by Grant Crawford

Performing live music, regardless of style, more often than not, can bring “orchestration” challenges. This gets very challenging in a 3 piece ensemble. Look at the guitars in my “live performance” rig. GK2 synth pickups driving,in this case, a Roland GR 30 guitar synth. Folks, these units don’t sound as good as “the real thing, be it i.e, say a flute or an organ, but….here’s the good news. It gives the dimension of full orchestration.

I do a lot of gigs where horn ensembles will “make it happen”. So if I’m doing Motown and I add the horn blast, watch the dance floor fill up. I get many compliments and I’ve never been criticized. I’ll never regret the move toward synth reinforcement. Plus, I get a lot more work!!

P.S. the photo was taken in my basement, and yes the Christmas decorations are part of my rig. We can talk about angels, stars and ornaments. You know stuff, in our next blog. Cheers!