But right now I’m listening to his own Paging Audrey, which is just a beautiful tune, with gorgeous chord changes, melodies, and atmosphere.  And it doesn’t end there – Upside Looking Down and Darkling Down are both outstanding pieces (could the word “Down” be a key element in his success?  Countdown to Ecstasy and all that?  But that’s just a conspiracy theory, and far be it from me).  The writing is of the highest standard, the lyrics are just as cynically clever as always, guitar solos are succinct and funky with no excess baggage, and the most pleasant surprise is that his voice really sounds good on the studio cuts, and is very appropriate for the feel of the tunes.

In my “ad hominem attack on Walter” phase, not only had I been focusing on the things I didn’t like, but was also comparing him, largely unfairly, to his partner Donald Fagen, whose talents are especially abundant.  Fagen has the distinction of scarcely ever putting a foot wrong on record.  With Donald singing, playing, and writing so well, it would be hard for anyone not to suffer by comparison.   I had even wondered if he were the brains behind the operation.

Having given a good listen to Walter’s own excellent material, it’s clear that I was overly critical, and worst of all, I was fairly snotty about it.  Why not give Walter’s recent album, Circus Money, a listen – you may be as pleasantly surprised as I was, especially if you’re a big fan of Steely Dan.  (OK, the cover art is a bit creepy)  It reminds me why I like to binge on Steely Dan music on occasions when I’m visiting Hyde Park, NY, right near Bard College, where Donald and Walter went to school.

Sometimes it’s very good to be wrong, when you find out that things are much better than you thought they were. So Walter, I apologize for my negative remarks, and I hope that you continue to produce such high quality music, whether on your own, with Donald, or with others.   You rule, Maestro!

But like any special effect, it’s only effective if used judiciously, and that means actually stopping once in awhile.  So the basic problem you see is profligate use.

But now there’s a special annoying new development: excellent singers using it.  This is baffling to me; if I were a top singer, it would be a badge of honor not to use it.  I’m not fond of Kelly Clarkson’s music, but I do think that she’s a skilled singer.   So why does she need Autotune?  To me, it’s unmistakable on her latest big ballad hit.  It’s possible to set it more subtly so that the uninitiated will not know.  But even at a low setting, to me it’s like a very phony coating over the note, kind of like gold-plated Jello.  It’s especially obvious when the singer does an interval jump.  I’d rather hear the Autotone cranked up high and obvious, like Cher did with her big hit she had when Autotune was first heard in the wild.  It’s just more honest, and to me, somewhat more respectable than trying to scam your way through undetected.

I’d bet that the reason for good singers using it, apart from occasional laziness and not wanting to do yet another take, is simple budgeting, just like everything else now: it’s cheaper to fix something with Autotune, or even have the singer (or in some cases, “singer”) use it up front to make absolutely sure there will be no mistakes.  Boom, one take, you’re done, lower studio time bill.  Like, totally cool?  So the old work ethic and self-respect are replaced with a Walmart cheapo approach to record making.  Hey, the record sounds perfect, and is cheaper to make.  Break me off a piece of that perfect corporate gold-plated Jello, cheapness rulez!

Whereas the classical-style position using a footstool produces a pretty good ergonomic position for the arms, I’ve generally opted for the informal flamenco position. My hands are pretty strong and flexible, so I can actually do pretty well either way.  However, I’ve done really long solo gigs, and these can be tiring. In those cases, I would switch from one position to the other every so often, and that was helpful.

I’ve always been a little resistant to the traditional classical position. For one thing, I don’t like carrying a footstool. I also am not especially classical in my mindset. Finally, though the footstool position is pretty good for the hands, I still find the footstool method to be uncomfortable for long periods of time.

Enter the Ergoplay Support. This attaches to your guitar with suction cups, and it becomes a guitar rest that sits on your leg.  The beauty of it is that you get the hand benefits of the classical position, but both your feet are on the floor, so it’s better for your back, and back fatigue was what made the footstool position annoying for me.

I’ve had mine for a couple weeks now, and I love it. I can even use it while sitting on the floor. Things are just easier to reach, and I don’t get tired as fast now. The playing position is good for either hand, and my technique has suddenly gotten a big boost. When the hands are happy, the music comes through more easily.  And playing tricky classical material, like Jesu, does often work better playing in this position.

When using the informal position, I have an old habit of staring at my left hand while playing, and my head tilts and turns toward the guitar neck. With the support, I tend to avoid this old habit more, and often don’t look at the neck much at all. There are two benefits to this – one is that your neck doesn’t get tired being in that funny position, and besides, I find that when not looking at the guitar, I can concentrate more on the sound and feeling of the music, and that’s been very exciting.

The only downside I’m aware of is that if you have a matte finish on your guitar, or a fancy French polish, the Ergoplay’s suction cups could do a number on it. Ergoplay includes material that you can stick on the matte finish, and then you attach the suction cups to that material instead.  But I’ve read that some fancy and finicky guitars don’t like that stuff either. But if you have a glossy nitro finish, you should be OK.

