, perhaps after security checks. This can be a push button switch or a swipe card.
3. The act of pushing or pulling the door triggers the open and close cycle. These are also known as power-assisted doors.

In addition to activation sensors automatically opening doors are generally fitted with safety sensors. These are usually an infrared curtain or beam, but can be a pressure mat fitted on the swing side of the door. The purpose of the safety sensor is to prevent the door from colliding with an object in its path by stopping or slowing its motion.

Inward opening doors are doors that can only be opened (or forced open) from outside a building. Such doors pose a substantial fire risk to occupants of occupied buildings when they are locked. As such doors can only be forced open from the outside, building occupants would be prevented from escaping. In commercial and retail situations manufacturers have included in the design a mechanism that allows an inward opening door to be pushed open outwards in the event of an emergency (which is often a regulatory requirement). This is known as a 'breakaway' feature. Pushing the door outward at its closed position, through a switch mechanism, disconnects power to the latch and allows the door to swing outward. Upon returning the door to the closed position, power is restored.

Rebated doors, a term chiefly used in Britain, are double doors having a lip (i.e. a Rabbet) on the vertical edge where they meet.

Door construction and components[link]

Parts of a panel and or glazed door

joint between midrail, lockrail and a gunstock stile

A frame and filled door

A hollow door with one face removed

Panel doors[link]

Panel doors, also called stile and rail doors, are built with frame and panel construction:

• Stiles - Vertical boards that run the full height of a door and compose its right and left edges. The hinges are mounted to the fixed side (known as the "hanging stile"), and the handle, lock, bolt, and/or latch are mounted on the swinging side (known as the "latch stile").
• Rails - Horizontal boards at the top, bottom, and optionally in the middle of a door that join the two stiles and split the door into two or more rows of panels. The "top rail" and "bottom rail" are named for their positions. The bottom rail is also known as "kick rail". A middle rail at the height of the bolt is known as the "lock rail", other middle rails are commonly known as "cross rails".
• Mullions - Smaller optional vertical boards that run between two rails, and split the door into two or more columns of panels, the term is used sometimes for verticals in doors, but more often (UK and Australia) it refers to verticals in windows.
• Muntin - Optional vertical members that divide the door into smaller panels.
• Panels - Large, wider boards used to fill the space between the stiles, rails, and mullions. The panels typically fit into grooves in the other pieces, and help to keep the door rigid. Panels may be flat, or in raised panel designs.
• Light or Lite - a piece of glass used in place of a panel, essentially giving the door a window.

Plank and batten doors[link]

Plank and batten doors are an older design consisting primarily of vertical slats:

• Planks - Vertical boards that extend the full height of the door, and are placed side by side filling the door's width.
• Battens - Smaller slats that extend horizontally across the door which the planks are affixed to. The battens hold the planks together. Sometimes a long diagonal slat or two are also implemented to prevent the door from skewing. On some doors, especially antique ones, the battens are replaced with iron bars that are often built into the hinges as extensions of the door-side plates.

Ledged and braced doors[link]

This type consists of vertical tongue and grooved boards held together with battens and diagonal braces.

Impact-resistant doors[link]

Impact-resistant doors have rounded stile edges to dissipate energy and minimize edge chipping, scratching and denting. The formed edges are often made of an engineered material such as Acrovyn. Impact-resistant doors excel in high traffic areas such as hospitals, schools, and hotels.

Frame and filled doors[link]

This type consists of a solid timber frame, filled on one face, face with Tongue and Grooved boards. Quite often used externally with the boards on the weather face.

Flush doors[link]

Many modern doors, including most interior doors, are flush doors:

• Stiles and rails - As above, but usually smaller. They form the outside edges of the door.
• Core material: Material within the door used simply to fill space, provide rigidity and reduce druminess.
  • Hollow-core - Often consists of a lattice or honeycomb made of corrugated cardboard, or thin wooden slats. Can also be built with staggered wooden blocks. Hollow-core flush doors are commonly used as interior doors.
    • Lock block - A solid block of wood mounted within a hollow-core flush door near the bolt to provide a solid and stable location for mounting the door's hardware.
  • Stave-core - Consists of wooden slats stacked upon one another in a manner similar to a plank & batten door (though the slats are usually thinner) or the wooden-block hollow-core (except that the space is entirely filled).
  • Solid-core - Can consist of low-density particle board or foam used to completely fill the space within the door. Solid-core flush doors (especially foam-core ones) are commonly used as exterior doors because they provide more insulation and strength.
• Skin - The front and back faces of the door are then covered with wood veneer, thin plywood, sheet metal, fiberglass, or vinyl. The wooden materials are usually layered with the grain alternating direction between layers to prevent warping. Fiberglass and metal-faced doors are sometimes given a layer of cellulose so that they may be stained to look like real wood.

Moulded doors[link]

• Stiles and rails - As above, but usually smaller. They form the outside edges of the door.
• Core material: Material within the door used simply to fill space, provide rigidity and reduce druminess.
  • Hollow-core - Often consists of a lattice or honeycomb made of corrugated cardboard, or thin wooden slats. Can also be built with staggered wooden blocks. Hollow-core flush doors are commonly used as interior doors.
    • Lock block - A solid block of wood mounted within a hollow-core flush door near the bolt to provide a solid and stable location for mounting the door's hardware.
  • Stave-core - Consists of wooden slats stacked upon one another in a manner similar to a plank & batten door (though the slats are usually thinner) or the wooden-block hollow-core (except that the space is entirely filled).
  • Solid-core - Can consist of low-density particle board or foam used to completely fill the space within the door. Solid-core flush doors (especially foam-core ones) are commonly used as exterior doors because they provide more insulation and strength.
• Skin - The front and back faces of the door are covered with HDF / MDF skins.

Swing direction[link]

Door swing directions diagram.

