Question for Scott.

[Lord Exor]

Why is it that the Faulconer Productions soundtrack had a propensity for employing synth guitar in tandem with the real thing? The title theme is a perfect example; they start off the track with a live guitarist, and then transition to the melody--played by a synth. Was that a stylistic choice? Personally I find the synth guitar has a rather interesting timbre, though many find it grating.

[cRookie_Monster]

Mostly it was a resources thing. They didn't want to hire a guitar player for everything. Before I got there, there was zero real guitar. Of the four composers, I'm the only one that plays. When I started bringing my guitar in we got a lot more real guitar music...but I wasn't used for everything. It's easy to write something for a synth and then get attached to that sound. This is what happened with the main theme I think. I understand Bruce actually had Bud play the low guitar part as well, but wasn't happy with the sound. He was so used to the synth. Remember the main opening theme wasn't used until a good while after Funi started using Faulconer music. The "Goku Theme" had already been around for a while. The version used for the opening was a special version done later. The opening theme's leads and the rhythm guitars for this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-WFjpRCSlc (which should be called "Gohan fights Spice Boys" if you want to reference it's first usage ^^) are the first uses of real guitar in the Faulconer score. After that I started bringing my axe to work fairly regularly. Mike used me for a bunch of pieces(Gohan Fights Frieza, Heroic Trunks, Wrestling Rock, King Cold, Makyo Star, Frieza's Death, Maron Leaves, etc) but then somewhere along the line started sticking to synths because it was faster and he could hear the results immediately. Of course anything I did had real guitar (like Destruction, Imperfect Cell Theme, Droids vs Bikers, Dead Zone, etc) Then I left the studio(Heaven's Tournament)...so they had no guitarist at all. That last week I did Pikkon's theme (no guitar) and the two Grand Kai themes, which of course are dominated by real guitar. Oh and yeah by that point I was going after and claiming the tracks that needed lots of guitar so I had control. It just made sense. That's why I ended up doing Destruction, Droids vs Bikers, and the Grand Kai themes(metal, metal, and blues/ZZTop sound)

There was a brief period where I wasn't bringing my guitar in yet but was doing recording work, so I used synths, like the Garlic Jr theme, Demon Mist, um and the ending of "Frieza Base" ^^

[Lord Exor]

What do you think of the end result? Do you think the usage of both sounds adds flavor to the music, or would you have preferred real guitar for everything?

[cRookie_Monster]

What do you think of the end result? Do you think the usage of both sounds adds flavor to the music, or would you have preferred real guitar for everything?

Good question... Sometimes I find myself liking a mix of the two. Not necessarily sequentially but simultaneously. I think in cases where the synth was used, and kept because it was written for synth, not real guitar; I think in those cases it probably would've been better to have written for real guitar in the first place.

The synth guitar has a cool harsh sound sometimes though, it's own character. Probably because the "synth" is actually samples of a real guitar (other than mine). If it's used in a slow manner it can be pretty cool. The Dragon theme is a good example, but listening to it...I hafta say it would probably would sound better with real guitar.

I've used the synth guitar occasionally in my "post Faulconer" Z Music tracks, but mainly just to prove a point. And I usually put real guitar in as well, either sequentially, or simultaneously.
http://youtu.be/e_sXOquzxps?t=5m22s (later I come in with a real 7 string guitar)
http://youtu.be/s7USx1hv8LM?t=31s <--- this piece was really just me going "OH THAT'S WHAT THEY USED FOR THE SSJ3 LEAD SOUND!!" I had already left the studio when that track was recorded (by Julius btw). I had this random beat\bassline, with no specific goal and decided to throw the SSJ3 lead sound in just to give the fans something to cling onto nostalgia wise. Later someone said it sounded like Vegeta SSJ3 so I went with it ^^ Notice the harmony guitar is real.

Also, I think one of the most popular moments on my Z Music album is this synth\real guitar duet at the end of "Third Power"
http://youtu.be/s7USx1hv8LM?t=4m
After all that synth, the track ends with real guitar by itself on the melody for the first time(and ridiculous amounts of delay\verb lol )

Funny because in my late days in the Faulconer studio I wouldn't have even considered guitar synth after feeling free to use real guitar. But with my Z music push 7-8 years later I was more trying to recall the past than improve the sound we were making in the studio. Weird change of mind set ^^


EDIT: Looking at your icon I remember this guy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxPio2dPX10
which is kindof a synthish guitar? I guess? I dunno. By that point I was using real guitar a lot...but that particular synth sound...it has it's own deliberate character beyond a guitar I think. I don't think whoever created that particular patch meant it to be realistic at all. It just seemed to fit Gero for me, I didn't even think about using real guitar there. The sound was so distinctive. It's obviously a relative of the SSJ3 patch though ^^...or...lol...maybe it was the same one...memory foggy...

[Lord Exor]

That particular patch always reminded me of processed guitar harmonics.