Roland GR-55 Guitar Synthesizer : Strings Sounds

[mikemassedotcom]

The tapestrings were sort of odd. The GR-20 had a couple of good mellotron-ish string sounds. I was hoping the GR-55 would be at least as good in that department. Maybe with some editing?

[kennisrussell]

@mikemassedotcom The GR-55 has some great string sounds in it. The GR-20 is a good unit, but I'm sure the 55 has something that will float your boat. True about editing. You can get totally different sounds on the same patch just by editing some of the parameters. Overall I've been very happy with the strings.

[mulemusic]

Thanks! Answers exactly what I wanted to know!

[kennisrussell]

@mulemusic Great

[gregosicko]

your videos are very useful thank you very much for your time.

[kennisrussell]

@gregosicko You are welcome. 

[csakennyitakartam]

in my opinion this unit is good for playing in a restaurant with an ugly midi drum sample. Nobody cares about the music there. But on a stage, in a serious band... I'd wonder if anyone used these disgusting sound patches...

[kennisrussell]

@csakennyitakartam I play with it every week live at church. See my patch tutorial videos to hear the type of sound I came up with. Do I use the sounds out of the box... No I do not. I make adjustments to just about everything.

[ugrasberatli]

In ensemble strings are you playing chords or single notes?

[kennisrussell]

@ugrasberatli Chords

[a280281]

whats the point though ?????? is this for those guitarists who just sit at home polishing their gear

[kennisrussell]

@a280281 I'm not really sure what you mean...  I use it every week in a live setting.

[badboogerfinger]

Finally a real preview! No BS. Great! thanks.

[kennisrussell]

@badboogerfinger Thanks. You are welcome.

[artgonewrong]

Nice! Getting my Roland Ready Strat cleaned for this very unit. Goodbye GR-30!

[kennisrussell]

@artgonewrong Awesome! I know you will love it.

[carmelo580]

what is exactly the name of the instrument that makes the string sounds, at 1:26

[kennisrussell]

@carmelo580 "Mood Strings" It is an Ensamble String Sound. More of a keyboard string sound if you ask me. Nice sound though.

[carmelo580]

@kennisrussell so, those "string" sounds are only generated electronically?

[kennisrussell]

@escapingedenofficial You mean the GK-3. I know if will fit a Les Paul. What guitar do you have?

[songbirdwhosings]

Thanks for these deoms they rally let us hear each patch. the manufacturers should do this sort of thing more! I am very impressed with this gear- one box. Of course the patches sound slightly fake. I can see that it would not matter if you were using some real instruments, say acoustic guitar and bass. The fakeness of the cello would be buried in overtones from the real instruments. But tell me this- if you use all patches, does the total compostie sound have a fake-ness? You know what I mean?

[kennisrussell]

@songbirdwhosings I know what you mean. To me when the sounds are layered, they sound more real. The guitar sounds even by themselves sound great! Also, I could say the same thing about the ensemble strings too. The ones that don't sound as real are when you play a single violin or sax or others. It's the same as keyboard sounds on a keyboard too. There is only so real you can get with technology. It's about the same as most higher end keyboards though, if that helps. I always layer.

[brainboob]

@kennisrussell

I have heard string sounds on the gr20 that sound realer than this. It must be the way you're playing them.

[kennisrussell]

@brainboob I think that must be it too.

[psychopathtoine]

can you also record something and play a loop of it, live?

[kennisrussell]

@psychopathtoine Yes you can. The loop only has 20 seconds of record time though

[joe44850]

Again, thanks so much for posting these. The violins all sound pretty terrible until you get to mood strings and strings4, which sound decent.

[kennisrussell]

@joe44850 Out of 900 sounds they don't all have to be amazing. I'm glad you like the videos. Thanks for watching.

[CRANKYONE100]

@kennisrussell Good demos man..So the pickup that comes with it can be attached to a guitar securely without having to drill screws into the guitar cause i wouldn't wanna do that to my Suhr :0

[kennisrussell]

@CRANKYONE100 That is correct. If comes with strong double sided tape that will hold it in place just fine. I would not want to screw into my guitar either.

[TheBobsmusic1]

Oh man that sounds great..thanks for putting this up.

My friend and I have been arguing about whether the delay would be noticable,from a guitarists point of iew.Does it track in real-time?

How fast does it sample?

[kennisrussell]

@TheBobsmusic1 Yes! I have been very impressed with the tracking. I don't notice a delay at all. I know some of the older units had a delay, but for me the GR-55 has been lightening fast. However, I am playing with my Godin XTSA and it has a built in 13-pin pickup, so I am not using the GK-3 pickup that the GR-55 comes with. I imagine it is about the same though. Thanks for posting. Check out my other vids too. I have a bunch of the GR-55 sounds demos, just like this one on my channel.

[kreschdruppreschd]

Hi Kennis!

I've ordered a gr-55 for me,too. But we have delivery problems in Germany. I will get the gr-55 until mid April.

[kennisrussell]

@kreschdruppreschd Oh man! I'm sorry you have to wait that long. The good news is I will have more demonstration videos of how to edit and create sounds in the GR-55 by the time you get yours. I know you will love it! Good to hear you bought it.

[G36n]

What is the PCM 2 for?

[kennisrussell]

@G36n I have it turned off in this demo, but there are two slots for PCM sounds so basically you could have two PCM sounds playing at the same time. So you could play some sort of string in PCM 1 and then a pad sound in PCM 2. There are 900 PCM sounds to choose from. That's what I love about it. It would almost be impossible for two guitar players to create the exact same sound with the GR-55. The possibilities are endless. I hope that answered your quesiton. Thanks.

[ZionVG]

Thanks for these demos! Very nice. Can't wait for mine to arrive.

[yellowsub1967]

Another brilliant demo.... these videos are really superb work (as always) and will be certainly be the number one reference for the sounds of the GR55. I have to say having watched everyone so far... I am hooked on this product as a result. Thanks Kennis.

[kreschdruppreschd]

Very Nice, thank you!

[kennisrussell]

@kreschdruppreschd Thanks and your welcome. More to come so stay tuned.

[WRCS10]

I know that your name is Kennis but I'm gonna call you Mr GR55 :)

Best demos for the GR55 on YouTube .

Thanks .

[kennisrussell]

@WRCS10 Lol.  Thanks

[myhapylife]

It will be cool to find some PCM sounds for trance and techno synth tipe. Playing trance on guitar will be interesting. ;)

[kennisrussell]

@myhapylife Yeah I agree. I will be putting a misc video together in the future with sounds that don't fit into any category. I'l so some of those type of sounds in it. Stay tuned.

[Tomurow]

Another awesome vid - thanks Kennis! :-)

[kennisrussell]

I will do the sax and brass sounds soon and Synth sounds as well. Keep checking back.

[bornincj]

pls make also a demo with Synth Lead and sax tones

[kennisrussell]

@bornincj Will do. Coming in a few days.