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SUBJECT:	Pat Metheny’s Tone Back to Subjects
silhouette Oct 24 2019 at 6:40 AM	I have been a lover of PM’s music since I first heard him with the Gary Burton group back in the 70’s when I first heard the Gary Burton album with Eberhard Weber Ring. I think that I have bought every album that he has released. However, the Unity Group has forced me to consider that PM’s tone has become a little too dark and resonant. The has made the Unity Group quite difficult listening for me, at least when the guitar is soloing. I wonder if I am alone in thinking this. Don’t get me wrong the playing on the Unity Band albums is as good as ever.
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tilbanup Feb 25 2020 at 7:49 PM	I have been listening to Pat’s music from the early eighties to now and have enjoyed all the guitar tones from his hollow body guitars. I have an Ibanez arch top with the same pick ups as his Ibanez signature guitar. I play it through a Roland eband JS 8 (audio player)with head phones. I use the pre setting, Contemporary Jazz and sound just like Pat’s tone, (I too wish I could play like him). As for different tones over his long career I just wish I could get that tone/sound from the Travels album as in Goin’ Ahead, Goodbye etc., also the outro of It’s for You without spending a fortune. Although on my JS8 gadget I can get very close to a David Boswell tone who sounds very Methenyesque
silhouette Nov 23 2019 at 7:26 AM	I have the PM 100 and you are right that rolling off the tome does make the sound darker. However I have been really enjoying the new video for America Undefined and am really looking forward to this release. I am wondering if my impressions of Pat’s tone was informed by the contrast to Chris Potter’s sax tonality. As I have said I am a great Metheny fan and this new track is great.
naut Nov 07 2019 at 7:39 AM	frank, synesthesia is the term you might be looking for, and its sub-category chromesthesia. Joni uses it a lot, poet/musician/painter/genius that she is. Since she doesn’t read music, she’ll say to session players: "Throw a little yellow in there. More red, more red!" and various permutations. I’ve read that Van Gogh was "likely a synesthete" as well.
harn Nov 05 2019 at 5:30 PM	To me it just sounds more natural these days, less sound processing involved. I own an Ibanez PM2 and if you roll the tone pot down to virtually zero, no effects, just straight into an amp (Roland JC-40) with flat settings, it sounds like Pat!! A pity I can’t play like him!!
sunship Nov 05 2019 at 1:19 PM	Well, I think on some tracks, what you hear is some distortion. And when I saw Unity Group live, the distortion was greater than the album. Couple that with him using the Roland often, and he definitely has changed much from the warm crystal like "Letter From Home" days. I haven’t heard the quartet, so I am curious as to what the Salaman sounds like. His older Gibson recordings had more presence that the shift to Ibanez. You heard more of the wood of the guitar, which I like better personally.
franksexton Nov 05 2019 at 10:21 AM	Unity Band is one of my favorite Pat incarnations. Maybe because I am a big Chris Potter fan also. I think Pat played in sync with Chris a lot as both of them play a number of different instruments. What does the term darker refer to anyway? how does one relate color to sound?
tafkasrp Nov 04 2019 at 9:43 PM	I’ve got a friend who’s a guitar nut, total Pat fan, and owns all the albums and has attended probably 50 shows over the years (many with me). He has commented to me that Pat’s tone has gotten darker. He never said anything about resonance, nor the quality of the sound - just that it’s nature has evolved. He knows what he’s talking about (even if I don’t) and so I take it to be the truth (that will always be)!
franksexton Oct 28 2019 at 11:28 AM	not with you here at all
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