Door swings For most of the world, door swings, or handing, are determined while standing on the outside or less secure side of the door while facing the door (i.e., standing on the side you use the key on, going from outside to inside, or from public to private).

It is especially important to get the hand and swing right on exterior doors, as the transom is usually sloped and sealed to resist water entry, and to properly drain. In some custom millwork (or with some master carpenters), the manufacture or installer will bevel the leading edge (the first edge to meet the jamb as the door is closing) so that the door fits tight without binding. Specifying an incorrect hand and/or swing will cause the door to bind, not close properly, or leak (for exterior doors). Fixing this specification error will be expensive and/or time consuming. See note below for Australia where a different orientation is used.

In North America, many doors now come with factory-installed hinges, pre-hung on the jamb and sills.

To determine hand, stand on the outside (or less secure) side of the door. While facing the door, if the hinge is on the right side of the door, the door is "Right handed"; or if the hinge is on the left, it is "Left handed".

If the door swings toward you, it is "Reverse swing"; or if the door swings away from you, it is "Normal swing".

In other words:

• Left hand hinge (LHH): Standing outside (or on the less secure side, or on the public side of the door), the hinges are on the left and the door opens in (away from you).
• Right hand hinge (RHH): Standing outside (or on the less secure side), the hinges are on the right and the door opens in (away from you).
• Left hand reverse (LHR): Standing outside the house (or on the less secure side), the hinges are on the left, knob on right, on opening the door it swings towards you (i.e. the door swings open towards the outside, or "outswing")
• Right hand reverse (RHR): Standing outside the house (i.e. on the less secure side), the hinges are on the right, knob on left, opening the door by pulling the door towards you (i.e. open swings to the outside, or "outswing")

Note: In Australia, this is different. The refrigerator rule applies (you can't stand in a fridge, the door always opens towards you) - If the hinges are on the left then its a left hand (or left hung) door. If the hinges are on the right then its a right hand (or right hung) door. See the Australian Standards for Installation of Timber Doorsets, AS 1909-1984 pg 6.

In public buildings, exterior doors should open to the outside in order to comply with any fire codes that may be in force in that jurisdiction. If the door opens inward and there is a fire, there can be a crush of people who run for the door and they will not be able to open it.

Dimensions[link]

This section requires expansion.

The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article and discuss the issue on the talk page. (September 2010)

A standard US residential door size is 36" x 80" (91 x 203 cm), a typical UK door size is 33" x 78" (84 x 198 cm).

Exterior and passage (room to room) doors: Standard door sizes in the US are from 2'-6" to 3'-0" wide, increasing in 2" increments. Most residential interior doors are 2'-6" (0.76 m) wide except when designed to allow wheelchair access, then 3'-0" (0.91). Residential doors are often 6'-8' high, as are many small stores, offices, and other light commercial buildings. Larger commercial, public buildings and grand homes often use doors of greater height. Older buildings often have smaller doors.

Closets: small spaces such as closets, dressing rooms, half-baths, storage rooms, cellars, etc. often are accessed through doors smaller than passage doors in one or both dimensions but similar in design.

Garages: Garage doors are generally 7'-0" or 8'-0" wide for a single-car opening.

A diagram illustrating the components of a panel door

Doorway components[link]

When framed in wood for snug fitting of a door, the doorway consists of two vertical jambs on either side, a lintel or head jamb at the top, and perhaps a threshold at the bottom. When a door has more than one movable section, one of the sections may be called a leaf. See door furniture for a discussion of attachments to doors such as door handles and doorknobs.

• Lintel - A horizontal beam above a door that supports the wall above it. (Also known as a header)
• Jambs - The vertical posts that form the sides of a door frame, where the hinges are mounted, and with which the bolt interacts.
• Sill - A horizontal beam below the door that supports the frame
• Doorstop - a thin slat built inside the frame to prevent a door from swinging through when closed, which might break the hinges.
• Architrave - The decorative molding that outlines a door frame. (called an Archivolt if the door is arched). Called door casing or brickmold in North America.

Related hardware[link]

Door furniture or hardware refers to any of the items that are attached to a door or a drawer to enhance its functionality or appearance. This includes items such as hinges, handles, door stops, etc.

History[link]

An old door (20th Century CE), Kashan, Iran

The earliest records are those represented in the paintings of the Egyptian tombs, in which they are shown as single or double doors, each in a single piece of wood. In Egypt, where the climate is intensely dry, there would be no fear of their warping, but in other countries it would be necessary to frame them, which according to Vitruvius (iv. 6.) was done with stiles (sea/si) and rails (see: Frame and panel): the spaces enclosed being filled with panels (tympana) let into grooves made in the stiles and rails. The stiles were the vertical boards, one of which, tenoned or hinged, is known as the hanging stile, the other as the middle or meeting stile. The horizontal cross pieces are the top rail, bottom rail, and middle or intermediate rails. The most ancient doors were in timber, those made for King Solomon's temple being in olive wood (I Kings vi. 31-35), which were carved and overlaid with gold. The doors dwelt upon in Homer would appear to have been cased in silver or brass. Besides Olive wood, elm, cedar, oak and cypress were used. A 5,000-year-old door has been found by archaeologists in Switzerland.^[2]

Stone door, Hampi, India

All ancient doors were hung by pivots at the top and bottom of the hanging stile which worked in sockets in the lintel and sill, the latter being always in some hard stone such as basalt or granite. Those found at Nippur by Dr. Hilprecht, dating from 2000 B.C. were in dolerite. The tenons of the gates at Balawat were sheathed with bronze (now in the British Museum). These doors or gates were hung in two leaves, each about 8 ft 4 in (2.54 m) wide and 27 ft (8.2 m). high; they were encased with bronze bands or strips, 10 in. high, covered with repouss decoration of figures, etc. The wood doors would seem to have been about 3 in. thick, but the hanging stile was over 14 inches (360 mm) diameter. Other sheathings of various sizes in bronze have been found, which proves this to have been the universal method adopted to protect the wood pivots. In the Hauran in Syria, where timber is scarce the doors were made in stone, and one measuring 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m) by 2 ft 7 in (0.79 m) is in the British Museum; the band on the meeting stile shows that it was one of the leaves of a double door. At Kuffeir near Bostra in Syria, Burckhardt found stone doors, 9 to 10 ft (3.0 m). high, being the entrance doors of the town. In Etruria many stone doors are referred to by Dennis.

