Quick Guidebook

Quick Guidebook
2008© Copyright Roland Corporation
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Table of Contents
Page
1. Introduction
3
2. Let’s Play the GW-8
Selecting Tones – How to select Tones for Upper and Lower
Favorite Function – Register your favorite Tones
Numeric Buttons – Select Tones and Music Styles quickly
Keyboard Mode – Choose Single, Split or Dual mode
Key Touch – Adjust the keyboard sensitivity
Key Scale – Select Arabian and other scales
Octave Shift – How to change octaves
Transpose – How to change the key
4
5
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
3. Playing with Music Styles
The Backing Types of the GW-8
Try the Music Styles
Variations of One Music Style
Sync Start/Stop
One Touch
Lock
Inside the Music Styles
Part View
Style Converter and User Style
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
4. Real-time Playability
Playback with Audio/MIDI Files – Play with your favorite MP3 songs
Center Cancel – Transform your GW-8 into a karaoke machine
Creating Your Playlist - Play your audio/midi files in order
Playing Your Playlist on GW-8
Performance – Saving your favorite settings
Analog Modify Knobs – Use the GW-8 like an analog synthesizer
D Beam – Move your hands!
Melody Intelligence – Play harmony with just one finger
26
22
24
25
28
30
31
32
33
5. FAQs
34
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1. Introduction
The keyboard market has two very different categories: synthesizers and arrangers. Roland was the first
company to develop a keyboard joining both worlds, the GW-7. With the sound engine of their
entry-level synthesizer JUNO-D and the basic architecture of an arranger keyboard, GW-7 was a great
success around the world.
The GW-8 has other incredible features, like an audio player with Center Cancel, controller knobs to
manipulate the sound in real-time, Performances to save your settings and much more. In this Quick
Guidebook, you will see most of the main features with explanations, pictures and screenshots. With this
book, you can quickly start playing the GW-8 when you read this guidebook entirely, but it’s very
important to read the Owner’s Manual for complete and detailed information about the equipment.
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2. Let’s Play the GW-8
Features:
Page
Selecting Tones – How to select Tones for Upper and Lower
5
Favorite Function – Register your favorite Tones
8
Numeric Buttons – Select Tones and Music Styles quickly
9
Keyboard Mode – Choose Single, Split or Dual mode
10
Key Touch – Adjust the keyboard sensitivity
11
Key Scale – Select Arabian and other scales
12
Octave Shift – How to change octaves
13
Transpose – How to change the key
14
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Selecting Tones
– How to select Tones for Upper and Lower
The GW-8 has 896 Basic (default) sounds, 256 GM2 sounds plus World Bank (localized) sounds
(excluding drum kit sounds). All the Basic sounds are divided into 7 banks (0 to 6). To select a tone,
press the bank sound and turn VALUE dial to choose the tone.
Tone Banks
Value Dial
Let’s try some of them:
PIANO BANK (Acoustic and Electric Piano)
0001 Rich Grand: Very rich grand piano sound, with a sweet ambience. Play softly
for mellow sound and hard for bright sound.
0034 SC Pure EP: Amazing Electric Piano with classic Reverb. Play softly and hard to
listen to the variations in the sound.
KBD/ORGAN BANK (Clavinet, Harpsichord, Bell, Mallet, Organ, Accordion and
Harmonica)
0135 VKHold4Speed: Great Hammond sound with Leslie speaker. Connect a
damper pedal (DP series) to the Hold jack to change the Leslie speed: holding the
damper, you accelerate the speed of Leslie speaker. Without the damper, you have
slow speed.
GUITARS/BASS BANK (Acoustic and Electric Guitar, Acoustic, Electric and Synth
Bass)
0162 SC Brt Nylon: Very real nylon acoustic guitar. Play hard to listen to the “slide”
on the strings.
0188 Searing COSM: Electric Guitar with wild distortion. Good sound to show the
power of GW-8’s DSP effects.
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STRINGS/SCAT BANK (Strings, His, Pad and Voice)
0304 SonicStrings: Rich Strings sound, with all sections (violins, violas, cellos, and
basses). Play staccato with this sound.
0778 JP Strings 1: Classic Roland sound from the vintage Roland synth.
SAX/BRASS BANK (Wind, Sax, Acoustic and Synth Brass)
0381 SC BrsSect 2: Powerful Acoustic Brass with a mix of trumpet, trombone and
sax.
