Is it possible to get "traditional" electric guitar sounds with a Roland with original, Noel, or Mathis sounds? Or does someone need to make some and share the parameters (however you do that)?
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Guitar sounds. Are they possible?
- Thread starter Tom
- Start date
Ventura
Been here for ages!
not really
you can pull out the Jazz guitar patch and play a short lead line
in the middle of a song, or a jazzy riff, or an acoustic for a few
pretty chord sweeps, but if you are talking about playing
Layla or Little Wing, you need an outboard Synth with a really good
basic (primarily sine wave) guitar and a pedal board
i have 1 octaver, 2 pitchbenders, 1 whammy pedal, 1 WaWah and a Distortion pedal
on my board
mostly for Studio use, as this is too cumbersome for Gigging except
in certain specific cases
as far as Guitar songs go, i run from Apache to Jessica to Black Magic Woman
to All Along the Watchtower and similar
any synth engine will do for your basic Guitar, as long as it is a rich harmonic
waveform that will allow pedals to act correctly (as if they were receiving signal
from humbuckers) i have used KORG sound engines since that DW8000 for guitar
you can pull out the Jazz guitar patch and play a short lead line
in the middle of a song, or a jazzy riff, or an acoustic for a few
pretty chord sweeps, but if you are talking about playing
Layla or Little Wing, you need an outboard Synth with a really good
basic (primarily sine wave) guitar and a pedal board
i have 1 octaver, 2 pitchbenders, 1 whammy pedal, 1 WaWah and a Distortion pedal
on my board
mostly for Studio use, as this is too cumbersome for Gigging except
in certain specific cases
as far as Guitar songs go, i run from Apache to Jessica to Black Magic Woman
to All Along the Watchtower and similar
any synth engine will do for your basic Guitar, as long as it is a rich harmonic
waveform that will allow pedals to act correctly (as if they were receiving signal
from humbuckers) i have used KORG sound engines since that DW8000 for guitar
Valski
Well-known member
I have saved a "shred " guitar on my FR8X. I used the Roland set editor, but I didn't spend much time doing it so I can't tell you exactly how I did it was done. I'm not overly pleased with it but it is an electric guitar sound so perhaps you could set up something to your liking if you invested more time and effort than I did. 
I only use it as a parlor trick when someone requests The Chicken Dance, and I then start the "guitar riff" to Smoke on the Water. Had I wanted to play the guitar, I would have purchased one.
I only use it as a parlor trick when someone requests The Chicken Dance, and I then start the "guitar riff" to Smoke on the Water. Had I wanted to play the guitar, I would have purchased one.
Thanks guys! So what I'm getting is the Roland internals are not really very compatible with the electric guitar sounds. Fortunately, as Valski mentioned, there are guitars, and the Roland is so full of a number of things, I'm sure we should all be happy as kings.
You just try making a guitar sound like an accordion. That’s all I can say.
I like Richard Noel's "Clean Guitar" that is Program Bank 10, Register 6 in his UPG's for the FR-8X. I use it on songs such as Hawaiian Wedding Song, Aloha-Oe (Farewell To Thee), etc. When I play my Hammond B3, I play these songs and get a "guitar effect" by "rolling" 6th notes while having the vibrato ON, pressing the swell pedal full open and then simultaneously turning the vibrato OFF and backing off on the swell pedal. This is done on every note (playing two notes a 6th apart). I do this on my 8X by using the bellows for the "swell pedal" I don't switch any vibrato/tremolo on or off, but I use Noel's "Clean Guitar". The guitar tone/sound is better on the 8X than what I can get out of my B3 drawbar settings.
I really enjoy this guitar sound on the 8X. If you are after some of the guitar distortion sounds that you can get when you push a Fender amp into overdrive, this isn't it. Richard Noel has other guitar sounds such as "Steel Guitar", "Jazz Guitar", etc.
John M.
I really enjoy this guitar sound on the 8X. If you are after some of the guitar distortion sounds that you can get when you push a Fender amp into overdrive, this isn't it. Richard Noel has other guitar sounds such as "Steel Guitar", "Jazz Guitar", etc.