Roman folding doors at Pompeii (1st century CE).

The ancient Greek and Roman doors were either single doors, double doors, sliding doors or folding doors, in the last case the leaves were hinged and folded back. In Eumachia, is a painting of a door with three leaves. In the tomb of Theron at Agrigentum there is a single four-panel door carved in stone. In the Blundell collection is a bas-relief of a temple with double doors, each leaf with five panels. Among existing examples, the bronze doors in the church of SS. Cosmas and Damiano, in Rome, are important examples of Roman metal work of the best period; they are in two leaves, each with two panels, and are framed in bronze. Those of the Pantheon are similar in design, with narrow horizontal panels in addition, at the top, bottom and middle. Two other bronze doors of the Roman period are in the Lateran Basilica.

The Greek scholar Heron of Alexandria created the earliest known automatic door in the 1st century CE during the era of Roman Egypt.^[3] The first foot-sensor-activated automatic door was made in China during the reign of Emperor Yang of Sui (r. 604–618), who had one installed for his royal library.^[3] The first automatic gate operators were later created in 1206 by the Arabic inventor, Al-Jazari.^{[4][Need quotation to verify]}

The doors of the church of the Nativity at Bethlehem (6th century) are covered with plates of bronze, cut out in patterns: those of Hagia Sophia at Constantinople, of the 8th and 9th century, are wrought in bronze, and the west doors of the cathedral of Aix-la-Chapelle (9th century), of similar manufacture, were probably brought from Constantinople, as also some of those in St. Marks, Venice.

Ornate door. Roman wall painting in the Villa Boscoreale, Italy (1st century CE).

Of the 11th and 12th centuries there are numerous examples of bronze doors, the earliest being one at Hildesheim, Germany (1015). The Hildesheim design affected the concept of Gniezno door in Poland. Of others in South Italy and Sicily, the following are the finest: in Sant Andrea, Amalfi (1060); Salerno (1099); Canosa (1111); Troia, two doors (1119 and 1124); Ravello (1179), by Barisano of Trani, who also made doors for Trani cathedral; and in Monreale and Pisa cathedrals, by Bonano of Pisa. In all these cases the hanging stile had pivots at the top and bottom. The exact period when the hinge was substituted is not quite known, but the change apparently brought about another method of strengthening and decorating doors, viz, with wrought-iron bands of infinite varieties of design. As a rule three bands from which the ornamental work springs constitute the hinges, which have rings outside the hanging stiles fitting on to vertical tenons run into the masonry or wooden frame. There is an early example of the 12th century in Lincoln; in France the metal work of the doors of Notre Dame at Paris is perhaps the most beautiful in execution, but examples are endless throughout France and England.

Returning to Italy, the most celebrated doors are those of the Battistero di San Giovanni (Florence), which together with the door frames are all in bronze, the borders of the latter being perhaps the most remarkable: the modeling of the figures, birds and foliage of the south doorway, by Andrea Pisano (1330), and of the east doorway by Ghiberti (1425–1452), are of great beauty; in the north door (1402–1424) Ghiberti adopted the same scheme of design for the paneling and figure subjects in them as Andrea Pisano, but in the east door the rectangular panels are all filled, with bas-reliefs, in which Scripture subjects are illustrated with innumerable figures, these being probably the gates of Paradise of which Michelangelo speaks.

The doors of the mosques in Cairo were of two kinds; those which, externally, were cased with sheets of bronze or iron, cut out in decorative patterns, and incised or inlaid, with bosses in relief; and those in wood, which were framed with interlaced designs of the square and diamond, this latter description of work being Coptic in its origin. The doors of the palace at Palermo, which were made by Saracenic workmen for the Normans, are fine examples and in good preservation. A somewhat similar decorative class of door to these latter is found in Verona, where the edges of the stiles and rails are beveled and notched.

In the Renaissance period the Italian doors are quite simple, their architects trusting more to the doorways for effect; but in France and Germany the contrary is the case, the doors being elaborately carved, especially in the Louis XIV and Louis XV periods, and sometimes with architectural features such as columns and entablatures with pediment and niches, the doorway being in plain masonry. While in Italy the tendency was to give scale by increasing the number of panels, in France the contrary seems to have been the rule; and one of the great doors at Fontainebleau, which is in two leaves, is entirely carried out as if consisting of one great panel only.

The earliest Renaissance doors in France are those of the cathedral of St. Sauveur at Aix (1503). In the lower panels there are figures 3 ft (0.91 m). high in Gothic niches, and in the upper panels a double range of niches with figures about 2 ft (0.61 m). high with canopies over them, all carved in cedar. The south door of Beauvais Cathedral is in some respects the finest in France; the upper panels are carved in high relief with figure subjects and canopies over them. The doors of the church at Gisors (1575) are carved with figures in niches subdivided by classic pilasters superimposed. In St. Maclou at Rouen are three magnificently carved doors; those by Jean Goujon have figures in niches on each side, and others in a group of great beauty in the center. The other doors, probably about forty to fifty years later, are enriched with bas-reliefs, landscapes, figures and elaborate interlaced borders.

When it comes to the world's largest door, there is not just one, in fact there are four and they all belong to NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center. The Vehicle Assembly Building was originally built to assembly of Apollo and Saturn vehicles and is now used to support Space Shuttle operations. Each of the four doors are 139 meters or 456 feet high, in comparison the Statue of Liberty is only 93 meters or 305 feet high.