SYNTH BANK (Hard and Soft Lead, Techno Synth, Pulsating and Other Synth)
0434 DC Triangle: Solo Lead with Delay.
0432 Juno Lead: Classic lead from JUNO series.
PERC/SFX BANK (Percussion, Beat&Groove, Plucked, Ethnic and Sound FX)
0893 80s Combo: Loop with arpeggios. Play the loop with left keys and solo synth
with right keys.
0867 Skydiver: A kind of harp and koto, with tap pan delay. Good for lounge music.
RHYTHM BANK (Drum Kits)
All drum kits of GW-8, including the GM2 sets.
WORLD BANK
The GW-8 has its own WORLD BANK, with localized tones.
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TIPS: Press the bank button and press [ENTER] button to see the list of sounds and the sound
categories from this bank. Some banks have two or more categories. To choose it, use
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Favorite Function
- Register your favorite Tones
The Favorite Function allows you to register your favorite tones on each bank. With this feature, you can
load your favorite sounds very quickly.
See how to register your favorite sounds:
1) Select the tone you desire
2) Hold down the button FAVORITE [ON/OFF] and press one of [0]-[9] buttons to register the
sound
You can register up to ten sounds, one for each bank [0] to [9].
See how to select your favorite sounds:
1) Press FAVORITE [ON/OFF] so the button is lit
2) Press one of [0]-[9] in which you registered your sound
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Numeric buttons
For greater speed, you can use the numeric buttons of GW-8 to select Tones, Music Styles and
Performances.
See how to use the numeric buttons:
1) Use the CURSOR buttons up to the numerical value of the TONE
2) Press the button [NUMERIC]. All of the TONE SELECT buttons will light
3) Use the TONE SELECT/NUMERIC buttons to enter the desired digit 0 (zero), 0 (zero), 1 (one)
and press [ENTER]
TIPS: This saves time choosing your desired tone when you already know the Tone number. Please
refer to the numbers in the Tone List written in the Owner’s manual.
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Keyboard Mode
- Choose Single, Split or Dual mode
The GW-8 has three modes to play:
(1) SINGLE: Plays just one sound at time
(2) SPLIT: Plays one sound at the right side (Upper) and other sound at the left side (Lower)
(3) DUAL: Plays two sounds at the same time (simultaneously)
When the lights in both of [SPLIT] and [DUAL] buttons are turned off, you are in SINGLE mode.
TIPS: To select Piano Mode, press SPLIT and DUAL buttons at the same time.
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Key Touch
- Adjusting the keyboard sensitivity
Sometimes, the user may feel that the upper sound is too quiet and that he needs to play very hard to
hear the sound. With this feature, you can adjust the GW-8’s parts to your taste. Let’s see how:
1) Press the [KEY TOUCH] button so it is lit. You will see the Key Touch screen:
2) With the CURSOR buttons
and
select one of the options below:
LIGHT: The best option for the player who doesn’t want to play with a lot of force. Even
when you play softly, you can hear the sound at a good volume.
MEDIUM: In the middle between Light and Heavy. You don’t need to play as hard as when in
Heavy Mode to reach the maximum volume of the sounds.
HEAVY: Here you have the maximum expressiveness over the sounds.
FIXED: All the notes you play have the same volume, even if you change the velocity.
1-127: You can specify the volume value when you are using the FIXED mode
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Key Scale
- Select Arabian and other scales
The Key Scale lets you switch the kind of scale, with different temperaments used in Western music.
See how to use the Key Scale:
1) Press [KEY SCALE] so the button is lit. The Key Scale window will open:
2) With the CURSOR buttons, select the item you want to adjust, and use the VALUE dial to
change the value. Another option is hold down the [KEY SCALE] button and press the note of
whose pitch you want to adjust.
3) When you’ve finished making settings, press [KEY SCALE] button once again to close the
window.
Let’s see how to choose the Arabic Scale:
1) Press [KEY SCALE] so the button is lit. The Key Scale window will open:
2) Use
to choose the ARABIC option and press the [ENTER] button
3) Now, you must choose if you want the Arabic Scale on Upper, Lower or Style parts. Use again
to choose the options and turn the VALUE dial to ON.
4) Press [EXIT] button to go back to the main screen
TIPS: By holding down the [KEY SCALE] button and pressing a key, the pitch of the key becomes 50
cent lower. It’s an easy and quick operation.
