Let your guitar take you places you've only dreamed about.
A breakthrough for you and your guitar.
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Now is the time for guitarists to try something new. Roland's GR-1 Guitar Synthesizer gives every guitarist the power to command an entire arsenal of sounds and MIDI equipment with something they know and love -- their favorite guitar. The GR-1 puts Roland's latest synthesis technology in a remarkably simple pedal unit that has been designed from top to bottom with guitarists in mind.
It's about time.
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The GR-1 Guitar Synthesizer is a self-contained floor unit that is as easy to setup and use as an effects pedal. You can hook up your favorite guitar to the GR-1 with the GK-2 Guitar Driver, and a new world synthesis will open up for you. All of the GR-1's functions have been designed for the needs of guitarists, from sound editing to effects to the on-board 4-track sequencer.
The promise fulfilled.
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Affordable and easy to use, the GR-1 brings the world of synthesis and MIDI to any guitarist. It features Roland's latest digital technology and an amazing number of sounds. With the GR-1's multitimbral capability and sequencer, you can access a whole new array of sounds right from your guitar.
A great new relationship.
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The relationship between your guitar and the world of synthesis will
never be the same. With the GR-1 you can create sounds that were once accessible only from a keyboard, and you can do it without altering your playing style. The possibilities for getting new sounds for performing and composing are limitless with the GR-1.
Turn your favorite guitar into a guitar synthesizer.
Just mount the Roland GK-2 Synthesizer Driver (sold separately) onto your own guitar, connect the GK-2 to the GR-1 Guitar Synthesizer and you're ready to play. The GK-2 easily fits most steel-stringed electric or acoustic guitars so you can use almost any guitar you want. Whatever your playing style, the GR-1 complements it perfectly.
Simple system configuration and easy set-up.
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The compact and lightweight GR-1 connects to your amp just like an effects unit, and it's just as easy to set up. The GR-1 features built-in footswitches for controlling parameters and changing sounds, and its MIDI In/Out ports let you connect directly to additional sound sources, effects units or other MIDI equipment.
Lightning fast response with conventional guitar playing techniques.
The GR-1 converts your guitar signal digitally for exceptionally quick and accurate response. With the newly developed pitch/envelope detection circuit, you can use traditional guitar techniques like hammer-ons, pull-offs and string bends naturally, and you won't feel like you're limited by a synth.
Sound source at the cutting edge of digital technology.
The GR-1 features Roland's latest digital sound source, already made famous in keyboards and sound modules such as the JV-30/80 Multi Timbral Synthesizer and the SC-155 Sound Canvas. Sounds are produced by processing high-quality PCM waveforms through advanced digital synthesis techniques such as a high-performance TVF (Time Variant Filter). This new sound source offers 200 superb-sounding preset Tones that were created by guitarists especially with guitar synthesizer applications in mind. The preset Tones cover everything from realistic acoustic instruments like pianos and brass to rich, full-bodied synth textures that are unique to the GR-1. Many multisamples are included so you get accurate sound over the entire pitch range. Velocity mixing allows for natural dynamic changes. Put all this together and you have incredible expressivity. There's also a built-in drum set for use with the GR-1's multitimbral mode. The GR-1's 24-voice polyphony is enough to handle nearly any application you have in mind.
Distinctive guitar synthesizer playing techniques.
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The GK-2/GR-1 combination lets you enhance your performance with guitar synth techniques. For example, you can play chords and bass lines simultaneously by assigning an organ sound to the 1st through 4th strings and acoustic bass to the 5th and 6th strings. To get thicker sound textures, sounds like piano and strings can be layered. For other Tones like sax and trumpet, pitch transpositions such as fifths can easily be set. Using Velocity switching, you can alternate between the two different Tones through picking strength. Or set the Velocity mix so you can add another Tone by picking harder. These features and many others give you natural dynamic control of your music.
Expand memory when you need more sounds.
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An optional wave expansion board (SR-GR1-01) with 200 additional Tones can be added to the GR-1 to increase the available Tones to 400. That's equal to 12MB in a 16-bit linear format. An optional Patch Card containing a variety of Patches is also available.
Comprehensive onboard effects.
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The GR-1 features high-quality onboard digital effects including eight reverb/delay modes and eight chorus modes. These are pro-quality digital effects, so you can produce pro synth sounds without external effects processing.
Enter the MIDI world with the GR-1.
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It's easier getting into MIDI with a familiar instrument. You can use the GR-1 as a guitar-to-MIDI interface that transmits your guitar performance data as MIDI signals to control external sound sources such as samplers and sound modules. Use the GR-1 to also input music data onto a digital sequencer like the Roland MC-50 Micro Composer or a personal computer with sequencing software. You can also use the GR-1 as a MIDI foot controller to transmit Program Change and Control Change messages to other synthesizers, sound modules or MIDI effects devices.
