Description | Any guitarist can play the GR-300, using all standard guitar playing techniques, including: hammering, glissandos, harmonics, chopping, etc. The GR-300 produces effects and nuances which keyboard synthesizers cannot easily produce. In order to use the GR-300 Guitar Synthesizer unit you must have a Roland compatible guitar controller such as the G-303 or G-808 with the divided HEX pickup installed.
To produce the effect of the GR-300, you would need: 6-octave shifters + 6-com pressors + 6-chorus machines + 6-distortion units + 6-phase shifters + waw + etc. + etc It is very easy to produce anything from simple or complex solo sounds to the sounds of a huge band or orchestra. All major functions are controlled with foot switches and require no hands.
Small, compact unit (like an effects box) with all electronic- type foot-controlled switching of major functions; good for live perform- ance. Produces stable effects for all styles of guitar playing which, up to now, were impossible: hammering, glissando, chopping, etc. Totally polyphonic: one VCO for each string. Instant and accurate transposing to two preset pitches. Duet switch for chorus effect. Polyphonic distortion for new clarity, even with chords.
The actual synthesizer module sat on the floor and had the rugged appearance of a large guitar-type foot pedal (complete with carrying handles). It featured 6-voice polyphony, one voice per string and 2 oscillators per voice. Each pair of VCOs were harmonically locked to each string but could be tuned separately to play different pitches. The GR-300 also featured a VCF with variable lengthsweep up and down, and an LFO. Each string had an enable-disable switch as well as a string sensitivity switch (basically audio compression). Built-in footswitches controlled the VCO mode (single/dual), the VCO harmonize pitch (detuning of the VCO's), and the VCF mode (on, bypass, or inverted). There was also a pedal control input for the VCF. The GR-300 could output either the guitar, the synth, or a mix of the two. |
