expectant mom!

25 Aug 2007, 01:57

Hi!
My first post here!
I am impatiently waiting for UPS to arrive on Tues Aug 28th with my nice new V-Synth GT!

It will be my first synth/sampler buy in years. Last one was a Nord Lead 2 I think, about 5 years ago (sold a few years later tho). I must have gone back n forth over whether or not to buy the GT a thousand times...probably more. With all the virtual synths and such out there, and me not being a keyboard player as my primary instrument, I just wasn't sure. Lurking here and seeing all these great instruments discussed, and seeing one person drooling more over this, or yearning more for that, I still felt the GT was what was calling to me.

I finally have the time in my life to write the music that is nearest and dearest to me, goes back to my roots: Prog rock, but more of a blend of those early years of loving Zep, Rush, Yes, and Pink Floyd, and then getting into Queensryche when they first came out thru Mindcrime, a little King Diamond even, and then settling in with the newer Rush, and one of my favs, Porcupine Tree, and even a little Dream Theater. Always loved Saga and their guitar + synth stuff, absolutely underrated and amazing band (especially live), and so many others.

Might want to grab a nice rack unit for leads at some point, not sure what tho. Kinda broke after the GT- lol!!! Oh wait! I lied! I did buy another synth- Nord Electro 2- about 4-5 months ago. Very cool! I am hoping the GT will fill out a spot that Absynth 4 was sorta occupying. The GT just seems like SOOOO much more than anything I have, and just different enough to be worth the price. And who knows- maybe the analog modelling stuff in the GT will be something I like.

Oh yeah- I am a paraplegic. Playing piano is something I have sorely missed. I can play, but without having the pedals to use, it is not even close to the same. With the GT and the D-Beam and Time Trip pad, I am hoping it will be a nice distraction. But, if anyone knows of a way to even use the sustain CC somehow for piano playing without being able to use a pedal, I would love to know!

Sorry to go on and on, but I am dying to get it, and have been sitting here since Monday knowing it was on it's way (bought it from American Musical so I could use the 5 payment thing), lurking the forums here, and trying to distract myself a bit. I am guessing that it would be a good idea to buy the tweakbook?

Thx for the forums, and thx for providing a place for me to babble and gush over the soon-to-be here GT!

nikki

Re: expectant mom!

25 Aug 2007, 09:13

Congradulations on your new baby. I'm sure you can't wait to see his or her precious sight

Re: expectant mom!

25 Aug 2007, 09:19

Congrats Nikk-ki! from what I've heard and read, i don't think you will be disappointed with the GT. Reviews are mixed and varied but over all those who have it and have voiced opinions so far, it appears to be a worthy unit.
To be sure, there must be a way to rig a sustain pedal to use some other way than with the traditional method! We await your first upload to the Roland Powered Music section. (Had almost forgot what great music Saga made, until you reminded me).
Enjoy the new GT when it arrives, but for now, savor the anticipation! There are many in this forum who love the aroma of "new gear". Let us know what you think of little GT after the "labor pains" of waiting for it to arrive, subside. j

- Just Play It -

Re: expectant mom!

27 Aug 2007, 04:25

I checked out your profile. I'm in Portland too and stuck at home with a brain tumor for a while. I was pretty excited to get my XT a couple years ago. I thought Roland stopped making anything decent after about 1984. When the V-Synth came out I didn't even read about it because I just assumed it was an overpriced VA synth. So when I finally found it wasn't and made the decision to buy one it was kind of a big deal for me.

Two years later and I think it would be the last synth I would give up. You can start using it right away without even looking at the manual, but at the same time there's SOOO much going on with it.

Lately I've been really into using the second oscillator's envelope to modulate the first osc. Like, for instance, using a didgeridoo envelope to modulate a square wave, but you don't hear the didg just the square wave. Just that one simple feature gets one line of mention in the manual but has so many possibilities. There's tons of really amazing features that the manual doesn't even go into.

For your sustain pedal issue, I bet it wouldn't be that hard to rig up a MIDI button routed to sustain. The button could be worn as a necklace and you could press down on it with your chin or you could strap it to your bicep and press against your ribcage. The bicep thing would probably look a little better and be a more natural motion. If you make a million dollars with that idea could you please share some, my medical bills are killing me.

You should play around with your GT for a while before buying the tweakbook and see what you come up with on your own. Then get the tweakbook and it won't seem so overwhelming.

Post back with your first impressions once you get your GT.

Re: expectant mom!

29 Aug 2007, 03:08

Whoa!!!
Hi to a fellow PDX'er, and sorry to hear of your medical "fun." Yeah, quite the opposite...

One a positive note- WHOA!!! yet again! Arrived today, and I hokked it up and threw on headphones just to try it out. VERY cool! I want to spend a good amount of time with the manual, but with the Quick Start, I got going already, and had a ton of fun for a few hours. The AP thing is disappointing intially, but I will see what comes after spending more time getting to understand the limitations, and how it will impact what I had hoped for.

I need to figure out audio streaming and USB stuff and all that still. I use Pro Tools, and will eventually want to use MIDI and audio with the GT, recording intially, as well as effecting things after...voices, guitars, bass...hehehee- everything!

The soundscape aspect is obvious, and it was one reason I chose it. The vocal part is another, although I wil have to force myself to not overuse that aspect in every single song...lol.

Nice feel, love the keys, controls and all. Wish I could use a footpedal, but hopefully I will figure something out. Wish it had a breath input, like my K2500XS has. I guess I will find ways to use CC's in non-realtime to accomplish what i want tho. I did not intend the GT as a live tool, but rather a studio tool.

I have an insanely busy schedule for the next 3 days now, so I will be screaming inside, wanting to be home playing instead!!!

nikki

Re: expectant mom!

29 Aug 2007, 03:19

nikki, the AP Synth was not clear to me at first as well. But you can route it to COSM blocks and do really wild things: for example, send an er-hu patch into a banjo resonator, or process a flute with a side-band filter. Moreover, you can even use AP Synth as the vocoder carrier.

Re: expectant mom!

30 Aug 2007, 20:53

Well, I'm green-eyed, Nikki.

Have you looked at Artemio's 'V-Synth Tweakbook' (also just been updated to include the GT)? Some interesting insight, that I'm sure you can take and run with.

Anyways... see you on the other side.

filosofem

Aaron Mulqueen