Chris Pitman (born November 16, 1961) is an American musician best known for his involvement with the

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

band

Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1985. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band comprised vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKa ...

. A

multi-instrumentalist A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays two or more musical instruments at a professional level of proficiency. Also known as doubling, the practice allows greater ensemble flexibility and more efficient employment of musicians, where ...

, Pitman is known to play

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

and

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

, in addition to his role as a

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

backing vocalist A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

. Pitman currently fronts

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

band SexTapes and previously worked with such bands as Guns N' Roses, Lusk,

Replicants A replicant is a fictional bioengineered humanoid featured in the 1982 film ''Blade Runner'' and the 2017 sequel '' Blade Runner 2049'' which is physically indistinguishable from an adult human and often possesses superhuman strength and intel ...

and

Tool A tool is an object that can extend an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Although many animals use simple tools, only human beings, whose use of stone tools dates ba ...

Early career

Pitman studied at the Art Institute of

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

and the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...

. In 1993, Pitman worked with the controversial artist

Les Levine Les Levine (born 1935) is a naturalized American Irish artist known as a pioneer of video art and as a conceptual artist working with mass communication. In 1967, Levine won first prize for sculpture in the Canadian Sculpture Biennial. Life and ...

. The following year, Pitman worked with

Dr. Dre Andre Romelle Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American rapper and record producer. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and previously co-founded, co-owned, and ...

in Dre's home studio. He also joined

on tour and played

synthesizers A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

on Tool's album ''

Ænima ''Ænima'' ( ) is the second studio album by American rock band Tool. It was released in vinyl format on September 17, 1996, and in compact disc format on October 1, 1996, through Zoo Entertainment. The album was recorded and cut at Ocean Wa ...

''. In 1995, he appeared on the album ''Bourgeois Kitten'' by

Blinker the Star Blinker the Star is the recording and performance name of Jordon Zadorozny, a Canadian solo artist who has worked with various musicians to create eleven albums. Notable musicians who have appeared on Blinker the Star albums include Leland Sklar, ...

Guns N' Roses (1998-2016)

left, Pitman in 2006 with Guns N' Roses In early 1998, Pitman joined

as the band's second keyboardist and second bass player as well as performing backing vocals and percussion. Pitman was recommended to the band by

Billy Howerdel Billy Howerdel (born May 18, 1970) is an American musician, best known as the founding member, guitarist, backing vocalist, songwriter, and producer for the band A Perfect Circle, as well as for his former solo project, Ashes Divide. Howerdel h ...

, who was working with the band as an engineer at the time.''Talking Metal Podcast: Chris Pitman'' hosted by Mark Strigl. November 16, 200
Transcription link
/ref> Pitman spent time writing with vocalist

Axl Rose W. Axl Rose (born William Bruce Rose Jr.; born February 6, 1962) is an American musician. He is best known for being the lead vocalist and lyricist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, and has been the band's sole constant member since its incep ...

at Rose's house frequently. Pitman was featured on accordion, piccolo and triangle on the non-album single "

Oh My God Oh My God, O My God, Oh My God! or Ohmigod may refer to: * the first words of the Act of Contrition, a Christian prayer * a common phrase frequently abbreviated as "OMG", often used in SMS messages and Internet communication, and sometimes euphem ...

" in 1999, and on every song on the long-delayed sixth studio album ''

Chinese Democracy ''Chinese Democracy'' is the sixth studio album by American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, released on November 23, 2008, by Black Frog and Geffen Records. It was the first Guns N' Roses studio album since the 1993 covers album ''"The Spaghet ...

''. On the album, Pitman plays mostly keyboards and

sub-bass Sub-bass sounds are the deep, low-register pitches below approximately 70 Hz (C2 in scientific pitch notation) and extending downward to include the lowest frequency humans can hear, approximately 20 Hz (E0). In this range, human hear ...

as well as programming and background vocals, he plays a 12-string guitar on "If the World" and a

Mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which pushes a length of magnetic tape against a capstan, which pulls it across a playback head. A ...

on "There Was a Time". He also co-wrote the songs "If the World" and "

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

" alongside Rose. He was also responsible for the synth orchestra (along with

Dizzy Reed Darren Arthur Reed (born June 18, 1963), better known by his stage name Dizzy Reed, is an American musician and occasional actor. He is best known as the keyboardist for the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he has played, toured, and recor ...

and Rose) on the songs " Street of Dreams", "There Was a Time", "Madagascar", "This I Love" and "

Prostitute Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-penet ...