The oldest door in England can be found in Westminster Abbey and dates from 1050.^[5] In England in the 17th century the door panels were raised with bolection or projecting moldings, sometimes richly carved, round them; in the 18th century the moldings worked on the stiles and rails were carved with the egg and tongue ornament.

Door-related accidents[link]

Door safety relates to prevention of door-related accidents. Such accidents take place in various forms, and in a number of locations; ranging from car doors to garage doors.

Contrast door safety with door security.

Severity and frequency of accidents[link]

Accidents vary in severity and frequency. According to the National Safety Council in the United States, 300,000 injuries are caused by doors every year.^[6]

The types of accidents vary from relatively minor cases where doors cause damage to other objects, such as walls, to serious cases resulting in human injury, particularly to fingers. A closing door can exert up to 40 tons per square inch of pressure between the hinges. Because of the number of accidents taking place, there has been a surge in the number of lawsuits. Thus organisations may be at risk when car doors or doors within buildings are unprotected.

According to the US General Services Administration:

"...It is essential that children's fingers be protected from being crushed or otherwise injured in the hinge space of a swinging door or gate. There are simple devices available to attach to the hinge side, ensuring that this type of injury does not occur. As the door closes, the hand is pushed out of the opening, away from harm. In addition, young children are vulnerable to injury when they fall against the other (hinged) side of doors and gates, striking projected hinges. Piano hinges are not recommended to alleviate this problem as they tend to sag over time with heavy use. Instead, an inexpensive device fitting over hinges is available on the market and should be used to ensure safety..."^[7]

Accident types and prevention[link]

Outward and inward opening[link]

Whenever a door is opened outwards there is a risk that it could strike another person. In many cases this can be avoided by architectural design which favors doors which open inwards into rooms (from the perspective of a common area such as a corridor, the door opens outwards). In cases where this is infeasible, it may be possible to avoid an accident by placing windows in the door.^{[8][citation needed]}

However, inward-hinged doors can also escalate an accident by preventing people from escaping the building: people inside the building may press against the doors, and thus prevent the doors from opening. This was partly the case in the Grue Church fire in Norway in 1822.

Today, the exterior doors of most large (especially public) buildings open outward, while interior doors such as doors to individual rooms, offices, suites, etc. open inward, as do many exterior doors of houses, particularly in North America.

Doorstops[link]

Doorstops are simple devices used to prevent a door from coming into contact with another object (typically a wall). Without the door stop damage might be done to the wall. They may either absorb the force of a moving door, or hold the door in place to prevent unintended motion.

Door guards[link]

The purpose of door guards (also known as hinge guards, anti-finger trapping devices, or finger guards) is to reduce the number of finger trapping accidents in doors, as doors pose a risk to children especially when closing.

Door guards protect fingers in door hinges by covering the gap that is created by opening doors by covering the hinges of doors with a piece of rubber or plastic that wraps from the door frame to the door. There are also door safety products which eject the fingers from the push side of the door as it is being closed.

There are various levels of door protection. Front door protection a front anti-finger trapping device but leaves the rear hinge pin side of the door unprotected. Full door protection uses front and rear anti-finger trapping devices and ensures the hinge side of a door is fully protected. Which level of protection is appropriate should be determined by a risk assessment of the door.

There is also handle-side door protection, which prevents the door from slamming shut on the frame, which can cause injury to fingers/hands.

Safety doors[link]

A safety door prevents finger injuries near the hinges without the use of door guards. Rather than cover the danger area, the approach is to change the shape of the door so that an accessible gap does not form in the first place. This is achieved by adding a perfectly circular ("bull-nose" shaped) extension to the door, which moves in and out of a cavity as the door opens and closes. This prevents any part of a hand being crushed near the hinges - either inside or outside.

These doors have an operating range of slightly over 90 degrees, so their use is limited to where they come into contact with a side wall when fully open (or where they can be prevented from opening too far by a doorstop).

Glass doors[link]

Glass doors pose the risk of unintentional collision if a person believes the door to be open when it is closed, or is unaware there is a door at all. This risk may be particularly pronounced with sliding glass doors because they often have large single panes which are hard to see. To prevent injury from glass doors, stickers or other types of warnings are sometimes placed on the glass surface to make it more visible. For instance, in the UK, Regulation 14 of the Workplace (Health and Safety Regulations) 1992 requires the marking of windows and glass doors to make them conspicuous. Australian Standards: AS1288 and AS2208 require glass doors to be made from laminated or toughened glass.

Fire[link]

Special purpose fire doors are often employed in buildings to reduce the overall risk of fire, particularly by preventing the spread of fire and smoke. In cases where they are improperly installed, employed, or tampered with, the risk of fire can be increased. Door closers are sometimes used to ensure fire doors remain closed.

An additional risk in a fire is that doors may prevent access to emergency services personnel in order to fight the fire, rescue occupants, etc. Door breaching techniques may be required in these situations to gain access.

Panic bars are often used in buildings so that a door locked from the exterior can quickly and easily be opened from the inside in the event of a fire or other emergency.

Automobile doors[link]

There may be an increased risk of trapping hands or fingers in car doors compared to other types of doors.^{[citation needed]} In some car accidents, injury to occupants from the movement of car doors may occur.^{[citation needed]}

Bicyclists often fear collision with an opening car door in case the car's occupant does not look carefully to check that it is safe to open the door. Because cyclists often ride near parked cars along the side of the road (see door zone) they are particularly vulnerable to this.

