Digital Synthesizer Question

[JohnnyCNote]

For a long time I've thought of building a digital synthesizer using the guitar as the controller. What I want to do is to sample various sounds and instruments and play them as guitar notes through a guitar amp. Also, I want to be able to pan between the magnetic pickup and synthesizer pickup outputs with a foot pedal.

For example, the synthesizer could have a rich pipe organ sound, while the more standard guitar sound would also be available, all by moving the pedal. That way I could blend the two, or have one or the other. During a song I could fade in various sounds at will.

I know I'd need something like the Roland GK-3: Divided Pickup connecting to a Roland GI-20: GK-MIDI Interface. But the question is what does the GI-20 connect to? My brother once tried to explain this to a sales rep at a music store, but the guy was essentially clueless (what a surprise!).

If it works like what I have in mind, it should qualify as some sort of "ultimate" kind of set-up . . .

 

[kristallin]

The GI-20 connects to any MIDI-capable sound generator, like a rackmount synth or a laptop with a MIDI interface running a software synth.

If you have a laptop have a close look at Reason as a sound source. Everything is controllable via MIDI, it's pretty easy to learn, and there are about 179 metric tons of soundbanks available for the software. It's not too expensive, either (yes, you should pay for your software, or karma will punish you with bad songwriting skills)

 

[JohnnyCNote]

Thanks for the info! What are some good rackmount modules that work well with guitar?

 

[SplinteredSoul]

The roland GK pickup and various versions of the Roland V basically turn your guitar into midi, then you can do what you like. The analog answer to this is Shadow, if you can still find it. Once it's midi, you can connect it to whatever you like. I recommend something like the Roland gear for tracking through. The shadow requires all notes to be atomically accurate or it throws a hissey fit.

Don't know how fond of your Guitar you are, but there's a few axes out there with GK pickups onboard already. Fender do a strat with the GK nicely installed, or there's the mighty Godin LGX-SA, which is fantastic.

 

[JohnnyCNote]

I've seen some of the midi guitars available, and they are worth checking out. This is more long-term than my other plans, but I figure it's time to at least get familiar with the equipment . . .

 

[SplinteredSoul]

Biggest drawback for me is that there isn't a 7 String midi Guitar, or midi pickup out there. At least no one I've spoken to has seen one

 

[kristallin]

Thanks for the info! What are some good rackmount modules that work well with guitar?

The Roland Fantom-XR, Yamaha's Motif Rack, Korg M3-M... those for the more standard sounds (Pianos, strings, organs and so on), but for pure synth sounds the Nord Racks are really awesome, but if you can afford it, the Dave Smith Prophet 08 rack is absofuckinglutey amazing. Like cream your pants good.

 

[JohnnyCNote]

Thanks again! What I'd like is something that gives realistic strings, organ sounds, etc, plus has a sampler so I can use other non-musical sounds, but phrase them like guitar notes. I'm sure what I have in mind is going to cost big $$$$$, but maybe I can start with other components that would be compatible with whatever I might get. If nothing else, it's nice to dream about . . .

 

[kristallin]

Thanks again! What I'd like is something that gives realistic strings, organ sounds, etc, plus has a sampler so I can use other non-musical sounds, but phrase them like guitar notes. I'm sure what I have in mind is going to cost big $$$$$, but maybe I can start with other components that would be compatible with whatever I might get. If nothing else, it's nice to dream about . . .

Well, dedicated samplers don't really exist anymore, but I'm pretty confident the M3-M can import samples, not too sure, but the Roland and Yamaha most likely do as well. As long as you can record your source material another way these units can import it.
A software solution may be your best bet, like Native Instruments' Kontakt sampler, the sound bank has really good stock sounds like pianos, strings and so on, it also reads 99.9% of all past and current sample formats, and gives you lots of sound-mangling tools to go crazy with. You can get a Muse Receptor rack module with all Native Instruments plug-ins preloaded, and Kontakt and Absynth alone is with the price of admission, on top of that you'd have Massive, Battery, Reaktor, B4 (great Hammond clone), Elektrik Piano, Akoustik Piano... a metric ton of toys.

 

[JohnnyCNote]

Rather than a dedicated sampler, I'd want a synthesizer with the ability to play sampled sounds. It wouldn't be a problem to acquire them by recording or whatever. If I could find the sounds already recorded, that would be fine too, since they'd presumably be of good quality . . .

 

[SplinteredSoul]

Rather than a dedicated sampler, I'd want a synthesizer with the ability to play sampled sounds. It wouldn't be a problem to acquire them by recording or whatever. If I could find the sounds already recorded, that would be fine too, since they'd presumably be of good quality . . .

Midi port into a laptop FTW

 

[kristallin]

Midi port into a laptop FTW

Yep. Reason, Kontakt, Absynth... and that's just for starters, depending on how esoteric you want to get sound-wise. They'll all do your standard sounds, but the flexibility of a MIDI-ed laptop and some software is unmatched, especially if you don't have Hans Zimmer's budget.

 

[JohnnyCNote]

Well, I do happen to have a laptop sitting around that I rarely use. The question is if it would be adequate for the task. On the other hand, I could get a rack-mount case and build something with an MATX motherboard. It would be easier to upgrade, among other things, and probably cheaper. Would it be possible to build an entire synthesizer using a PC platform?

 

[jazzsinger]

I've been using guitar synth for about ten years. It's especially good for organs and strings. I stopped for about a year and now I'm back into it.

Some possibly useful information:
Hex pickups don't convert sound to midi. The Roland pickups are mag and simply pick up one string at a time with little interference from the others. The Ghost system and RMC are piezo pickups that also work for an acoustic/electric sound. They track better than Roland hex pickups in my opinion. GraphTech will sell a custom set for seven string that will work for acoustic sounds, but might be problematic for synth. It's possible to get a fan box (from RMC or make your own) that takes each individual pickup to its own output for processing. A GI-20 or guitar synth converts the sounds from the pickup to midi so they can used by a synth. Some guitar synths (Roland GR 30 for example) have standard midi outputs to connect to outboard synths. A synth such as the Roland GRxx cost more than a converter, but certainly take up less room and require fewer things to plug in, and yet can still be used with outboard gear.

 

[JohnnyCNote]

Thanks for all the info!