Roland GK-2AH? How does it work?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Ben Walter
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Ben Walter

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Hi all...

I'm just now considering venturing into the realm of MIDI guitar, though I've used MIDI keyboards and sequensing with my Roland VS-880EX for years. I am an accomplished guitarist so this is a natural next move for me. I am considering purchasing a Roland GK-2AH midi pickup for guitar and I'm not sure I understand all of the parts and pieces required.

For example, can I plug a GK-2AH directily into my Roland JV-1010 synth modual, or are there more parts and pieces required? The Roland site says the GK-2AH has a 13 pin connection and the JV-1010 takes a midi input. Whats in between? And can it be done inexpensively?

Thanks in advance!!!

Ben
 
You need the pickup signal-to-MIDI brain to get MIDI out of it. The Roland GR-33 is the current model. I think there are other devices from other manufacturers that take the same signal but I'm not sure.
 
AlChuck is correct - you need a specific device to convert the GK-2 signal to MIDI.
I have a Roland GR-50 - it is an excellent unit - 1U rackmount, fully featured, and as it is approximately 10 years old, usually an excellent buy.
I have found it offers more flexibility than floor mount units.

Although, I have not been overly impressed with the GK-2 tracking abilities. I have tried it on 3 different guitars, and finally settled on a Godin LGX-SA, which has the electronics built in (and offers an amazing wealth of non-midi tone combinations as well fron pickups and piezo).
If you have the cash to spend, I would seriously look into a guitar that has the electronics built in - Brian Moore also makes various models as well as Godin.

Cheers,
mike
 
>Although, I have not been overly impressed with the GK-2 tracking abilities

The GK is just the pickup! The tracking is done by the analog to MIDI converter- (the brain as AlChuck puts it) and all of the Roland stuff is sub-par when compared with the Axon Neural Net.
A really pricey unit but at least it works! It uses the Roland GK- pickup or they can sell you their own version of same.
 
Sorry, but the pitch to voltage converter (which is what the GK-2A is) is what causes the problems. :)
I have found the GK-2A to be much noisier than my Godin, causing spurious harmonics to trigger the synth, thus its "tracking" of the notes is poor.
The synth itself does nothing other than assign the incoming voltage value back to a pitch. If that value is jumping all over the place, those are the notes it is going to play. That is also why you must play cleaner than you (I) normally would :D with a synth guitar.
 
>Sorry, but the pitch to voltage converter (which is what the GK-2A is)

The Axon also uses the GK and it does not do what you describe.

The strings produce a vibration which is converted to a small
analog electrical signal just like any other electric guitar pickup. But each string signal is isolated and sent to the brain. The brain then analyzes these signals in real time and determines their pitch, their velocity and when the strings "stop" so as to generate the MIDI data, which is what is sent to the synth.

Just the opposite of what you describe!
 
Well... you guys have given me lots to think about... and I now remember why I didn't embark on the MIDI guitar thing five years ago... its complicated and apparently, not foolproof! On the other hand, guitar is my forte and should be my input device... I've checked out some of those guitars you mentioned on eBay... wow!! expensive... do those guitars require a "brain" or is the brain built in? Do they work better than the Roland stuff?? but for that price, the Roland package is much cheeper...

Thanks for you input...

Ben
 
Well, I know it's early in the morning here, but ultimately, I do think we are talking about the same thing.
When I referred to synth, I was referring to my GR-50, which has, as a front end, the "brain". (and this early in the day, mine isn't functioning to full capacity... :rolleyes: ).
Anyway, I do concur that the pitch to voltage conversion, as well as velocity, and off/on threshold measurement is done in the "brain" itself. (For some reason, I had forgotten that the p to v conversion was not done in the hexaphonic pickup. Tks for the reset.)
And, yes, "tracking" of the information provided by the GK-2A is dependent on the abilities of this device.
However (there's always a big but around here somewhere - don't let my wife hear me say that :D ), the quality of the hex pickup is very important to tracking - an externally mounted GK-2 simply will not allow the input device to track as well as a guitar/system that has been designed specifically for that purpose. That's all I was trying to get across.
The Axon appears to be a great device, though - the way it functions is different from the GR-50 converter (they call it neural net or something), so I would think it may allow a wider latitude for errors from the pickup itself.
Hmmm, maybe I'll have to try one out...
Cheers,
mike

Hey, Ben, I just saw your reply : As a guitar player (and a *very* poor keyboard player) I love the guitar synth as an input device. Trust me, it's worth it...
The Godin synth access guitars plug directly into a Gr-33 or a GR-50 or Axon via the 13 pin cable. If you have synths you are happy with, I would probably lean towards the Axon.
mike
 
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