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Octave Shift
– How to change the octave
Sometimes you need to play notes that you don’t have on a keyboard with 61 keys, like the GW-8. If you
need to play notes outside of this 5 octave range, you can increase/decrease the octave. You can raise
or lower the pitch by up to four octaves.
Here’s how to change the octave on GW-8:
1) First, choose if you want to change the octave for the Lower or Upper parts. Use
and
to select Upper or Lower
Lower
Upper
2) To raise the octave, press the OCTAVE [+] button. To lower the octave, press the OCTAVE [-]
button
Increasing Upper Octave
Decreasing Upper Octave
Increasing Lower Octave
Decreasing Lower Octave
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Transpose
– How to change the key
Now, imagine that you need to play a song with another musician, and each one plays in a different key:
you play the music in C major and the other musician plays in D major. With the GW-8, you don’t need to
change your key, just transpose the GW-8 to so that it sounds in D major.
See how to transpose the key, using the example below:
1) Hold down the [TRANSPOSE] button and press the OCTAVE [+] button twice.
You will see the next screen:
Now, you are playing in C major, but the GW-8 sounds in D major, the same as the other musician.
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3. Playing with Music Styles
Features
Page
The Backing Types of the GW-8
16
Try the Music Styles
17
Variations of One Music Style
18
Sync Start/Stop
19
One Touch
20
Lock
21
Inside the Music Styles
22
Part View
23
Style Converter and User Style
24
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The Backing Types of the GW-8
Before we play with the Music Styles, let’s see the three types of backing functions inside the GW-8:
(1) STYLE: The Music Style is a kind of “live band” under your hands. You can control the
tonality, the length, and many other possibilities to play any kind of music. It’s important to
say that you need to play chords with your left hand, because this “live band” needs your
command to know which chords to play.
(2) SONG: A song can be played back. You can record your own song or play back MIDI files
(SMF Format). You can use the Song function to sing or play along, muting one or more
tracks of this Song. GW-8 is able to play songs with up to 16-tracks (instruments).
(3) USB MEMORY PLAYER: The GW-8 has one exclusive USB connector for USB flash
memory with SMF or audio files to play on the GW-8. You can load new Music Styles on the
USB flash memory, too.
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Try the Music Styles
GW-8 has six style selection buttons for Music Styles:
STANDARD: The GW-8 has 130 standard Music Styles in 4 banks:
(1) POP/ROCK
(2) DANCE
(3) JAZZ/LATIN
(4) TRADITIONAL
(5) WORLD: In this bank, each local version of GW-8 has its own Music Styles.
(6) USER: You can import new Music Styles from USB flash memory into this bank.
Let’s try one of the GW-8’s Music Styles, 050Motown:
1) Press the [STYLE] button
2) Press the [POP/ROCK] bank button
3) To select the style, press the [NUMERIC] button and digit 0 (zero), 5 (five), 0 (zero) and press
the [ENTER] button. You will see the Motown style
4) Now, press the [SYNC START] button
5) Press the [VARIATION 1] button and the [INTRO 1] button
Play one key on the left side of the keyboard to start the style. Now, try other variations by pressing the
buttons [2], [3] and [4]. Remember if the [AUTO FILL-IN] button is lit, every change of variation will be
preceded by a FILL-IN.
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Variations of One Music Style
The Music Style has a many similar variations that we listen to in music: introduction, soft variations,
fill-ins, heavy variations and ending. See the differences between all the variations of Music Styles:
Variation
Explanation
(Here is the typical structure of each Style. Variations depend on the respective style.)
INTRO 1
Very Short Intro, normally only with drums
INTRO 2
This Intro was recorded only with one chord. This means that you can play your
own chord progression during the Intro
INTRO 3
Intro with most of the instruments of the style
INTRO 4
The complete instrumentation of the Intro
MAIN 1
Basic variation of the style
MAIN 2
Main 1 with a few more instruments
MAIN 3
Good to prepare for the chorus of the song, or a bridge section
MAIN 4
Full version of the style. Good to play the chorus of the song
ENDING 1
Very short Ending of the style
ENDING 2
Like INTRO 2, you can play your own chord progression, because ENDING 2 was
recorded only with one chord.
ENDING 3
Ending with most of the instruments of the style
ENDING 4
The complete instrumentation of the Ending
Each style of the GW-8 has six FILL-INS. You can move from one variation to other using the FILL-INS.
To do it, keep the button [AUTO FILL] lit.