Multitimbral capability gets the most out of MIDI applications.
Along with its dedicated guitar part, the GR-1 is also a four-part multitimbral sound module. Using the sequencer, you can play three different instruments and a drum set simultaneously. This allows you to perform complete songs without using additional sound sources.
Multi-track recorder keeps track of musical ideals.
The GR-1 has a four-track digital recorder that takes advantage of the GR-1's multitimbral abilities. Controls are similar to those of a tape recorder so song data is easy to input, even the drum part. With just your guitar and the GR-1, you can assemble complete rhythm sections and ensembles. The recorder makes it easy to put down musical ideas that you can use to create songs later. In performance, the GR-1 can play intros and endings. Playback and record start/stop can be controlled with the GR-1's footswitches, so your hands can stay where they belong, on your guitar.
If you use effects, you're ready to add the GR-1 to your onstage setup.
Realtime editing of a sound is easy and familiar using the seven knobs in the Macro Edit section. Change the attack, sustain, vibrato and other parameters to customize sounds, and set reverb and chorus depth to your preference. For more control, you can specify complex settings for each string -- as easily as using an effects unit.
In addition to selecting Patches, the GR-1's footswitches allow you to control Hold, Recording Start/Stop, Modulation, and the Tuner. And though both your hands are occupied when you play, you can use the GK-2's switches and knobs to set master volume level and select footswitch mode.
The rear panel sports external pedal jacks for a volume pedal and an assignable pedal.
You can assign a pedal to control internal synth parameters such as TVF cutoff or balance between two tones in realtime during performance. The large fluorescent Indicator is easily visible on a dark stage, so you can control your performance with confidence.
Flexibility a guitarist needs.
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The GR-1 gives you several options for mixing your guitar signal with the internal sounds. For a simple single amp setup, you can mix your direct sound with the synthesized sound and route the mixed signal from the GR-1's main output to the amp. For processing only the direct guitar sound with distortion or other effects, use the Guitar Output and Return jacks on the GR-1's rear panel.
You can run your guitar in stereo by routing the guitar output into a stereo effects processor and routing its stereo outputs back into the GR-1's Stereo Return jacks. Both the stereo processed guitar and GR-1 synth sound will be sent to the GR-1's mixed outputs.
If you're recording, you can run the synthesizer sound directly into the mixing console while your guitar signal goes out of the Guitar Output jack, through your effects units and into your guitar amp. The GR-1 also has a headphone jack for monitoring your sound and practicing.
Patch Structure
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* You can select two Tones from the 200 available Tones, and assign four modes -
- the 1st Tone alone, 2nd Tone alone, 1st and 2nd Tones, and mute individually
for each string (1st to 6th). You can also edit any Tone independently by
changing envelope (attack/decay/release), filter (cutoff/resonance) and
vibrato (rate/depth) parameters.
* For the two Tones you've selected, you can set reverb and chorus effects on or
off, volume balance, detune, stereo panning and vibrato rate change. You can
set the note shift for each string individually as well.
* The GR-1 stores 64 customized Patches along with parameter settings in memory,
and an optional M-256E memory card will hold another 64.
GR-1 Guitar Synthesizer Specifications
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Sound Source PCM with digital filtering
Maximum Polyphony 24 voices
Number of Multitimbral Parts 1 Guitar Part 3 Parts 1 Rhythm Part
Memory Capacity Patches Internal Memory 64
Memory Card 64
Original Tones Internal Memory 200
Expansion Board 200
Recorder 4-track recorder
(for internal multitimbral sound sources)
Song Data Storage Capacity Internal Memory: 1 song approx. 2,000 notes
Memory Card: 1 song approx. 2,000 notes
Max. Length of Song: 999 measures (repeatable)
Tempo Quarter Note = 20-250
Built-In Effects Reverb Delay, Chorus
Controls
Footswitches Number 1-4, Up, Down
Macro Edit Section Target select, Value x 7, Volume
Switches Buttons Original Tone (1st, 2nd), Parameter (Next,
Previous), Value (Inc, Dec), Cursor ( <,>,)
Enter Yes, Exit No, Reverb Chorus, Reset, Start
Stop, Rec, String Model (Individual, Change),
Patch Group (Up, Down), Edit ?System, Patch,
Recorder Part, Write Copy)
Display Custom Fluorescent Indicator
Connectors Mix Out L (Mono) R, Guitar Return L (Mono) R,
