Pat Metheny

As one who's embraced musical technology for over three decades, guitarist Pat Metheny has put a completely new spin on an old idea with his latest album, Orchestrion. With some help from inventors, Metheny took the player-piano concept to a whole other level by using devices like pianos, drum kit,...

By Jon Solomon

April 29, 2010

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As one who's embraced musical technology for over three decades, guitarist Pat Metheny has put a completely new spin on an old idea with his latest album, Orchestrion. With some help from inventors, Metheny took the player-piano concept to a whole other level by using devices like pianos, drum kit, guitar-bots and tuned bottles all "played" and powered by solenoid switches and pneumatics. With Metheny controlling it all via computer software, it's an entirely fresh take on the concept of a "solo" record, as well as performance. We spoke with Metheny about the Orchestrion project and album; read the interview on the Backbeat blog before catching him at the Paramount this week.

Jon Solomon writes about music and nightlife for Westword, where he's been the Clubs Editor since 2006.

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