Pat's Guitar Equipment
Jeff Krob
I'd like a little info if anybody knows. I'm interested in the
electric/synth guitars that Pat plays. I think his hollow-bodies are Ibenez
but what about his synth equipment. He seems to have at least three diffrent
types; the one he plays on "Last Train Home" which sounds like a sitar, the one
he plays on "Are You Going With Me" which sounds like a horn, and the one on
"Half Life of Absolution" which has all the lights and buttons on it. I'm also
curious about the equipment all these guitars plug into.
Anyone know of any info?
Thanks in advance from a Big Methany fan.
Jeff Krob
jk...@mail.dmv.com
PS. I was suprised to find out a movie from back in 1984 with Kevin Costner and
Judd Nelson called "Fandango" (comedy) has three Pat Methany Group songs in it.
I always liked that movie even before I had heard of Pat and several months
ago, I saw the movie/video for sale, bought it, was playing it and tward the
end, the music was sounding strangely familliar. I was blown away! Now I know
why I liked the movie so much...it was the music!
Toby Hart Dyke
>but what about his synth equipment. He seems to have at least three diffrent
>types; the one he plays on "Last Train Home" which sounds like a sitar, the one
That's a Coral electric sitar. I don't know much about it, but I don't
think it's a synth at all. On the other hand, I don't have a clue how
that sitar "twang" gets into the sound!
>he plays on "Are You Going With Me" which sounds like a horn, and the one on
That's a Roalnd GR-300 guitar synth (which dates from the late 70's).
The guitar is a regular guitar (and Pat sometimes plays it as one). It
also has a hexaphonic pickup, which takes the output of each string,
then routes that to a separate blue floor-mounted box.
Take a close look at the guitar - you'll notice that the guitar lead
is connected usig a large plug rather than a standard jack.
The six separate string outputs are then routed to a pitch-detection
circuitry, and then a separate synth section.
Pitch-detection has a number of drawbacks. To detect a pitch from a
waveform, you have to wait until you've seen enough of the wave.
therefore, there's a delay between picking a note on the guitar, and
machine being able to process it and out put a tone. There's also a
longer delay on notes of a lower pitch (lower frequency).
Another "drawback" is that a plucked string does not just produce a
steady frequency. There is a plucked percussive sound right at the
beginning of the note. The pitch-detection circuitry dies here,
because the harmmonic content is very complex.
Listen closely to "Are You Going With Me?" and you'll hear a
percussive element to the notes. That's a short-coming of the
technology, but Pat uses it brilliantly as part of the sound! It's
comparable to a Hammond organ - Hammond spent years trying to get rid
of keyclick. When they managed to do it, people complained, so they
had to put it back artificially!
>"Half Life of Absolution" which has all the lights and buttons on it. I'm also
>curious about the equipment all these guitars plug into.
This is a modified GR-300, with a Synclavier controller "strapped on".
There is no difference to the guitar, and the Synclavier controller is
a completely separate unit. I think that one cable carries both sets
of signals though - it's just a convenience.
>Thanks in advance from a Big Methany fan.
You're welcome, though I prefer Metheny... :-)
Toby
--
Toby Hart Dyke
to...@starless.demon.co.uk
th...@cix.compulink.co.uk
sya...@ibm.net
>jk...@mail.dmv.com (Jeff Krob) wrote:
>
>>he plays on "Are You Going With Me" which sounds like a horn, and the one on
>
>That's a Roalnd GR-300 guitar synth (which dates from the late 70's).
>The guitar is a regular guitar (and Pat sometimes plays it as one). It
>also has a hexaphonic pickup, which takes the output of each string,
>then routes that to a separate blue floor-mounted box.
>
Did you know that on Roland JV-1080 there is a patch called
"Pat's GR-300" and it sounds exactly the same as the original?
Selman Yarar
sya...@ibm.net
yar...@doruk.com.tr
TIAC CUSTOMER
>>The guitar is a regular guitar (and Pat sometimes plays it as one). It
>>also has a hexaphonic pickup, which takes the output of each string,
>>then routes that to a separate blue floor-mounted box.
>>
used very cheap often without the Roland guitar like Metheny has.
Roland made a synth pickup called a GK-1 that works great with the
GR-300, probably not made anymore but you could also find one used for
under $100. This is a great way to get into guitar synthesis for under
$300 or so.
Kyle Harris
>
>Hi All,
>
> I'd like a little info if anybody knows. I'm interested in the
>electric/synth guitars that Pat plays. I think his hollow-bodies are
Ibenez
diffrent
>types; the one he plays on "Last Train Home" which sounds like a
sitar, the one
one on
I'm also
>curious about the equipment all these guitars plug into.
>
>
>
>jk...@mail.dmv.com
>
>PS. I was suprised to find out a movie from back in 1984 with Kevin
Costner and
>Judd Nelson called "Fandango" (comedy) has three Pat Methany Group
songs in it.
>I always liked that movie even before I had heard of Pat and several
months
>ago, I saw the movie/video for sale, bought it, was playing it and
tward the
>end, the music was sounding strangely familliar. I was blown away!
Now I know
>why I liked the movie so much...it was the music!
>
This is not all in front of me in hard cold fact form, but here's what
I've been told over the years.
Pat's synth guitars are Roland GR-300 electronics placed in custom
crafted guitars (I've heard his tech Carolyn Chrzan builds them) that
are similar to the Ibanez Artist (solidbody version).
He used to used Synclavier sounds for his synth material, and still
does on recordings, but I believe the sounds are from samplers live.
For further examples of synclavier abilities, check out "Jazz from
Hell" by Frank Zappa (it's ENTIRELY synclavier) and/or anything by Art
of Noise (same).
A sitar creates its buzzing sounds, traditionally, by a combination of
sympathetic string vibration and the strings lightly touching a metal
plate of some kind (hence the metalic sound). I've heard that Pat
has/does use a Coral sitar, but I think the live stuff is done sampled
by the Roland equiped guitars.
Lastly, the guitar with "all the lights" and stuff looks to be like the
other midi (synth) guitars, but with a real time parameter control
panel attached so Pat can make subtle changes in his sound depending on
his mood,the venue, etc... He also has two cords coming out of these
guitars, one midi for the synth sound and one standard guitar patch,
and he can pan between or mix the sounds together depending on the
texture he wants to achieve.
That's it...if I'm wrong...sue me! :)
-Kyle