Re: VG-88 and Roland GR-33 dissapearing rumors

[David Coffin <dpcoffin@earthlink.net>]

On Dec 24, 2005, at 1:13 PM, mech wrote:
> I'm much more interested in twisting sounds sideways with the  
> Harmonic Restructuring than I am playing traditional synth sounds


I certainly hope something big and interesting for 13-pinners is in  
the pipeline from Roland.


But in the meantime, ANYone interested in HRM-COSM or general VG  
synth-ing should understand how much more versatile the VG-8 is than  
the 88. It all comes down to this: Per-string pitch-shifting is  
GLOBAL on the 8, and NOT on the 88. Also, the 8 allows pedal  
crossfading from shifted tones to unshifted; very musical: feedback  
fading in, pedal-steel morphs, etc...

The significance is that on the 8, ANY tone you come up with, using  
ANY models, can be retuned/shifted, so a far vaster range of outside- 
but-still-guitaristic tones is possible than on the otherwise cool  
88, which only allows shifting on one or two models, not even  
including many of its HRM ones; it’s a ridiculous example of the  
manufacturer not getting the best ideas on its own products, and  
doesn’t auger well for the next-gen VG-whatever (altho the GT-8  
pretty much rectified the dumbing down of the GT series that happened  
with the GT-6...hope?). Stratospheric or subterranean tones, pitch- 
gliding, and multi-string/different-interval pedal shifts (just like  
a pedal steel) are every bit as powerful “synth-ifying” tools as  
anything in the HRM modelS on either version of the VG.

VG-evangelism at your service, 24/7...
dc
(merry hols, folks!)