Aircraft doors[link]

Doors which lead from interior, pressurized, sections of an aircraft to exterior or unpressurized areas can pose extreme risk if they are inadvertently opened during flight. A number of accidents have occurred where aircraft doors were opened in flight:

• American Airlines Flight 96 (also see the article on Dan Applegate for some background and details)
• Pan Am Flight 125
• United Airlines Flight 811
• Turkish Airlines Flight 981

This can be mitigated by having a door that opens inwardly and is designed to be forced into its door frame by the internal cabin pressure.

See also[link]

References[link]

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Door.

Look up door in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Doors

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

Ava DuVernay (born August 24) is an American filmmaker, marketer and film distributor. At the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, DuVernay became the first African American woman to win the Best Director Prize for her second feature film Middle of Nowhere.^[1][2][3][4]

Film Marketing[link]

DuVernay formed The DuVernay Agency, later known as DVA Media + Marketing, in 1999. The award-winning marketing and publicity firm has provided strategy and execution for more than 100 film and television projects by directors such as Steven Spielberg, Clint Eastwood, Michael Mann, Robert Rodriguez, Kevin Smith, Bill Condon, Raoul Peck and Gurinder Chadha.

Filmmaking[link]

In 2008, DuVernay made her feature directorial debut with the documentary, This Is the Life. In 2010, she directed several network music documentaries, including "My Mic Sounds Nice" for BET Networks and the Essence Music Festival 2010 for TV One.

In 2011, DuVernay's first narrative feature film, I Will Follow, a drama starring Salli Richardson-Whitfield, was released theatrically. Roger Ebert championed the film, stating, "'I Will Follow' is one of the best films I've seen about coming to terms with the death of loved one."^[5][6]

I Will Follow was an official selection of AFI Fest, Pan-African Film Festival, Urbanworld and Chicago International Film Festival.

In summer of 2011, DuVernay began production on her second feature film, Middle of Nowhere. The film was acquired by AFFRM and Participant Media at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, where it played in U.S. Dramatic Competition and garnered the Best Director Award for DuVernay, the first African-American to ever win the prize.

Film Distribution[link]

On January 7, 2011, an article entitled "Building An Alliance To Aid Films By Blacks" by Michael Cieply was published in the The New York Times about DuVernay's effort to organize African-American film festivals and orchestrate theatrical releases for black independent films. The collective is called the African-American Film Festival Releasing Movement or AFFRM. DuVernay's "I Will Follow" marked the first theatrical release of AFFRM on March 11, 2011. "I Will Follow" grossed a per-screen-average of $11,563, and expanded from five screens in five cities to 22 screens in 15 cities after its first weekend. AFFRM released the 2011 Sundance Audience Award winner "Kinyarwanda," on December 2, 2011.

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Internet Movie Database
• "This is The Life" review by Ernest Hardy in LA WEEKLY
• "This is The Life" review by Justin Chang in VARIETY
• "This is The Life" review by Robert Abele in LOS ANGELES TIMES
• BLACK ENTERPRISE MAGAZINE "Action! New Generation of Black Filmmakers" feature by Marcia Talbert
• LOS ANGELES TIMES "Next in Line" feature by Greg Braxton
• HUFFINGTON POST "My Mic Sounds Nice" review by George Alexander
• NPR "Female Emcees Say 'My Mic Sounds Nice'"
• BILLBOARD Documentary explores state of hip hop for women by Gail Mitchell
• VILLAGE VOICE review of "I Will Follow" by Michelle Orange
• PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER review of "I Will Follow" by Carrie Rickey
• THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER review of "I Will Follow" by Frank Scheck
• NEW YORK TIMES "Building An Alliance To Aid Films By Blacks" by Michael Cieply
• LOS ANGELES TIMES "For Ava DuVernay, making 'I Will Follow' is personal"
• Ava DuVernay Filmmaker Site

Joe Satriani
Satriani live in New York in 2010
Background information
Birth name	Joseph Satriani
Also known as	Satch
Born	(1956-07-15) July 15, 1956 (age 55) Westbury, New York, United States
Genres	Rock, instrumental rock, hard rock, blues, heavy metal
Occupations	Musician, songwriter, producer, guitar instructor
Instruments	Guitar, bass, keyboards, vocals, harmonica, banjo, harp
Years active	1970–present
Labels	Sony, Epic, Relativity
Associated acts	Alice Cooper, Mick Jagger, Deep Purple, Steve Vai, G3, Sammy Hagar, Chickenfoot, Jason Becker, Greg Kihn Band
Website	Official website
Notable instruments
Ibanez Joe Satriani Signature model

Joseph "Joe" Satriani (born July 15, 1956) is an American instrumental rock guitarist of Italian origin, multi-instrumentalist and multiple Grammy Award nominee. Early in his career, Satriani worked as a guitar instructor, and some of his former students have achieved fame such as Steve Vai, Larry LaLonde, Rick Hunolt, Kirk Hammett, Andy Timmons, Charlie Hunter, Kevin Cadogan and Alex Skolnick. Satriani has been a driving force in music credited to other musicians throughout his career, as a founder of the G3 tour, as well as performing in various positions with other musicians.

In 1988, Satriani was recruited by Mick Jagger as lead guitarist for Jagger's first solo tour.^[1] In 1994, Satriani was the lead guitarist for Deep Purple.^[2] Satriani worked with a range of guitarists, including Steve Vai, John Petrucci, Eric Johnson, Larry LaLonde, Yngwie Malmsteen, Brian May, Patrick Rondat, Andy Timmons, Paul Gilbert, Adrian Legg, and Robert Fripp through the annual G3 Jam Concerts.^[3] He is currently the lead guitarist for the supergroup Chickenfoot. Since 1988, Satriani has been using his own signature guitar, the Ibanez JS Series, which is sold in music stores worldwide.

