Roland has been working On guitar synthesis for l7 years;
the GR-09 being reviewed is the latest in their GR line of MIDI guitar controllers. Like its bigger sibling, the
GR-01, this is a foot-controlled floor unit connected to a special pickup (in this case, the GK-2A) mounted on your
favorite guitar. In fact, many of the design features are taken directly from the GR-01, but this unit was designed to
provide the essence at a lower price. And indeed, the GR-09 seems quite simple, although there's a fair amount
going on under its blue hood.
The GR-09 is a slick, attractively designed unit that is surprisingly compact: less than 12" wide by l l " deep. The
box houses the pitch-to-MIDI converter, a digital tuner, a RAM-based sample playback synth, and an effects
processor - everything you need except for the guitar, amp, and speaker.
Overview
On the top of the box are four foot pedals, used in conjunction with two switches on the pickup, labeled Sl and
S2. Two large selector dials are used to navigate around the synth, as well as to handle Master mode and Patch
parameter edits. A small display area contains a 3-digit alphanumeric readout, a 5diode LED, and three parameter
buttons. Two other knobs include volume and string select. The 3-digit display is a little difficult - some of the
GR-09's configuration codes make hieroglyphics look like child's play - but of course a more luxurious display
would have also made the price more luxurious.
Please see my article on MIDI guitars elsewhere for an explanation of mono and poly modes, as well as the
advantages and disadvantages of each. The GR-09 fires up in mono mode, where each string transmits on a
separate MIDI channel. If you need to access poly mode where they transmit on the same channel, you'll want to
keep the manual close by because it's not all that easy to remember at first: you must turn the unit on while holding
down the value button. To Roland's credit, though, the manual is very readable.
The GR-09's two main sections are Play and Edit. As you might expect, Play handles basic operations and Edit handles parameter changes. With
the GK-2A switches (S1 and S2), the foot pedals activate two different sets of parameters. One set controls pitch shift, modulation, and hold
functions. The other set controls the tuner and bank select options. This configuration may take some getting used to, but it's all there.
Set-up
In addition to being designed for simplicity of operation, the GR-09 is intended to be a simple "plug-and-play" unit—the only installation involved
is mounting the GK2A synth driver pickup. This new hex pickup is narrower than the GK-2 (used on the GR-01), which should make it easier to
mount on a greater variety of guitars.
Before starting to play, you must adjust the sensitivity controls for each string, a process that's as simple as setting a level meter. These settings
adjust the output level relative to picking pressure, taking into account the pickup's proximity to the strings.
Next, a feature called Play Feel allows greater control over the synth's velocity response based upon the playing style. There are six options: normal,
fingerpicking, hard and soft picking, string tapping, and no dynamics.
Tones, Patches, and Sounds
In addition to handling the pitch-to-MIDI conversion, etc., the GR-09 is a ROM sample playback device with a wide selection of 16-bit 32 kHz
sounds. These internal sounds respond to your guitar playing faster than external MIDI modules do.
The unit ships with 180 Internal Tones (sounds) and 2 megabytes of memory. The optional GR9E-1 expansion board brings the total to 360 Tones
and 6 Mb of memory. l highly recommend the board; it simply pops into the back of the synth and doubles the amount of available sounds. It would be
nice to have samples sparkling at 44.1 kHz, but of course that would mean more memory to pay for.
This is a good collection covering orchestral instruments to synthesized sounds. There's also a small but good mix of additional effects and
percussion in the expansion board. The collection even includes samples from "vintage" Roland synths like the D50, Super 1upiter, and the GR-700
guitar synth. The sounds on the GR-09 are the same as the GR-01 minus the drums (you can't transfer data between the two because of architectural
differences). Interestingly, Roland used their S770 sampler to sample many of the patches.
As to the architecture, the GR-09 combines two Tones (main Tone and sub Tone) to create a patch. Patch locations are divided into groups, banks,
and pedal numbers. For example, in Patch A12, A is the group, 1 is the bank and 2 is the access pedal. There are four groups with eight banks in each
group. Four Patches comprise a bank with a total of 32 banks, which adds up to 128 Patches. The S1 switch, along with the four foot pedals, accesses
the groups, banks, and Patches - in multiple steps (literally). If this sounds confusing to you, you're not alone. There is some logic to the madness, but
it's sort of an archaic method of Patch selection by today's standards.
The GR-09 provides limited editing options, but there are probably enough for most musicians new to MIDI guitar. The editing parameters for
Tones include attack, release, volume, and brightness. Within each patch, Tone levels can be set relative to one another. Roland also provides two
detune functions for Patch Tones - weak and strong (this is not continuously variable). Individual strings can be transposed from -36 to +24 semi-
tones.
There are no position pans for the Tones in each Patch, so patches with two tones are mixed together at the outputs. Some patches were sampled in
stereo and the addition of effects helps, but you still have no control over their final pan assignments. Also note that the GR-09 is not multi-timbral. If
these two items are a concern, you'll have to spring for the GR-01.
Effects & controllers
There are two effects groups included in this box. The Reverb group consists of 31 presets, the Chorus group 25. One effect from each group can be
combined in a parallel configuration. In addition to reverbs and chorus programs, these groups include delays, special effects, panning, and flange. As
is consistent with the GR-09's overall design, Roland decided to limit the editing capabilities in favor of an abundant supply of presets. The two
effects parameters for Reverb are level and type; for Chorus, it's type - that's it, yet there is a satisfying mix here to please most everyone.
The expression pedal control is a very pleasant surprise on this unit. Plugging in an external foot pedal to the back panel opens up volume, balance
(between the main and sub Tones), brightness, wah-wah, modulation, and pitch bend range. There’s also an option to transmit expression data over
controller to external MIDI units units. Pedal controls can be saved in Patches, but only one controller can be used at a time. The expression pedal
can really bend the synthts sound, and its movements can be recorded in a MIDI sequencer.
Bottom Line
The GR-09 was designed to be affordable, and all the above-mentioned wish list items would come at the expense of greater expense. And there's
always the option of paying more for the GR-01, which has most of them.
As it stands, though, the GR-09 is one nice little guitar synth. Tracking on this unit is great! It feels smooth and tight; glitching errors are minimal.
But best of all, the GR-09 system checks in at a list price under $1,250. If Roland's goal was to bring MIDI guitar to the masses, they've certainly
achieved it.
More from: Roland Corporation, 7200 Dominion Circle, Los Angeles, CA 90040. 213/685-5141, fax 722-0911
Roland GR-09 Guitar Synthesizer -
MIDI guitar for the masses?By J. Arif Verner
Prices: GR-09 Guitar Synthesizer, $995; GR9E-1 Expansion Board, $195; GK2A Synth Pickup, $250