Actually, I'm not sure what Ritchie was using it for exactly. I'd think with Lord already doing those parts, Blackmore wouldn't need to. I do that 'cos I don't have Jon. Maybe he's using it for pads while Jon is soloing or something. Steve Morse uses a lot of guitarsynth for pads - especially in the Steve Morse Trio.
If you hear keys or synth in any of my comp entries, it's always done on a guitar. There are one or two where the synth is overlaying the guitar part, so I'm getting both sounds at once, but changing things up by using arpeggiators, step flangers or filter patterns (or other beat-synched effects) to make it sound like two different players.
Here's a few:
Heavy - I'm not really a heavy metal player, so I went with a very heavy feel instead of fast metal. Power trio style - one guitar, bass and drums. Synth sound is from the guitar with an arpeggiator.
Industrial - All sounds (including drums) from one take of guitar/guitarsynth. Serves to show what you can accomplish with a guitarsynth and a little imagination. I'm scraping the strings, leaning towards my laptop (for interference from the pickups), snapping strings against the fretboard and the synth responds in some unpredictable ways. You can hear the actual synth patch when the single note sustains.
Video Game Level - All parts aside from drums and solo done in one guitar part. Guitar 1 covers all the guitar rhythm, bass and keyboard parts in one (with a guitarsynth) - bass on the lower three strings and Hammond on the top three. Guitar two is just the solo and three is the harmony for the last part of the solo.
http://ratcliffe.co.za/music/ns-1/Dark_Step_Pad.mp3 - - A stepped phaser on a simple pad, creating a nice beat-synched synth part to overlay
http://ratcliffe.co.za/music/ns-1/Nylon_Nights.mp3 -
Nights in White Satin cover. A good example of how the GR-55 can work in a cover setting. Cello on bottom three strings and string section over all six. I fade in the string section with the footpedal from the first chorus.