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Sync Start/Stop
The Sync Start/Stop works together the Music Styles. When you select Sync Start, the Music Style is in
“stand by” to play: you just need to play a note on the lower part of the keyboard to start the style.
The Sync Stop is good to use for some “kicks” when you are playing. With Sync Stop
selected, you need to keep your hands on lower keys to play the music style. If you take
your hands off the keys, the Music Style will stop.
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One Touch
For each Music Style, the GW-8 can suggest an appropriate sound. If you select a Music Style and are
unsure which tone to select, you just need to press [ONE TOUCH] and a great combination will be
selected automatically.
See how to use the One Touch:
1) Select the Music Style
2) Press the [ONE TOUCH] button
The tones will be selected.
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Lock
The Lock preserves selected settings of your Performances even when you switch Performances. You
can have dozens of Performances with different Music Styles and Tones saved in each one.
With Lock, you can change the Performance without changing the tones or the Music Styles.
See how to use the Lock function:
1) Press and hold the [LOCK] button for approximately 1 second. You will see the Lock screen:
2) Use
to select the parameter, and turn the VALUE dial to select the value
3) Press [EXIT] button
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Inside the Music Styles
The Music Styles in GW-8 are a complete band to play many different musical genres. Using the Music
Styles, the musician can be a kind of “one man band”. The GW-8 has a lot of fresh new styles to play any
type of music. See the structure of one of the GW-8’s Music Styles:
Drum Track
Bass Track
Accompaniment Tracks 1-6
For each Music Style, GW-8 has eight tracks for playing back styles with eight different instruments. This
means that the GW-8’s powerful music styles are like playing with a real band.
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Part View
With Part View you can adjust the balance between the Upper, Lower and all the Music Style’s parts.
See how to use the Part View:
1) With the [STYLE] button turned on, press the [PART VIEW] button. You will see the Perform
Mixer screen:
2) Use
to select the part whose settings you want change, and use
the item that you want to set
3) Press the [EXIT] or [PART VIEW] buttons to exit
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to select
Style Converter and User Style
You can store your own Music Styles to play on the GW-8. To do it, you need MIDI sequencing software
(like Cakewalk SONAR, sold separately) to record the SMF file that will be converted to the GW-8’s Music
Style. To convert it, you will use the GW-8 Style Converter.
First, you need to create the SMF using SONAR (or other software). It’s necessary to create three files:
one for major chords, one for minor chords and the other for seventh chords. The name of these files
should be:
(style name)_m.mid
for Major Chords
(style name)_x.mid
for Minor Chords
(style name)_7.mid
for Seventh Chords
When you record the Music Style in your software, please respect the following MIDI track
configuration:
After recording all of the MIDI files, you will convert the SMF data into the GW-8’s own style format. To
do it, you need to use the Style Converter software bundled with the GW-8.
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See how to use the Style Converter:
You need to fill the empty spaces with information about the measures (bars). You have to provide
information about all the style’s variations: Intro, Main, Fill and Ending.
Sequencing
Software
Style
Converter
SMF
USB
Flash
Memory
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GW-8’s
User
Style
4. Real-time Playability
Features
Page
Playback with Audio/MIDI Files – Play with your favorite MP3 songs
27
Center Cancel – Transform your GW-8 into a karaoke machine
28
Creating Your Playlist - Play your audio/midi files in order
29
Playing Your Playlist on the GW-8
32
Performance – Saving your favorite settings
34
Analog Modify Knobs – Use the GW-8 like an analog synthesizer
35
D Beam – Move your hands!
36
Melody Intelligence – Play harmony with just one finger
37
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Playback with Audio/MIDI Files
– Play with your favorite MP3 songs
You can play audio/midi files on the GW-8 using USB flash memory. Here are the formats that the GW-8
accepts:
.WAV/.AIFF
8,16,24bits/44.1kHz
.MP3
32-320kbps/44.1kHz
.MID
SMF format 0 or 1
See how to play audio/midi files:
1) Connect the USB flash memory with audio/midi files
2) Press the [USB MEMORY PLAYER] button. You will see the following screen:
3) Use
to select SONG and press the [ENTER] button. You will see the audio/midi files
on the screen:
4) Press [START/STOP] button to play the song
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Center Cancel
– Transform your GW-8 into a karaoke machine
The Center Cancel transforms the GW-8 in a karaoke machine. You can cancel the vocals (in the center)
of the audio file to sing or play along.