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

Satriani was born in Westbury, New York. He was inspired to play guitar at age 14, after hearing of the death of Jimi Hendrix.^[4] He has been said to have heard the news during a football training session, where he confronted his coach and announced that he was quitting to become a guitarist.^[5] In 1974, Satriani studied music with jazz guitarist Billy Bauer and with reclusive jazz pianist Lennie Tristano. The technically demanding Tristano greatly influenced Satriani's playing. Satriani began teaching guitar, with his most notable student at the time being fellow Long Island native Steve Vai. While he was teaching Vai, he was attending Five Towns College for studies in music.

In 1978, Satriani moved to Berkeley, California to pursue a music career. Soon after arriving in California, he resumed teaching. His students included Steve Vai, Kirk Hammett of Metallica, David Bryson of Counting Crows, Kevin Cadogan from Third Eye Blind, Larry LaLonde of Primus / Possessed, Alex Skolnick of Testament, Rick Hunolt (ex-Exodus), Phil Kettner of Lääz Rockit, Geoff Tyson of T-Ride, Charlie Hunter and David Turin.

Music career[link]

Satriani started playing in a San Francisco-based band called the Squares,^[6] where he continued to network and make musical connections (Squares sound man John Cuniberti co-produced his second album). He was invited to join the Greg Kihn Band, who were on the downside of their career, but whose generosity helped Satriani pay off the overwhelming credit card debt from recording his first album.^[7] When his friend and former student Steve Vai gained fame playing with David Lee Roth in 1986, Vai raved about Satriani in several interviews with guitar magazines, including Guitar World magazine.

In 1987, Satriani's second album Surfing with the Alien produced radio hits and was the first all-instrumental release to chart so highly in many years. In 1988 Satriani helped produce the EP The Eyes of Horror for the death metal band Possessed. In 1989, Satriani released the album Flying in a Blue Dream. It was said to be inspired by the death of his father, who died in 1989 during the recording of the album. "One Big Rush" was featured on the soundtrack to the Cameron Crowe movie Say Anything.... "The Forgotten Part II" was featured on a Labatt Blue commercial in Canada in 1993. "Can't Slow Down" featured in a car-chase sequence in the Don Johnson starring show Nash Bridges.

Joe Satriani also sang backing vocals on the self titled Crowded House album. Satriani was a friend of Michel Froom. Neil Finn of Crowded House confirms this in an interview with FlixelPix photographer David Cleland http://www.flixelpix.com/blog/archive-neil-finn-interview/

In 1992, Satriani released The Extremist, his most critically acclaimed and commercially successful album to date. Radio stations across the country picked up "Summer Song," which got a major boost when Sony used it in a major commercial campaign for their Discman portable CD players.^[8] "Cryin'," "Friends," and the title track were regional hits on radio. In late 1993, Satriani joined Deep Purple as a temporary replacement for departed guitarist Ritchie Blackmore during the band's Japanese tour. The concerts were a success, and Satriani was asked to join the band permanently but he declined, having just signed a multi-album solo deal with Sony, and Steve Morse took the guitarist slot in Deep Purple.^[9]

In 1996, Satriani founded the G3, a concert tour intended to feature a trio of guitarists. The original lineup featured Satriani, Vai and Eric Johnson. The G3 tour has continued periodically since its inaugural version, with Satriani the only permanent member. Other guitarists who have performed in G3 include among others: Yngwie Malmsteen, John Petrucci, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Robert Fripp, Andy Timmons, Uli Jon Roth, Michael Schenker, Adrian Legg, Paul Gilbert, and Steve Lukather. In 1998 Satriani recorded and released Crystal Planet, which went back to a sound reminiscent of his late '80s work. Planet was followed up with Engines of Creation, one of his more experimental works featuring the electronica genre. A pair of shows at the Fillmore in San Francisco were recorded in December 2000 and released as Live in San Francisco, a two-disc live album and DVD.

2000s and future[link]

Satriani playing in Chile, 2003.

Satriani regularly recorded and released evolving music, including Strange Beautiful Music in 2002 and Is There Love in Space? in 2004. In May 2005, Satriani toured India for the first time, playing concerts in Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai. In 2006, Satriani recorded and released Super Colossal and Satriani Live!, another two-disc live album and DVD recorded May 3, 2006 at the Grove in Anaheim, CA. In 2006, Satriani signed on as an official supporter of Little Kids Rock, a non-profit organization that provides free musical instruments and instruction to children in underserved public schools throughout the U.S.A. Satriani has personally delivered instruments to children in the program through a charity raffle for the organization and, like Steve Vai, sits on its board of directors as an honorary member.

On August 7, 2007 Epic/Legacy Recordings re-released Surfing with the Alien to celebrate the 20th anniversary of its release. This was a two-disc set that includes a remastered album and a DVD of a never-before-seen live show filmed at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1988.^[10] Satriani's next album Professor Satchafunkilus and the Musterion of Rock, was released on April 1, 2008.^[11] Satriani released a live DVD recording of a concert in Paris titled Live In Paris: I Just Wanna Rock and a companion 2 CD set on February 2, 2010.^[12] In March 2010 Satriani participated with other guitarists in the Experience Hendrix Tribute Tour, performing music written and inspired by Jimi Hendrix.^[13][14]

Joe Satriani with Stu Hamm in Rijnhal, Arnhem, 2008.

On 29 May 2008 it was revealed that Satriani was involved in a new hard rock band called Chickenfoot with former Van Halen members Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony, and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith. The band features Hagar on vocals, Satriani on guitar, Anthony on bass and Smith on drums.^[15] Their debut album was released on 5 June 2009.^[16] The first single and video released was the track "Oh Yeah," which was played on the Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien on 5 June 2009. Satriani received a co-writing credit on all the songs on the band's debut album.^[17] Broken Records magazine asked Satriani about his new band, and he enthusiastically mentioned that "it was great fun" and it gives him a "kick in the music bone" to be playing with such great talent. He said it felt quite natural to step back and play more rhythm guitar than solo guitar. Chickenfoot's second album was titled III, and was released on 27 September 2011. Its first single was the track 'Bigfoot'. On its first week of release, it reached a chart position of #9.

