Support
Looper's Delight
|
Support |
|
|
mark francombe wrote:
Ive been scouring the You Tube vids and reading the manual, and there's one tiny clip that seems like it has some kind of arpeggiator or sequencer function, but cant find anything about it... could be its just part of a patch.. anyone know anything on that?
Alright, Mark, I think I finally found the clip to which you're referring. If it's the one I've seen, I'm pretty certain that the particular sound has the arpeggio recorded directly into the sample (or it's using some sort of wavetable magic to accomplish the same thing). There are a couple of sounds on my GR-20 where they do the same thing -- mostly grooves, mind you. Not bad, but hardly configurable.
However, before I went looking around for that, I became curious about how well you could do some of those tricks using just the built-in functions and effects. And the answer, I think, is that it's a bit quirky but you can have a lot of fun with it.
Now, of course, first caveat is that I'm doing it on the VG-99, and not the GR-55. But, IIRC, both instruments have a similar signal chain, so the techniques should transfer between the two models.
As Per pointed out, you can do a lot with the LFO's on the device (in VG/GR-speak, an LFO is referred to as the 'Wave Pedal'). On the 99, you have a total of 32 individual LFO's which can be routed to 16 different destinations -- and that's for each signal chain, both A & B. That's enough for some pretty twisted modulations.
In this case, I've been routing the Wave Pedals to the Alternate Tuning function. That consists of the overall tuning (turning standard tuning into DADGAD across one whole instrument, for instance), the 'Bend' function (which allows specified strings to have a second tuning triggered externally), and the "12-String" configuration (which adds a harmony note to each string at a specified interval).
This kind of modulation routing results in some pretty interesting "arpeggio-like" behavior. And the routing is configurable enough that I can even program different rhythms/intervals for each string.
Now that's not to say that the programming is a cakewalk. It's done in the same manner as you used to have to do on older modular synths with no sequencer or arpeggiator, where you are summing multiple LFO's to modulate the same pitch destination. Sometimes (frequently) you're staring at the damn things going, "where the hell did that pitch come from". But, if you're into serendipity, that can also be a plus.
Also, the Wave Pedal won't go fast enough in 'Latched' mode (which is what you have to use to get evenly pitched steps, rather than portamento). So, you're stuck summing multiple Wave Pedals if you want a fast (i.e. 8th or 16th note) tempo.
So, in summary Mark: yes, assuming the GR-55's architecture bears even a passing resemblance to the VG-99's, I think you can program some arpeggiator-style patches, even if it doesn't sport an arpeggiator of its own.
-m-