Roland GI-10

The guitar cannot be plugged directly into a synth. In order to play the synth’s sounds, the guitar signal must be converted to midi information so the synth can understand. The Roland GI-10 is a half-rack spaced unit that takes the audio information from my RMC pickups (or my spare Yamaha G1d pickup) mounted on the guitar and converts it to midi. You then connect the midi ‘out’ of the GI-10 to the midi ‘in’ of your favorite synth or connect to the computer for softsynths.

I set mine with a bend range of 0, unless there is a part that I need specifically to bend- otherwise, with 6 strings, it is VERY easy to have string sounds that are way out of tune, due to unwanted bend messages being sent. I connect a volume pedal to the GI-10, for controlling volume of the synth’s sounds, and a Roland FS-5U unlatched pedal to act as a sustain pedal for the synth.

Right now, I only control 1 midi channel with all 6 strings of the guitar. This allows me to quickly switch between sounds, as opposed to using 1 midi channel for each string (6 channels). This allows me to change settings on each sound quickly, without having to do it on all 6 channels. I have not noticed any problems doing it this way, and I can’t think of musically useful instances where I would want a different sound on each string anyway- to me this always sounds very unnatural, like a bad keyboardist is playing.

A Note About Guitar Synthesizer Playing:

A Guitar synth is not a guitar. Therefore, it cannot be played like one. Techniques such as hammer-ons, pull-offs, strumming, tapping, most bends, and yes, finger picking usually sound terrible using a guitar synth. It usually winds up ‘sounding’ like a guitar player, or at best, a really awful keyboardist. I approach guitar synth playing totally different from straight guitar. I try to mimic the techniques the instruments use that I am trying to emulate. Learn the range of a clarinet, the expressiveness of an oboe, the attack of a piano and the way a harp glisses. It does take a lot of listening to other instruments- not just the notes, but the way the instrument is played. This will ensure accurate reproductions of the sampled instruments. Once these techniques are mastered, then it is fun to mix in a few ‘guitarisms’ in there.

Technique is very important. I pick every note, and this remains the best way to ensure accurate tracking of the synth. Sloppy playing translates overtly well to guitar synth, so it is important that your playing technique is pretty good.

When using a guitar synth, a volume pedal is almost mandatory to ‘swell in’ sounds like strings and horns. I tend to lean toward chordal work with the synth and leave the solos to the straight guitar sound. I do this simply because I like the way the guitar sounds for solos- that’s why I started playing guitar to begin with! Still, I do quite a bit of synth soloing too, mostly with instruments like trumpet, vibes, piano and recorder, many times doubling a guitar sound.