This month's Electronic Musician magazine features an amazing cover story about the legendary Pat Metheny and his latest endeavour, which involves a studio album and live tour where he is the only "human" musician - and he is accompanied by a vast array of robotic instruments that he triggers remotely while playing guitar. His unconventional - and truly
revolutionary "band" - consists of multiple types of drums, glass bottles, digital pianos, four one-stringed guitar necks (he calls it the "Guitar Bot") and many other unusual sound makers. In addition, Metheny uses a range of software solutions when performing with this mechanical orchestra - from Abelton Live, Motu Digital Performer, and Avid Sibelius.
The article not only covers Metheny's vision behind the project, but also profiles the pioneering mastermind behind most of the robotic instruments - Eric Singer - who is also behind "LEMUR" (the League of Electronic Musical Urban Robots) which builds robotic musical instruments for many situations.
As a longstanding Metheny fan and admirer, he never ceases to amaze with his groundbreaking drive to try entirely unconventional methods for making wonderful music. If you're a fan, give the article a read - and if you're not a fan of his but just a general music lover, I'd encourage you to check it out as well. It's quite an incredible story.
Also, check out amazing videos of Metheny and his "band" as well as listen to a podcast at: www.emusician.com/bonus_material
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Posts