But in recent years, something seems to have gone wrong. I would surmise that when you’re rich and successful, the motivation slips away, and why put in time practicing when you’re loaded and chilling out on a beach somewhere? Besides, if you’re the boss, nobody’s going to say anything for fear of losing their high-paying, high-profile gig.

Update, 4/3/09:  Sometime after writing this post, I was listening to Donald Fagen on last.fm, and they also played some of Walter’s own tunes.  I’ll have to admit they were better than I expected.  While Walter will never be an excellent singer, and I still no longer like his guitar soloing, I thought he sung well enough, and the songs were good.  Maybe he cares a little more about quality when he’s making his own albums.

So I’ll point out that the emperor has no clothes. Nowadays instead of solos with fire and conviction, they seem perfunctory and awkward. For me, it was around the time of Alive In America that this became very noticeable, to the point that when a Becker solo would begin, I’d tend to turn the volume down until the vocals resumed. And the many unnecessary fills in certain tunes made me nostalgic for the days when Steely Dan would feature some of the finest guitar talent in the industry. (Green Earrings was an example of this, although I seem to recall that a great Drew Zingg solo rescued the tune). To be sure, your solos and fills are pretty much competent and fit the key, and non-musical fans may not even notice any difference, but that’s what I would expect from a decent club player, not a phenomenal songwriter playing exceptional material in front of thousands.

Some of the studio stuff, such as the solo on Snowbound, from a Fagen solo album, sound like first takes, just full of clams – maybe you were just joking around and warming up, but for whatever reason it was kept in its full cringe-inducing glory. And Two Against Nature, another album full of great material, has a peculiar one-pitch quarter-note soloing scheme that pervades many tunes. Ouch. By contrast, during recent years Donald Fagen is singing and writing better than ever, and continuing to put out excellent albums.

I submit that you simply need to woodshed again, and act hungry even if you’re not. Or just start eating whatever Donald’s eating. Just fumbling around with demo tapes to work up a solo isn’t cutting it anymore. The really expensive rig won’t do it by itself. I know you have it in you – you’ve shown that before. Alternatively, you’re loaded, just hire the best, and let them blaze to glory. You can still play rhythm and unleash your favorite witticisms, and the discriminating fans can begin to enjoy the guitar soloing again.

Having said that, I expect the usual guitar magazine puff piece interviews which will just encourage you, and the sycophants will win the day. Sorry man, but somebody had to do an intervention – nobody else seems to be willing to come forward.

Yet I don’t like listening to him anymore.  It all seems very skilled, but no longer seems to break any new ground.  After listening to him for quite awhile, it began to seem as though you could almost break down a Mike solo into a recipe:

Mike Stern Solo Recipe

• Begin with a clean, always chorused tone, and start the solo with particular simple blues phrases.
• Follow the blues phrases with lines that descend through a scale using 3-note motifs.
• Raise the heat slightly with longer bebop influenced and arpeggiated phrases.  Increase speed.
• To bring the solo to a boil, kick in the 20-year-old distortion pedal at this point. Play screaming rock licks in repeating patterns.  Dweedie-iddle-Dweedie-iddle-Dweedie-iddle-Dweedie-iddle…..!!!!! Bend more notes, and then sprinkle in more very fast runs, moving higher and higher in pitch. End the solo with a high-note bend, and one last blues riff.
• The End

Am I being a critical jerk?  Sure!  But it’s because I think that Mike is capable of a lot more.  Many players have the same trouble – to me, Eric Clapton’s best work was done 20 years ago, and the rest is all a boring recap.  Curiously, I prefer the guitar solos of Mike’s own wife, Leni Stern.  Though she doesn’t have the blistering speed that Mike has, her compositional sense is outstanding, and when she solos, she really seems to be thinking melodically, texturally, and creatively, and doesn’t have this predictable air about her playing.  She sounds like she’s making it new and fresh, searching for something that hasn’t been played before.

In some ways it’s understandable that Mike stays in the same soloing region all the time.  He’s successful and works with some of the best in the busines, a rare accomplishment.  Go with what you know, as it were.  Why change?  Yet many top musicians to continue to re-invent themselves without going broke.

Sometimes all it takes is an equipment change(!).  Pat Metheny, as great as he is, also can fall into the trap of quoting himself ad infinitum.  But even if he’s playing the same types of lines, if he picks up a classical guitar, or a synth, at least it has more of a fresh feel, and can change his phrasing somewhat.  These Berklee guys all seem to like the 2-amp stereo chorus thing, and are totally addicted to it.  John Scofield, another great player, is definitely a creature of habit – he’s played the same semi-hollow body guitar for decades, and he too fell into the 2-amp stereo chorus rut for a very long time.  But he finally put out some material with a straight, non-chorused sound, and I can remember how earthy and gorgeous his tone sounded, and it coincided with some fresh new compositional material.

I hope Mike will play something unpredictable again someday!  I just might buy it!