See how to use Center Cancel:
1) After the Audio file has begun, press the [MINUS ONE/CENTER CANCEL] button
The mid-range frequencies of the audio will disappear. Remember that all songs have are mixed
differently and not all songs have vocals that are in the center of the mix. This means that the
GW-8’s Center Cancel is not 100% accurate.
TIPS 1: With SMF’s, you can mute any of the MIDI channels to play the SMF without these parts (Minus
One).
TIPS 2: The GW-8 has an external Input Jack (1/8” stereo mini-jack) so that you can also use the
Center Cancel function with a portable audio player like an iPod.
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Creating your Playlist
- Play your audio/midi files in order
With Playlist, you can play all your audio files in your favorite order. You can create your list using the
Playlist Editor software.
See how to create your list:
1) On your computer, collect the songs you want to use
2) Open the Playlist Editor and select FILE and ADD SONG
3) Select the desired song
4) Select EDIT and NEW PLAYLIST
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5) Create a name for your new Playlist
6) Drag the songs from the PLAYLIST LIBRARY to your NEW LIBRARY
7) Now, choose the desired order of the songs with the mouse
8) Connect the USB flash memory to your computer
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9) Click DRIVE SELECTION to select the USB flash memory from the list of drives
10) On TOOL, click on TRANSFER TO USB MEMORY and click OK. The files will be transferred
11) Use the Safely Remove Hardware on your computer to disconnect the USB flash Memory
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Playing Your Playlist on GW-8
Now, see how to play the Playlist on the GW-8:
1) Connect the USB flash memory with your audio files
2) Press the [USB MEMORY PLAYER] button. You will see the following screen:
3) Use
to select PLAYLIST and press the [ENTER] button. You will see your Playlist on
the screen:
4) Select your Playlist and press the [START/STOP] button to play it back.
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TIPS 1: You can play all the songs in your Playlist consecutively, without stopping. See how to do it:
1) On the PLAYLIST SELECT screen, press
2) Use
to select P INFO and press the [ENTER] button
to select Chain Play and press the [ENTER] button
3) Press the [EXIT] button to go back to PLAYLIST SELECT.
4) Press the [START/STOP] button to play the Playlist.
TIP 2: See the commands that you have to play, stop, rewind and fast-forward the songs:
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Performance
– Saving your favorite settings
A Performance is the best way to save all of your settings. You can save many parameters and load back
all of these settings instantly. The following parameters can be saved in a performance:
- Keyboard Mode
- Upper and Lower Tone settings
- Style Settings
- Song Settings
- Effects Settings
- Transpose
- Octave Shift
- D Beam Settings
- Keyboard Touch
- Chord Mode
- Melody Intelligence
Performance is very convenient for live situations, because you can change sounds and settings very
quickly.
See how to save one performance:
1) Make all of your adjustments on the GW-8 (Tones, Music Styles, Effects and other parameters)
2) Press the [WRITE] button
3) Use
to select PERFORMANCE and press the [ENTER] button
4) Enter a Performance name of up to 16 characters using
to move the cursor,
turning the VALUE dial to change each character and then pressing [ENTER].
5) Turn the VALUE dial to select the desired destination, and then press [ENTER]. A confirmation
window will appear
6) Press the [ENTER] button to save the Performance
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Analog Modify Knobs
– Use the GW-8 like an analog synthesizer
The GW-8 has two knobs to control parameters in real-time. With these two knobs, you can instantly
control your sounds in a live situation.
Here the parameters that you can control with these knobs:
MASTER EQ
Equalizer with two bands to control the frequencies of the sound
LOW GAIN
HIGH GAIN
Adjusts the level of the low-frequency range
Adjusts the level of the high-frequency range
EFFECT
You can control the effects in real-time
REVERB
CHORUS
Adds hall or auditorium reverberation. The knob
Adds depth and spaciousness to the sound. The
adjusts the amount of Reverb
knob adjusts the Chorus level
FILTER
Change the color of the sound
CUTOFF
RESONANCE
Changes the spectral components of the sound.
Boosts the high frequency sound in the cutoff’s
Turn the knob toward the right to brighten the
region. Turn the knob toward the right to
sound, or toward the left to darken the sound
strengthen this character, or toward the left to
decrease it
ENVELOPE
Change the way the sound responds when you play
ATTACK
RELEASE
Adjust the time from when you press a key until
Adjust the time from when you release a key until
the sound reaches its full volume. Turn the knob
the sound disappears. Turn the knob towards the
towards the right to lengthen the attack time, or
right to lengthen the release time, or towards the
towards the left to shorten it
left to shorten it
.
