From: mctkew@dct.ac.uk
Newsgroups: rec.music.makers.guitar
Subject: re:GR1 guitar synth
Date: 6 Jan 93 10:09:05 GMT
Organization: Dundee Institute of Technology

I posted this to alt.guitar a few weeks ago - seems like you missed it !!!

A REVIEW OF THE ROLAND GR-1 GUITAR SYNTHESIZER

The GR-1 is the latest in the line of Roland Guitar Synthesizers - I've
had one for about 5 weeks now and have gone through a large part of the
manual. In this review I'll tell you what I think of it - and how it has
affected my playing style, as well as the technical information in the
manual.

The synth is designed to work with the ROLAND GK-2 synthesizer driver
pick up, which can be mounted on to any guitar - an IBANEZ SG in my
case. The GK-2 picks up the analogue information dealing with picking
intensity, pitch, bends/vibrato etc and translates it into digital
information which can drive the oscillators / filters etc. The GK-2
doesnt produce MIDI output, but produces a special ROLAND configured
language - which is fast enough to avoid most tracking problems. This
pickup has options to set the sensitivity for each string - which must
be done if the pick up setting has been changed - (if you twiddle one of
the screws that changes the height of the pick up - e.g). The pick up
has switches which can provide a variety of functions - it can set the
pedals on the synth up to produce pitch shift etc (normally the pedals
change patches), and also to scroll through the tone list, change the
tone parameters and other features of the synth. The pick up also has a
mixer which can mix the guitar and synth sounds, or have each sound
separate. 

The sounds in the synth are MIDI compatible and represent short bursts
of sampled sounds - which can then be altered with the envelope \ filter
\ vibrato \ reverb \ chorus \ pitch bend controls !!!. The synth  has
200 preset tones which cannot be altered, and there are a further 200
available from ROLAND on an expansion board. 64 patches represent the
workspace for programming the synth, with a further 64 available on the
expansion board. Each patch can have any 2 of the tones - and the
parameters comprising these tones can be altered separately ....

The following parameters can be altered with the controls having a range
of -50 to + 50 - 0 represents the original unaltered preset tone
setting.

DETUNE
VIBRATO RATE CHANGE
PAN (for stereo output)
ATTACK
DECAY
RELEASE
FREQUENCY CUTOFF
RESONANCE
VIBRATO DEPTH
VIBRATO RATE

The following are patch parameters which will affect both tones (if two
are used) :-

CHROMATIC OR ANALOGUE PITCH BEND (on or off (usually off))
PICKING SENSITIVITY/DYNAMICS - (only for the patch - not globally)
1ST/2ND TONE COMBINATION - you can set this parameter so that the second
tone only sounds if the guitar is picked harder - e.g having a smooth
sax sound - but a honk if the string is picked harder
VELOCITY THRESHOLD - controls the "hardness" value at which the 2nd tone
will sound in the TONE COMBINATION parameter
"FAT ON/OFF" - The GR-1 FAT parameter will thicken a patch by adding a
lower octave note to the tone - this setting is usually OFF but this
parameter gives you the option. This parameter doubles the number of
synth voices used - so it might not work too well on patches with 2
tones. 
2ND TONE EFFECT ON/OFF - you can have reverb/chorus on for the 1st tone -
but off for the second - etc
2ND TONE HOLD ON/OFF - 	the hold option will sustain a note after the
guitar string vibration has stopped (FAT and HOLD are also controlled by
foot pedals - see later)
LEVEL 
1ST/2ND TONE BALANCE

There are also parameters which can shift both tones in a -2 to +1
octave range. The pitch shift can be the same for every string - or a
different value for every string !!!

Different combinations of 1st/2nd tones can be set for each string as
well as pitch shift

A variety of guitar type effects can also be added to the tone - these
come under the generic names of reverb and chorus.

The REVERB parameters control the rate and depth of the reverb type -
the types are :- 

ROOMS 1 - 3
HALL 1,2
PLATE
DELAY
PANNING DELAY

There is a similar set up for the chorus effects :-

CHORUS 1 - 4
FEEDBACK CHORUS
FLANGER
SHORT DELAY 1 and 2

This set up has introduced me to a completely different world. With a
straight guitar set up, I spent more time working out notes rather than
the tone of a note - so I find it very difficult to try and mimic a tone
I might hear on record. I have been successful at some things, but
sometimes in the search for a tone I end up with a completely different
idea - but still a good sound !!! I have been listening keenly to "Jazz
From Hell" by Frank Zappa, in an attempt to reproduce some of his
synclavier tones on the GR-1. The first track has a treated piano with
pitch bend and a lot of resonance - this sound wasn't too hard to get -
although I'm not totally convinced that its exactly the same. The second
tune is more difficult - a strange treated oboe/clarinet sound with a
bell type ring to it plays an atonal solo over complex drum/bass
patterns - if you listen to it while standing up it has a disorientating
effect which may make you fall over !!! I tried to make this tone but got
sidetracked - I changed the clarinet tone for a marimba (always a common
sound with Zappa !!) - the resulting patch has the marimba with a short
attack, and a tinkly bell sound with a deep slow vibrato - this gives
the bell sound an imprecisely pitched ring to it (the decay and release
of this tone have been lengthened) which warps out the tempered marimba
!!!

