by J. Arif Verner

Without question, Al DiMeola has dazzled many guitar aficionados with his lightning-fast precision technique. Since 1976 he has won 15 awards from Guitar Player Reader's Poll - more awards than anyone else in the magazine's 20-year history. Al was also the youngest player to be inducted into the magazine's prestigious Gallery of Greats. Whether he is playing electric or acoustic guitar, Al is not afraid to use technology to expand the direction of his music.

The 19 year-old DiMeola made an auspicious debut with the jazz-rock fusion of Return to Forever. This classic band with Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke and Lenny White recorded Where Have I Known You Before in 1974. The following year No Mystery received a Grammy award followed by the 1976 RLAA-certified gold Romantic Warrior album. With this impetus, Al launched his solo career with land of the Midnight Sun. The power and fury of his Les Paul guitar through a stack of Marshall amps became his trademark as epitomized in his 1977 release Elegant Gypsy another gold recording. The following two years showcased the critically-acclaimed Casino followed-by the ambitious two-record set Splendido Hotel. Closing out the decade of the 70's, DiMeola firmly established himself as a leading exponent of electric fusion guitar.

In 1980 the remarkable acoustic guitar trio of John McLaughlin, Paco De Lucia and Al DiMeola emerged. Playing for 10,000 people a night, the trio ended a highly successful two-month tour in San Francisco. A live recording aptly entitled Friday Night in San Francisco went gold, selling 1.5 million copies. Al went into the studio the following year to record the hard-hitting Electric Rendezvous. The subsequent tour of his group yielded Tour de Force-Live. 1983 was a another busy year for Al with the release of two more albums. Scenario was his first outing into high-tech recording and the McLaughlin, De Lucia, DiMeola trio released another stunning album, Passion, Grace and Fire. Two years later, Al incorporated MIDI guitar synthesis in two beautiful and introspective recordings, Soaring Through a Dream and Cielo e Terra. The Brazilian-jazz influenced Tirami Su followed in 1987. After a four year absence, DiMeola returned with a vengeance with two more albums: the powerful and electric Kiss My Axe and the ethnic-flavored World Sinfonia were released in 1991.

DiMeola is no newcomer to Roland gear or guitar synthesis. Al used Roland's GR-300 on Soaring Through a Dream and Ceilo e Terra and the G R-50 on Kiss My Axe. As Al explains, "My current setup includes two GR-1 Guitar Synthesizers. One GR-1 is for my Gibson Les Paul and the other GR-1 is for my Ovation acoustic and Gibson 175 hollow body jazz guitar. No one ever thought the GR-1 would work with my Ovation guitar. Many people thought the acoustic over tones would create problems with the synthesizer. There have been absolutely no problems. In addition, Chris Carrington, the other acoustic guitarist in the World Sinfonia ensemble is playing a GR-1." Al also owns a Roland S-770 Digital Sampler, which enables him to sample new sounds and trigger them with the GR-1 through MIDI.

The GR-1 is activated by a GK-2 pickup installed next to the bridge and connected to an electronic housing that mounts on top of the guitar. A mini-cable from the guitar connects into the GK-2 housing. The regular guitar signal and the synth information go through another cable into the GR-1. The normal guitar signal is then routed to the GR-1 output. The GR2 has a switch that controls the mix between guitar, synth or both sounds together. DiMeola has installed a GK-2 pickup on each of his three guitars. He prefers to use the GR-1 sounds as ornamentation or support for his acoustic and electric timbres. "You need to be careful how you blend your synth into the guitar sounds - there is an overkill factor. The guitar is still my primary sound."

Roland has packed 200 sounds (also called Tones) into the GR-1. This can be expanded to 400 sounds with the SR-GR1-01 expander board. The Tones are PCM based sampled sounds. Two tones can be layered at one time to create new sounds or patches. Al's favorites are the steel drums, sitar, pipes, pads and the fantasia-bell. "The fretless bass sound with my Ovation acoustic is a knockout - really incredible," exclaims Al. With this seemingly unlimited palette of sounds, how do you know which patch to use and when to use it? "It's all very personal" says Al. "Whatever works whatever feels right - it's all a matter of taste. I'm not trying to copy or duplicate keyboards but rather create my own sounds."

Another factor which appeals to DiMeola is the floor design of the GR-1. "I need to switch a million times during the course of a set so the floor unit is great! It makes a lot of sense." The GR-1 easily integrates foot pedals and controls for accessirig patches as well as other functions. Al also likes the built-in effects with the GR-1. "I use the reverbs, choruses and delays which are built into the sounds. They can also be easily edited."

Inevitably the subject of tracking and accuracy comes up when talking about guitar synthesis. "A lot of people have given up on guitar synths because of the bad tracking. The GR-1 should change all of that. The tracking and response time are incredible! It follows everything I play. This unit should recapture the interest in guitar synthesis," Al says, enthusiastically.

Despite the awesome power and versatility of the new GR-1, it is surprisingly easy to use. As Al emphatically states, "l don't like complexity - I like to keep things simple. Some of the other synths I've tried can do a million things that I don't need. The GR-1 is very easy to use. It's the way to go."

Not resting on his laurels, Al DiMeola is currently juggling two bands at once - the acoustic World Sinfonia and the electric DiMeola Project. What's next for this trail blazing guitarist' "We just finished recording a new album with World Sinfonia called Heart of the Immigrants. In addition to the group, it features nine string players. We also used the GR-1 on this album - I'm very proud of it. Next, I'll be going on tour with the electric band."

Al's final comments wrapped up his feelings about music, the industry and guitar synthesis: "Roland is moving ahead with this technology and I'm really blown away with their new products - especially the GR-1."