Guitar Synthesizer Tip

[terminus_est]

Here's a quick tip for those of you frustrated with the slow tracking speed of Roland guitar synthesizers. I had a nicely typed out post, but the forum ate it and this version is going to be a bit more terse, so deal.

There's a problem with Roland guitar synthesizers-- they're slow to track, and often you will end up with lots of bad notes and general awfulness if you try to play fast. I don't think this is just a technique issue. Al Dimeola can make them work, but a) he's Al Dimeola and b) I think maybe he's using some kind of trickery to make the Roland faster.

What I do to get around the problem is I use a vocoder. Set up the vocoder so that the analog signal from the guitar acts as the modulator wave and the synth tone, or a tone from a software synthesizer, acts as the carrier wave, or vice versa.

This will allow you to play fast and accurately, and the guitar synth will play more like a normal guitar, while still having the richness and endless possibilities of synthesizer tones.

Oh, and you can also have all the bonecrushing distortion you want on the analog tone.

Hi, first post, hope this is useful to someone.

 

[Light]

Which units? I never had any trouble with a GR-30...

 

[Dan Swanö]

there is this dude playing at the NAMM show that have a different guitar to midi converter. cant remember the name but it seems quite expensive, but he's really doing the whole shit and triggers a midi synth without problems!!
D

 

[Light]

I only know the Roland ones - GR-30 & -33 for MIDI, and VG-8 & -88 for tone modelling (no tracking - perfect pitch). I never *really* saw the point in the first two... they work, but... like... that's what keyboards are for...

 

[terminus_est]

Probably Axon. [edit: Axons run about $1200. I haven't played one but I really want to...]

Light-- yes, keyboards do that too but there are many things you can do with a guitar synth that are difficult to do with a keyboard and guitar, especially live-- like harmonization of fast guitar lines.

Also a lot of metal bands (and audiences) have a primitive aversion to keyboards. Could be the technology, or it could be that you have to have a dude in a tophat standing there...