In April, Satriani and Chickenfoot voiced themselves in an episode of the animated television series Aqua Teen Hunger Force. In May 2010, Satriani announced he was about to enter the studio to record a solo album, and dates were released for an autumn tour. He also said that demos had been recorded for a second Chickenfoot album. In May 2010, Satriani joined Sound Strike, a movement led by Rage Against the Machine singer Zack de la Rocha protesting Arizona SB1070.^[18][19] As a result, Satriani refuses to perform live in Arizona. Satriani released his 13th studio album Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards, on October 5, 2010.^[20]

On December 4, 2008 Satriani filed a copyright infringement suit against Coldplay in the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Satriani's suit claims that the Coldplay song "Viva la Vida" includes "substantial original portions" of the Satriani song "If I Could Fly" from his 2004 album, Is There Love in Space?. The Coldplay song in question received two Grammy Awards for "Song of the Year."^[21] Coldplay denied the allegation.^[22][23][24] An unspecified settlement was reached between the parties.^[25]

Satriani released the DVD/Blu-ray of his 3D concert film Satchurated: Live in Montreal on April 24th 2012 after its limited showing in theaters. The film was shot in December 2010 in Montreal and was directed by award-winning filmmakers François and Pierre Lamoureux. ^[26] Satchurated is the first Blu-ray concert film available in 3D with Dolby TrueHD 7.1.

Other work[link]

Satriani is credited on many other albums, including guitar duties on shock-rocker Alice Cooper's 1991 album Hey Stoopid, Spinal Tap's 1992 album Break Like the Wind, Blue Öyster Cult's 1988 album Imaginos, band members Stu Hamm and Gregg Bissonette's solo albums. He was credited with singing background vocals on the 1986 debut album by Crowded House. In 2003, he played lead guitar on The Yardbirds's release Birdland. In 2006, he made appearances on tracks for Deep Purple vocalist Ian Gillan's solo CD/DVD dual disc Gillan's Inn.

On Dream Theater's 2007 album Systematic Chaos, Satriani contributed spoken lyrics to the song "Repentance." Satriani contributed a guitar solo to Jordan Rudess' 2004 solo release Rhythm of Time. He composed much of the soundtrack for the racing video game NASCAR 06: Total Team Control and contributed to Sega Rally Championship. He has in feature films, including 2006 Christopher Guest film For Your Consideration as the guitarist in the band that played for the late-night show.^[27] Other films include Moneyball in which he appears as himself playing Star Spangled Banner.

Satriani in 2005

Style and influence[link]

Satriani is considered to be a technically proficient guitarist,^[28] and has been referred to as a guitar virtuoso.^[29][30] Satriani has mastered all performance techniques on electric guitar, including legato, two-handed tapping and arpeggio tapping, volume swells, harmonics and extreme whammy bar effects. During fast passages, Satriani favors a legato technique (achieved primarily through hammer-ons and pull-offs) that yields smooth and flowing runs. He is also adept at other speed-related techniques such as rapid alternate picking and sweep picking. Satriani was influenced by blues-rock guitar icons such as Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Ritchie Blackmore and Jeff Beck,^[2][31] as well as jazz fusion guitarist Allan Holdsworth.^[32] Satriani created his own recognizable style and is an influential guitarist.^[33] Satriani has received 15 Grammy nominations^[34] and has sold over 10 million albums worldwide.^[35]

Equipment[link]

Satriani has endorsed Ibanez's JS Series guitars, and Peavey's JSX amplifier. Both lines were designed specifically as signature products for Satriani. The Ibanez JS1 (the original JS model) was based on, and replaced, the Ibanez 540 Radius model that Satriani first endorsed. Many of his guitars are made by Ibanez, including the JS1000, and JS1200. These guitars typically feature the DiMarzio PAF Pro (which he used up until 1993 in both the neck and bridge positions), the DiMarzio Fred (which he used in the bridge position from 1993 to 2005), and the Mo' Joe and the Paf Joe (which he uses in the bridge and neck positions, respectively, from 2005 to present day).

The JS line of guitars is his signature line with the JS1000, JS1200, JS2400, JSBDG, and JS20th using Ibanez's original Edge double locking tremolo bridge. The JS100 and JS120s both use Ibanez's Edge 3 tremolo bridge. The JS1600 is a fixed bridge guitar with no tremolo system. The guitar he was most associated with during the 90s was a chrome-finished guitar nicknamed "Chrome Boy." This instrument can be seen on the Live in San Francisco DVD. However, the guitar used for most of the concert was in fact a lookalike nicknamed "Pearly," which featured Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates pickups.

Satriani uses a number of other JS models such as the JS double neck model, JS700 (primary axe on the self-titled CD and seen on the 1995 tour "Joe Satriani," which features a fixed bridge, P-90 pickups, and a matching mahogany body and neck), JS6/JS6000 (natural body), JS1 (the original JS model), JS2000 (fixed bridge model), a variety of JS100s, JS1000s and JS1200s with custom paint work, and a large amount of prototype JSs. All double locking bridges have been the original Edge tremolo, not the newer models, which point to a more custom guitar than the "off the shelf" models. Joe played a red 7-string JS model, seen in the "G3 Live in Tokyo" DVD from 2005. He also has a prototype 24-fret version of the JS—now called the JS-2400—which he has used with Chickenfoot. As of late he has used other prototypes featuring a Sustainer or a JS model with three single coil-sized humbucker pickups.

