Editing Michael Hedges (section)

==Recordings==
Hedges' first two albums for Windham Hill were ''[[Breakfast in the Field]]'' and ''[[Aerial Boundaries]]''.<ref name="Larkin"/> He wrote nearly exclusively in [[alternate tunings]]. His early recordings and most of the ''Breakfast in the Field'' album were recorded on the Ken DuBourg guitar and his Martin D-28, named "Barbara". Some of the techniques he used include slap harmonics (created by slapping the strings over a [[Node (physics)|harmonic node]]), use of right hand hammer-ons (particularly on bass notes), use of the left hand for melodic or rhythmic [[hammer-on]]s and [[pull off]]s, percussive, syncopated slapping on the guitar body, as well as unusual strumming. He made extensive use of string damping as employed in classical guitar, and was known to insist strongly on the precise duration of sounds and silences in his pieces. He played guitar variants like the [[harp guitar]] (an instrument with additional bass strings), and the [[TransTrem]] guitar.<ref name="Larkin"/> He was a multi-instrumentalist who played piano, percussion, tin whistle, harmonica, and flute. Virtuoso bassist [[Michael Manring]] contributed to nearly all of Hedges' records.

Frustrated that his published work reflected only the instrumental side of his creative output, Hedges convinced Windham Hill to release ''[[Watching My Life Go By]]'', a 1985 studio recording of his vocal originals written over a span of five years—songs often performed at his concerts leading up to the album's release.<ref name="Larkin"/> His fourth album, a live recording called ''[[Live on the Double Planet]]'', was assembled from 40 of his live concerts from 1986 to 1987.<ref name="Larkin"/>

His musical education was largely in modern 20th-century composition. He listened to [[Martin Carthy]], [[John Martyn (singer)|John Martyn]], and [[the Beatles]], but his approach to composition owed much to [[Igor Stravinsky]], [[Edgard Varèse]], [[Anton Webern]], and [[Steve Reich]], in addition to experimental composers such as [[Morton Feldman]]. He saw himself as a composer who played guitar, rather than a guitarist who composed music.<ref name="Larkin"/> He was often categorized as a [[new-age music]]ian because of his association with Windham Hill.<ref name="Larkin"/>

Hedges toured briefly with [[Leo Kottke]]. These shows included solo performances by Kottke and Hedges and, as a finale, a number of duets including performances of Kottke's "Doodles" with Hedges playing a high-strung [[parlor guitar]].

Hedges' ''Aerial Boundaries'' album, released in 1984, included a tribute piece to the works of acoustic guitarist [[Pierre Bensusan]], simply entitled "Bensusan". Bensusan posthumously returned tribute on his 2001 release ''Intuite'' ("Favored Nations"), with a composition entitled "So Long Michael".