". Pitman co-wrote (alongside Reed) an unreleased song which was performed live at

Rock in Rio ''Rock in Rio'' is a recurring music festival originating in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It later branched into other locations such as Lisbon, Madrid and Las Vegas. Nine incarnations of the festival have been held in Rio de Janeiro, in 1985, 1991, ...

III entitled "

Silkworms The domestic silk moth (''Bombyx mori''), is an insect from the moth family Bombycidae. It is the closest relative of ''Bombyx mandarina'', the wild silk moth. The silkworm is the larva or caterpillar of a silk moth. It is an economically imp ...

". The song was later re-worked as " ABSUЯD" and released as a single in 2021. Pitman started performing live with Guns N' Roses in January 2001. He was one of the longest serving members of the band. Pitman filled in for

Tommy Stinson Thomas Eugene Stinson (born October 6, 1966) is an American rock musician. He came to prominence in the 1980s as the bass guitarist for The Replacements, one of the definitive American alternative rock groups. After their breakup in 1991, Stins ...

on bass in a 2007 show that Stinson was unable to attend. In February 2016, Pitman made headlines for criticizing the upcoming Not In This Lifetime... Tour, calling it a "Nostalgia tour" and stating “please don’t mention those who are there the last 20 fucking years … oh god no!! … (a money grab) FU.” Pitman later apologized for his comments, stating "Remember kids, dont drink n text!". Pitman left the group soon afterwards, saying in an April 2016 interview "I quit the Oldies band, they just wanna repeat that 30 year old music over and over... boring. Pitman was replaced by

Melissa Reese Melissa Reese (born March 1, 1990) is an American musician and model who has collaborated frequently with Bryan "Brain" Mantia and is a current member of hard rock band Guns N' Roses. Early life Reese was born in Seattle, Washington.

as the second keyboardist In March 2016, two weeks before the tour began. In August 2016, Pitman sued

for $125,000 in unpaid wages. The two parties settled in November 2016.

Musical collaborations

Pitman has collaborated with a number of acts, as well as founding a number of experimental projects. *XR4 - Vocals, electronics in 1982. *

- Pitman was keyboardist and vocalist of the cover band that featured singer and guitarist

Ken Andrews Ken Andrews (born Kenneth Andrew Doty; June 18, 1967) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, and record producer. Andrews was born in Seattle, Washington, and attended film school in Los Angeles before his band Failure received a record de ...

, drummer Greg Edwards, and bassist

Paul D'amour Paul D'Amour (born May 17, 1967) is an American musician and was the first bass guitarist for Tool. His bass sound is recognized by the aggressive picked tone he developed with his Chris Squire Signature Rickenbacker 4001CS, which can be heard ...

. *

ZAUM Zaum (russian: зáумь) are the linguistic experiments in sound symbolism and language creation of Russian Futurist poets such as Velimir Khlebnikov and Aleksei Kruchenykh. Zaum is a non-referential phonetic entity with its own ontology. Th ...

- guitar, electronics, and lead vocals with Danny Carey of Tool, and Marko Fox of SexTapesTM. *

- In 1994/95, Pitman toured with them and, in 1996, played synths on the song "

Third Eye The third eye (also called the mind's eye or inner eye) is a mystical invisible eye, usually depicted as located on the forehead, which provides perception beyond ordinary sight. In Hinduism, the third eye refers to the ajna (or brow) chakra. In ...

". *

Failure Failure is the state or condition of not meeting a desirable or intended objective (goal), objective, and may be viewed as the opposite of Success (concept), success. The criteria for failure depends on context, and may be relative to a parti ...

- Contributed sound effects and sound mixing. * Lusk - Recording, production, mixing, mastering, lead vocals, multi-instrumentation in this

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

-nominated band in 1996-97. *Sony Panic - Guitar and live software management with this L.A. experimental/improvisational band in 1997. *

- Contributed keyboards to the song "Kween Kat" of the album ''Bourgeois Kitten'' in 1996. Co-wrote the single "Below the Sliding Doors" in 1998. *Savvy Soviets - Production/collaboration in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

in 2003. * Electric Company - Synthesizer on the album ''

Creative Playthings Creative Playthings was an educational toy store and catalogue that was established by Frank and Theresa Caplan in 1945. The goal of Creative Playthings was to provide simple and beautifully designed toys to promote a child’s creativity and im ...

