Anybody messing around with synth guitar?

Anybody messing around with synth guitar?

I've had a love-hate relationship with guitar synths... I've bought
and sold 5 or 6 Roland devices, only to buy a GR20 for like the third
time.

A fella I respect on another newsgroup summed up my hate relationship
with guitar synths pretty good when he said something like - by the
end of the week, you have a little snippet/loop that sounds pretty
good, but that's it.

You can spend alot of time with these things and not get much out of
it because you realize you not only have to be adept at guitar, but at
sax, bass, organ, etc to really sound good and I'm just not adept at
those instruments.

That said, my love relationship with guitar synths is that they make
you rethink how you approach the guitar and how to phrase solos and
rhythm. For example, I wrote this little tune and don't think I used
the guitar sound at all. I did use the synth for bass, organ, some
percussion, strings, and sax: * members.cox . net /bandsite/sounds/thebestoftimes.mp3

Anybody trying these things out or has doen some impressive stuff with
them? I'd love to hear it.

Greg

Re: Anybody messing around with synth guitar?

On Sat, 19 Apr 2008 04:41:14 -0700 (PDT), oasysco
<wilderkommen@yahoo . com > wrote:

>I've had a love-hate relationship with guitar synths... I've bought
>and sold 5 or 6 Roland devices, only to buy a GR20 for like the third
>time.
>
>A fella I respect on another newsgroup summed up my hate relationship
>with guitar synths pretty good when he said something like - by the
>end of the week, you have a little snippet/loop that sounds pretty
>good, but that's it.
>
>You can spend alot of time with these things and not get much out of
>it because you realize you not only have to be adept at guitar, but at
>sax, bass, organ, etc to really sound good and I'm just not adept at
>those instruments.
>
>That said, my love relationship with guitar synths is that they make
>you rethink how you approach the guitar and how to phrase solos and
>rhythm. For example, I wrote this little tune and don't think I used
>the guitar sound at all. I did use the synth for bass, organ, some
>percussion, strings, and sax: * members.cox . net /bandsite/sounds/thebestoftimes.mp3
>
>Anybody trying these things out or has doen some impressive stuff with
>them? I'd love to hear it.
>
>Greg


I Use computer synthesisers, to create backing tracks
mostly bass and drums , some rhythms.
Then add in live guitar parts.

As you say it can takes a lot of effort to get the sound and timing
down , So I use the synths for the repetetive beats.

It is much easier to then record the guitar track over the
synthesised
All the bends, and sounds from the guitar, generally most synths
don't do real well.

Your music was really clean, well put together, and the sax sounded
real.
An excellent piece of music.
Pholtron
(Go-Bot)
<--====-->

All learning -
begins in darknesssssss,
and ends, in the lighttttt.

Re: Anybody messing around with synth guitar?

We talked about sythns on some thread recently.

I mentioned that one of the guys with whom I have studied with for
several years is in a few bands, and one in particular there is
already another guitarist.

So he spends part of the time covering horns, steel drums, etc with a
Roland synth pup on his PRS.

I have messed with one some, and the only thing I don't like about'em
is they alter your technique. Other than that, pretty cool stuff.

I have another buddy who plays a Guild acoustic with a Roland synth
pup on it. He is in a trio with drums and a guitarist/violin.

He assigns the low E and A strings to a bass sound so he can cover
bass stuff in the trio. Sounds pretty cool.

Kinda like what Michael Hedges was going for by replacing the E & A on
his Martin D 28 with bass strings.

Re: Anybody messing around with synth guitar?

Derek wrote:
> ...one of the guys with whom I have studied with for
> several years is in a few bands, and one in particular there is
> already another guitarist.
>
> So he spends part of the time covering horns, steel drums, etc with a
> Roland synth pup on his PRS.
>
> I have messed with one some, and the only thing I don't like about'em
> is they alter your technique. Other than that, pretty cool stuff.

I play my Godin synth guitar through an Axon
controller in live casual gigs, like your friend.
As you suggest, it's fabulous to play the steel
drum and other parts.

As for altering technique, I rather welcome that.
It forces you to think, not like a guitarist, but
like a steel drum or trumpet or whatever player.

Most common complaint I hear from guitarists -
"All my solos sound alike". The synth forces you
to use a technique that makes it "not sound alike".


Lumpy

In Your Ears for 40 Years
w w w .LumpyMusic . com

Re: Anybody messing around with synth guitar?

Lumpy wrote:

> As for altering technique, I rather welcome that.
> It forces you to think, not like a guitarist, but
> like a steel drum or trumpet or whatever player.
>
> Most common complaint I hear from guitarists -
> "All my solos sound alike". The synth forces you
> to use a technique that makes it "not sound alike".

Great point. I hear so many jazz guys saying they want to sound like
a horn player, or piano.

Nothing like messing with your ability to play legato as easy to get
you out of that endless 8th notes thing.

Of course, not just jazz guys are guilty of this sort of thing. It is
probably easier to think like a horn player when the sound coming out
is an alto sax.