John M.
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There are some things in there that can work as a guitar, like everything else in life, it is all a compromise, right?
Cool! I supose I could look at the website, but are the Noel sounds the same for the 4x as the 8x? Maybe just more for the 8x? Does the 4x version have this guitar?
That is a distorted guitar, I tend to prefer it without distortion, and I believe the 4X has that sound too.
I agree with Jerry on the distorted guitar.. The one called "clean guitar" is the one I like.
TravisWhitaker
Newbie
As a newbie here, I'm excited to join this awesome forum! Regarding the guitar sounds, I think it's totally possible to get those "traditional" electric guitar vibes using a Roland with original, Noel, or Mathis sounds. While creating custom parameters is a great way to fine-tune your tone, there are often some pre-existing settings that can get you close to what you're after. Experimenting and sharing tips is what makes this community so special!
TravisWhitaker
Newbie
But if you're interested in the history of the guitar in standard tuning, check out this fascinating resource https://ironageaccessories.com/blogs/iron-age-general-blog/guitar-in-standard-tuning-history. It's packed with intriguing insights into how this iconic instrument has evolved over time.
Rodney
Active member
I agree wholeheartedly!
breezybellows
Well-known member
These are some tones I made. Not sure how close they are to the original sound.
Thomas N
Well-known member
I recently purchased a Yamaha Montage M8x with massive sounds that are meticulously crafted with gigs of ROMs, polyphonic aftertouch and every parameter available for control you could ever imagine. Its guitar sounds are ..... decent.
The Roland FR-8X guitar sounds, in my humble opinion, are terrible. Just as I cringe whenever I hear somebody use the Roland Piano sound on the FR-8X, I cringe on every guitar patch ever played as well.
The Roland FR-8X guitar sounds, in my humble opinion, are terrible. Just as I cringe whenever I hear somebody use the Roland Piano sound on the FR-8X, I cringe on every guitar patch ever played as well.
One problem (or viewed differently, unrealistically a non-problem) is that with sampled sounds, distortion is usually applied separately to every note instead of to the combination of notes. Guitar players know the effect of chords getting more complex (usually completely mushed up) if you put distortion on chords. There are some rare pickups that provide a separate signal for every string: you could use that for applying "ganged" distortion that sidesteps intermodular distortion in the same way as the chording of distorted samples on a keyboard does. Instead, this is used more for equalizing the strings separately (namely for treating the strings differently from one another rather than separately from one another)
or for midification with better success rate than on the combined signal.
With electric guitars, the "sweet point" for distorted play tends to be power chords (just a fifth on top, possibly another octave). With independently distorted samples, power chords are somewhat weak.
Maybe one should not view Roland sounds as an imitation of the real thing but like a flavoring conjuring the real thing and possibly delivering different benefits. Like people buying "vegetarian burger patties" don't really expect an imitation of grisly sinew residues and blood dripping from the unfried patty. Or complain when their cat leaves it alone after taking a sniff with their rather more discriminative noses.
On my first-generation FR-1b, most of the orchestral sounds are so-so (with violins probably being the low point), but in bass accordion mode (a feature introduced with version 2.0.0 of the firmware and thus probably working from the same sound patches), the orchestral sounds (a comparatively slappy bass guitar, a plucked double bass, a bowed double bass, and, well, "tuba mix") are a lot more fun.
For what it's worth, the sound that is the most "manufactured" in that it does not really follow a single original instrument faithfully is the "tuba mix" and it's also quite the worst. Not exactly supporting my theory that diverging from original instrument sounds gives the potential for creating something better.
The Yamaha Genos 2 has one of the best guitars I have heard on a keyboard. But without the use of a joystick to bend the notes, it may be difficult to simulate. Although, you can bend notes with an expression pedal on the FR4x. Which I demonstrated with the Airturn bt500s and widi dongle.
Although, maybe the ribbon control on the new Korg FISA may provide this? I will try this on my Korg PA5x.
Although, maybe the ribbon control on the new Korg FISA may provide this? I will try this on my Korg PA5x.
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