I have also been successful in recreating the atonal/cacaphonic
saxophone barrage that Pat Metheny uses to wonderful effect on SONG X
(his 1985 collaboration with Ornette Coleman - I'm not a big fan of most
Pat Metheny records - a little to cold and bland for me :-) - but SONG X
is WONDERFUL). To get the cacaphonic effect I chose alto and tenor
saxophone tones, mixed in clean/mellow guitar, and shifted the alto up a
b5.

PEDALS - The GR-1 is very well laid out in my opinion - and the manual
is actually very easy to follow (WOW !!). The programming parameters are
ordered in a very logical way - with only one drawback as far as I can
see - It is not possible to view and edit the Attack, Decay and Release
parameters at the same time - but perhaps a PC music package could do
this for me - It might allow more instinctive sound editing.

When the GR-1 comes out of the box the six pedals are set up as follows
- the switch on the GK-2 will change the pedals from patch changers to
their other functions

TUNER - a guitar tuner (never !!)

PITCH SHIFT A - unlatched pitch shift gradually falling to 1 octave
below, with a rise/fall time of 32, and a return time of 18.

PITCH SHIFT B - unlatched pitch shift gradually rising to 1 octave
below, with a rise/fall time of 8, and a return time of 8.

SEQUENCER SONG START/STOP -  See description of sequencer

FAT/MOD - FAT adds a note an octave below

HOLD - This effect holds the note played - in two different ways - 
     1 - the next notes are held also - this gives a dense layering

     2 - The synth cannot play another note until the HOLD pedal is
         released - play straight guitar over a long bass note

The configuration of the pedals can be changed to suit the owner - I
have changed the HOLD pedal to be latched - I no longer have to keep the
pedal depressed to get the effect.

THE FOUR TRACK SEQUENCER

This is the first time I've ever used a sequencer - so I'm not a good
person to comment !!! The GR-1 sequencer can only be regarded as a rough
sketchpad - only useful for writing rough ideas. IMO this is because
there is not enough memory to store pitch shift data, which means that a
natural imprecise note or vibrato can produce a worrying chromatic slur
!!! (which sounds horrible)

The sequencer has four tracks - one of which must be drums, and can
store up to 999 bars of music. It is possible to work on only 8 bars at
a time (I've been using 4 exclusively up till now) which are looped, so
that the tune can be created gradually. It is possible to copy, erase
etc, and perform the other usual functions used to manipulate sequencer
information. The Quantise level can be set to anything up to triplet
16th's, but I am attempting to perfect my timing by playing drum parts
over a click track without quantisation. Playing drums on the guitar
takes a bit of getting used to; because the elements that make up the
"feel" you put into playing a note; can produce irritating effects. For
example using left hand damping to control the length of a note can
confuse the "pitch " information that the synth needs - each drum is
assigned a different note, and damped notes can sometimes trigger the
drum which has been mapped to the fret below. This is a little
irritating when your wonderful snare part has a hand clap in it !!!
The time signature  can also be changed from 1/4 to 16/16 (well 15/16
!!)

I will leave out the MIDI connection section - I've nothing to connect
the synth to yet !!! - but I could look up the manual to answer any
specific questions from anyone - my mail address is at the bottom of
this review

IMPRESSIONS...

The first impression is WOW !!!! - but this comes from a person not
familiar with synthesisers. However I feel that it will take years to
fully explore the possibilities, and on this journey I will learn a lot
about sound and tones/. A difficult thing I find just now is which tone
do I start from if I wish to create a harpsichord (for example), and
how then should I manipulate this sound. Having said that I think the
strengths of sound synthesis lie in the creation of sounds which have
some of the qualities of other instruments (it is not possible to
emulate any instrument completely - even with samples) but add new,
noticably different qualities - e.g. a xylophone with a bell type ring
to it which can be bent !!!

Technically the synth is hard to play - it soon shows up all the
inconsistencies and innaccuracies that a straightforward guitar will
hide. THis has been a source of frustration for me - sometimes by nice
lovely xylophone line turns into a garbled mess !!! - but my guitar
playing has never improved this much in 5 weeks - the synth is the best
inspiration for ironing out all the technical imperfections that are
part of my style - the thought of doing this was a complete turn off
before !!!!

If any other netters come across the GR-1 please mail me your thoughts,
or mail me for more info on a particular topic for more details.

Ken Whelan
MCTKEW@UK.AC.DCT

----------------------------------------------------------------------

"Dont look forward to a complete and finished entity. The idea must
always be kept in a state of flux.

An error may be only an unintentional righteousness.

Dont get to fussy about how every part of the thing sounds. Go ahead.
All processes are at first awkward, clumsy and "funny".

Polishing is not at all the important thing; instead strive for a rough
go ahead energy.

Do not be afraid of being wrong; just be afraid of being uninteresting"

------------------------------------------------------------------------

T. Carl Whitmer quoted by Derek Bailey in his book :-

IMPROVISATION - its nature and practice in music