Satriani's guitars are usually equipped with his signature DiMarzio humbucker pickups, Mo' Joe and PAF Joe, although his 24-fret JS model features a Pro Track single coil-sized, humbucker pickup in the neck position. Some of his guitars are still equipped with the pickup models he favored in the past, the DiMarzio FRED and PAF Pro pickups. Satriani has used a wide variety of guitar amps, using Marshall for his main amplifier (notably the limited edition blue coloured 6100 LM model) up until 2001, and his Peavey signature series amps, the Peavey JSX, thereafter.

Satriani in New York, 2010.

The JSX began life as a prototype Peavey XXX and developed into the Joe Satriani signature Peavey model. However he still used distortion pedals with the clean channel rather than the built in od channels. Satriani has used other amplifiers over the years in the studio, such as the Peavey 5150 (used to record the song 'Crystal Planet'), Cornford, and the Mesa/Boogie Mark IIC+ (used to record the song 'Flying in a Blue Dream'), amongst others. He has recently switched to the Marshall JVM series, having used a modified JVM 410H in his Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards tour in 2010 and with Chickenfoot in 2010 and 2011.

These modified JVM Marshall amps were prototypes for a signature amp which was scheduled for release in 2011. The reverb has been replaced by noise gates which cancel any lag when switching channels. The clean channel has been replaced by the clean channel of a 6100 LM model which he likes as an option to use distortion pedals with. The orange od channel and the modern red od channel have been better matched with each other as he still claims to prefer the organic od channels of the JVM amp rather than pedals. The red od channel has been modified to be based more on beefy rock than a nu-metal sound. The fx-loop has been simplified to be serial only.

His effects pedals include the Vox wah, Dunlop Cry Baby wah, RMC Wizard Wah, DigiTech Whammy, BK Butler Tube Driver, BOSS DS-1, BOSS CH-1, BOSS CE-2, BOSS DD-2 and a standard BOSS DD-3 (used together to emulate reverb effects), BOSS BF-3, BOSS OC-2, Barber Burn Drive Unit, Fulltone Deja Vibe, Fulltone Ultimate Octave, and Electro-Harmonix POG (Polyphonic Octave Generator), the latter being featured prominently on the title cut to his 2006 Super Colossal. Satriani has partnered with Planet Waves to create a signature line of guitar picks and guitar straps featuring his sketch art.

Although Satriani endorses the JSX, he has used many amps in the studio when recording, including the Peavey Classic. He used Marshall heads and cabinets, including live, prior to his Peavey endorsement. Recently Satriani used the JSX head through a Palmer Speaker Simulator. He has released a Class-A 5-watt tube amp called the "Mini Colossal." Satriani has been using a Marshall JVM410 head in live gigs since 2009.^[36][37] He is currently working with Vox on his own line of signature effects pedals designed to deliver Satriani's trademark tone plus a wide range of new sounds for guitarists of all playing styles and ability levels. The first being a signature distortion pedal titled the "Satchurator," and the "Time Machine," which will be a delay pedal, with more to follow, including a wah pedal called the "Big Bad Wah."^[38] On March 3, 2010 a new pedal was announced on Satriani's website regarding the new Vox overdrive pedal called "Ice 9."^[39]

Recurring themes[link]

Satriani during a concert in Rijnhal, Arnhem, 2008.

Satriani's work frequently makes references to various science fiction stories and ideas. "Surfing with the Alien," "Back to Shalla-Bal," and "The Power Cosmic 2000" refer to the comic book character Silver Surfer, while "Ice 9" refers to the secret government ice weapon in Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle. "Borg Sex" is a reference to Star Trek, which features a homogeneous cybernetic race known as the Borg. His albums and songs often have other-worldly titles, such as Not of this Earth, Crystal Planet, Is There Love in Space?, and Engines of Creation.

On the album Super Colossal, the song titled "Crowd Chant" was originally called "Party on the Enterprise." "Party on the Enterprise" featured sampled sounds from the Starship Enterprise from the Star Trek TV show. But as Satriani explained in a podcast, legal issues regarding the samples could not be resolved and he was unable to get permission to use them.^[40] Satriani then removed the sounds from the song and called it "Crowd Chant." The song is used as goal celebration music for a number of National Hockey League teams and MLS teams including the Minnesota Wild and New England Revolution.^[41] The song is also used in the EA Sports hockey video game NHL 10.

"Redshift Riders," another song on the Super Colossal album, is "based on the idea that in the future, when people can travel throughout space, they will theoretically take advantage of the cosmological redshift effect so they can be swung around large planetary objects and get across [the] universe a lot faster than normal," Satriani said in a podcast about the song.^[42] On the album Professor Satchafunkilus and the Musterion of Rock the song "I Just Wanna Rock," is about a giant robot on the run who happens to stumble upon a rock concert.^[43]

Awards and nominations[link]

Nominations[link]

Satriani has the second most Grammy Award nominations (15, after Brian McKnight), of any artist without winning. See further artists^[44][45]

Discography[link]

• Not of This Earth (1986)
• Surfing with the Alien (1987)
• Flying in a Blue Dream (1989)
• The Extremist (1992)
• Time Machine (1993)
• Joe Satriani (1995)
• Crystal Planet (1998)
• Engines of Creation (2000)
• Strange Beautiful Music (2002)
• Is There Love in Space? (2004)
• Super Colossal (2006)
• Professor Satchafunkilus and the Musterion of Rock (2008)
• Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards (2010)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Joe Satriani

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Joe Satriani

• Official website
• Real "Guitar Hero" Joe Satriani turns Teacher at WorkshopLive.com
• Audio Interview with Joe Satriani on Guitar Jam Daily, June 2007
• Part 2 of Audio Interview with Joe Satriani on Guitar Jam Daily, July 2007
• Joe Satriani 2006 Modern Guitars Magazine Interview with Brian D. Holland
• MusiciansFriend Interview with Joe Satriani
• Joe Satriani live pictures
• Early Joe Satriani Photo
• Joe Satriani guitar video workshop
• Joe Satriani Artist Page at Guitar Video Channel