Lee's Summit Native Pat Metheny in Kansas City (Rhythm & Ribs2007)

I was at this show. It was even more awesomer than it sounds here. This tune supports the theory that Metheny at heart is more than a little into 1970's progressive rock. Hearing him blow over a simple groove makes me wish he would get with some project akin to Roy Hargrove's HR Factor.



BTW about the GR300: most guitar players are tragically unaware that you can do all of this modular synth stuff with software now. The great thing is that it works pretty much exactly like the old stuff did - simple stages that do a single thing according to a few easy-to-understand variables. Where each stage used to be housed in a physical enclosure or a square of panel-mounted components with a dark line drawn around them on the interface side, now with software each stage is just a drag-and-drop widget.

There are lots of platforms with which you can roll your own, like Reaktor and SynthEdit; or you can use one of the innumerable premade synths that have all the components arranged already, such as Tripp Lead and Guitar Controlled Bass Synth from FrettedSynth. Basically any modular synth software that lets you assign control voltage can be controlled with the signal that comes out on that 1/4" cable on a normal guitar.

Now if you are truly a lazy, luddite guitar player, you can do what you always do to solve a musical problem: buy a pedal. Electro-Harmonix, the undisputed kings of making terrific stuff for blue collar musicians, offers all kinds of boxes that do synthesis. Micro Synth is one. POG is also unbelievably cool. Digitech also includes synth capabilities in a lot of products, from standalone synth pedals to very inexpensive multi-effects DSP units. There are other companies that make specialized little modular synths for guitar pedalboards, but the prices get into boutique territory.

Check it out, you lazy guitar players; it will only take away a few minutes from your busy schedule of practicing the same old crappy pentatonic riffs that everyone else plays.