''. Played live with this

Brad Laner Brad Laner (born November 6, 1966 in Los Angeles, California) is an American musician and record producer best known for his work with the shoegaze band Medicine, which he founded and led. Prior to Medicine, he was involved in avant-improv ban ...

electronic music project in 2004. *The Source of Uncertainty - Recording with

Danny Carey Daniel Edwin Carey (born May 10, 1961) is an American musician and songwriter. He is the drummer for the American rock band Tool. He has also contributed to albums by artists such as Zaum, Green Jellö, Pigface, Skinny Puppy, Adrian Belew, Carol ...

and others in 2008. *SexTapes - Working with Kelly Wheeler, Marko Fox, and Ryan Brown starting in 2006. *

- In 1998, Pitman joined this hard rock band as songwriter, co-producer, and multi-instrumentalist. *Beatrazr -

EDM EDM or E-DM may refer to: Music * Electronic dance music * Early Day Miners, American band Science and technology * Electric dipole moment * Electrical discharge machining * Electronic distance measurement *Entry, Descent, and landing demonstrat ...

music project with

Frank Ferrer Frank Ferrer (born March 25, 1966) is an American rock drummer. He is best known as the drummer for hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he has played, toured, and recorded since 2006. Ferrer was also a member of The Psychedelic Furs, Love S ...

.
/ref>

Workshop projects

Pitman has also done

sound design Sound design is the art and practice of creating sound tracks for a variety of needs. It involves specifying, acquiring or creating auditory elements using audio production techniques and tools. It is employed in a variety of disciplines including ...

and electronic work for

Arturia Arturia is a French electronics company founded in 1999 and based in Grenoble, France. The company designs and manufactures audio interfaces and electronic musical instruments, including software synthesizers, drum machines, analog synthesize ...

software synthesizers A software synthesizer or softsynth is a computer program that generates digital audio, usually for music. Computer software that can create sounds or music is not new, but advances in processing speed now allow softsynths to accomplish the sa ...

, A Designs Audio eter Montessi

Waves Waves most often refers to: *Waves, oscillations accompanied by a transfer of energy that travel through space or mass. * Wind waves, surface waves that occur on the free surface of bodies of water. Waves may also refer to: Music * Waves (ban ...

Plugins, Waldorf Synthesizers, Apple's

Logic Audio Logic Pro is a digital audio workstation (DAW) and MIDI sequencer software application for the macOS platform. It was originally created in the early 1990s as Notator Logic, or Logic, by German software developer C-Lab which later went by Em ...

Digidesign Avid Audio (formerly Digidesign) is an American digital audio technology company. It was founded in 1984 by Peter Gotcher and Evan Brooks. The company began as a project to raise money for the founders' band, selling EPROM chips for drum mach ...

Plugins, Moog Synthesizers, Celemony's Melodyne,

Ableton Live Ableton Live is a digital audio workstation for macOS and Windows developed by the German company Ableton. In contrast to many other software sequencers, Ableton Live is designed to be an instrument for live performances as well as a tool f ...

Roland Roland (; frk, *Hrōþiland; lat-med, Hruodlandus or ''Rotholandus''; it, Orlando or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the ...

USA,

Korg , founded as Keio Electronic Laboratories, is a Japanese multinational corporation that manufactures electronic musical instruments, audio processors and guitar pedals, recording equipment, and electronic tuners. Under the Vox brand name, they ...

Music, Serge Synthesis (SMS), PlanB Synthesis (Peter Grenader, Axel Hartmann) Neuron Synthesis, Symbolic Sounds Kyma, Mandala Drums, Steven Slate Drums and

Native Instruments Native Instruments is a German company that develops, manufactures, and supplies music software and hardware for music production, sound design, performance, and DJing. The company's corporate headquarters and main development facilities are lo ...

. Pitman was co-founder of

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

-based art coalition 'Priory of the North,' which focuses on

conceptual Conceptual may refer to: Philosophy and Humanities *Concept *Conceptualism *Philosophical analysis (Conceptual analysis) *Theoretical definition (Conceptual definition) *Thinking about Consciousness (Conceptual dualism) *Pragmatism (Conceptual pr ...

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

art and works primarily with oil painting, lithography, oils, and metal. His Land/Environment projects have been onsite in various Midwest regional farmland sites in Lafayette County and Johnson County, Missouri. His Rio de Janeiro site-specific work titled "Mind/Land" has been delayed until permits and visas for such materials can be imported. This work has been in progress since 2003.

References

External links

*
Official Myspace

Official SexTapes website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pitman, Chris 1961 births 20th-century American keyboardists 21st-century American keyboardists American electronic musicians American heavy metal keyboardists American rock keyboardists Guns N' Roses members Living people Musicians from Missouri Replicants (band) members