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D Beam
– Move your hands!
D Beam is Roland’s exclusive revolutionary infra-red controller. With your hands, you can apply effects or
control settings. It’s a good way to add an extra dimension to your performance.
See how to select the options:
1) Press and hold one of the D Beam buttons:
2) Use
and
to select the options for SOLO SYNTH and ASSIGNABLE 1
and 2
Here are some good functions for the D Beam:
- Solo Synth: plays a monophonic synthesizer sound. It’s good for electronic music
- Drum Roll: it’s a classic snare drum roll. Move your hand closer to increase the volume
- Chimes: They’re very good for ballads and slow songs
- Applause: it’s good when you finish the song and the audience forgets to clap!
- Expression: Allows you to control the volume of sounds. Good for use with brass and
string sounds
- Start/Stop: it’s a very good way to control the Music Style
- Fade Out: gradually decrease the volume of Tones and Music Styles
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Melody Intelligence
– Play harmony with just one finger
When beginners are using Music Styles, it can be hard to play more than one note on the upper half of
the keyboard. But GW-8 can enhance your melodies using Melody Intelligence. You will still be playing
just single note melodies, but you will hear added harmonies. The Melody Intelligence (harmonies) will
be based on the chords that you play on the lower half of the keyboard.
See how to select Melody Intelligence:
1) Press [MELODY INTELLIGENCE] so that the button is lit
2) Press and hold [MELODY INTELLIGENCE] and turn the VALUE DIAL to select the Melody
Intelligence type. Here are some popular options:
DUET
Two part harmony
ORGAN
Good for Organ tones
STRINGS
Good for Strings tones
BLOCK
A cluster of notes to complement your melody
BIG BAND
Good for Brass tones
OCTAVE TYPE1
Octave notes
OCTAVE TYPE2
Variation of octave notes
3) Press [EXIT] to return to the Main screen
4) To turn the Melody Intelligence off, press [MELODY INTELLIGENCE] so its light goes out
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5. FAQs
1. What is the difference between the GW-8 and GW-7?
There are big differences in the sound quality, Music Style architecture, Audio Player, Display and
Storage.
Sound Quality
The sound quality of GW-8 is derived from the top of line FANTOM-X Workstation. The sound quality of
the GW-7 comes from the entry-level synthesizer JUNO-D. The Wave Memory of the GW-8 is 256MB
against 32MB of the GW-7. This means that the sounds of the GW-8 are much more realistic than the
GW-7. Consequently the Music Styles sound much better too.
Music Styles
The Music Style architecture of the GW-7 is very simple: Intro, Original, Fill-In, Variation and Ending.
The GW-8 has the same architecture as the E-80, Roland’s flagship arranger keyboard: 4 Intros, 4 Mains,
4 Fill-Ins and 4 Endings. With all of these variations, your arrangements will be more realistic.
Audio Player
With the GW-7 you can only play SMF files, not audio. The GW-8 is able to play SMF and the following
audio files: WAV, AIFF and MP3. You can also use the Center Cancel to play along with your favorite
artist’s songs.
Display
The GW-8 comes with a new large LCD Display for easy visualization of Upper/Lower Tone and Music
Styles, Perform, Measures Count, BPM and all the information for editing parameters.
Storage
The GW-7 doesn’t have a floppy disk drive or USB flash memory connection, only internal flash memory
(2MB) to save your files. The GW-8 has a USB flash memory connection to offer more flexibility when
saving and loading files. With the USB flash memory you can load audio files, SMF files, new Music
Styles, Performances and save Songs, Performances, Music Styles, Favorite Tones and System Settings.
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2. Can I create Music Styles with GW-8?
Yes. But you need MIDI sequencing software like Cakewalk SONAR (or anything that records midi data)
and the Style Converter software (bundled) to create your own Music Styles. First, you should record the
MIDI data of all the variations of your Music Style and save it into SMF format. Afterwards, you can
convert this SMF file using the GW-8 Style Converter software. When finishing, you must save the
converted file (.STL file) to USB flash memory and load the Music Style into the GW-8.
3. Can I load Music Styles created in other Roland keyboard (E series, VA series)?
No, because the GW-8 has a completely different sound map to other Roland arrangers. Although it has
the same Music Style structure as the E series, the GW-8 can’t recognize the sounds that were used to
record the Music Styles.
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