Hi Guys,
I'm not actually trying to learn to physically play guitar, just info on how to play guitar music
ie my Korg PA800 has a mode for creating guitar tracks for styles, I record a single note and I get a full chord strum up, another , chord strum down, another note strums up & down, stuff like full down mute body etc etc , also mentions capo's, havent got a clue what most of this means, let alone knowing when one would play a full chord strum up or down.

Can anyone suggest some reading material that might be of help, like are there guitar theory books like I used to have when I learnt piano??

Ai i mentioned earlier, I'm not trying to learn to play, just trying to get a bit of insight.
Unfortunately even piano I can't play by ear, i have to read, do guitar music sheets show when you'e supposed to strum up or down or both.
best wishes
Rikki

I don't know hardly anything about the Korg Guitar Mode, but I might suggest that the best way to get a grip on how it is working is to pick apart any of the factory ROM styles that use it, and take a look at what they are doing with the MIDI....

Hope this helps. Please post back when you have it figured out, as I am fascinated by just how differently Roland and Korg try to achieve (roughly) the same thing...

Hi Diki,
thank you. Your suggestion would be a good idea. I think there's only about 30 or so styles that use guitar mode tracks, hopefully some of them also use the single note strums I'm currently figuring out.


I've slowly starting to work my way thru guitar mode.
I've managed to work out how to record a couple of simple guitar patterns.
Literally as easy as playing a C2 to get a full strum down or a D2 to get a full strum up. There's 12 of these single notes that trigger a variety of strums, muted strums etc. You don't play any sort of a chord for recording guitar mode tracks.

Once you've recorded the strums you could add RX noises to the track. My playing skills aren't good enough to try & record the strums & RX noises at the same time, so once I work out where they should go, I'll just add the noises in step edit mode. ie fret noises, thumps etc

My problem is I don't know how a guitar is played, though I did find a lesson site this morning that has given me a bit of insight
ie the down stroke appears to be the domininant one ie played slightly heavier & usually on beats 1,2,3,4 wheras the up stroke is played more lightly & not neccesarily over all the strings & usually played on the "&" beat of the bar. Very simplistic but gives me something to try.

Next challenge will be the single strings for arpeggio's & working out what the capo does.

I suppose one way of describing what these strummed notes are , is like having a time slice of a strummed chord ( except there's no audio involved).

I have a feeling guitar mode will only work correctly within it's own environment ie that the chords will play back in correct guitar voicing.ie that if saved as a midifile & then converted to just say a psr, ( using midi to style software) the correct voicing may not be maintained when played back by the psr.
I'd even have to check to see if the strummed single notes get expanded into individual notes, I think they do, but I'd have to double check.

Guitar mode is not a function that revoices chords ie you play in a piano chord voicing and it gets corrected to a guitar voicing which is what the Roland does??? or so I thought.

It's really quite an interesting process.

I'm as useless a guitar player as I am a drummer. Be nice to be able to come up with something that sounds as if it really could have been played by a guitarist instead of being programmed on a keyboard. Bit like some of the drum patterns ,where a drummer would have needed 3 arms to play what has been programmed. Not that I'd have a clue, but has been pointed out to me. haahaa

When I get further into it , hopefully I can explain a bit more.

best wishes
Rikki

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Diki:
[B]

A capo is simply a device that bolts down on the neck at any given fret to allow you to play chords using open strings in different keys. An open string is simply a string that you don't need to put a finger on and just rings until it dies out. Normally the only open strings are those at the nut ( that plastic or bone bit that all the strings go over ) at the head of a guitar. But a capo is really just a way of moving a nut to any fret along the neck.

Open strings don't cut off like fingered strings can and just ring on like you would hear in folk songs .... versus jazz or rock guitar where the chords are made using fingers on all strings so can be cut off rhythmically by simply lifting the fingers slightly to stop the strings vibrating.



[This message has been edited by Nigel (edited 03-20-2008).]

Hi Nigel,
thank you for the info.
Now all I have to do is try & figure out how it all fits together as far as guitar mode in the keyboard goes.
Most appreciated.

best wishes
rikki

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Nigel:
[B]

Sadly, one of the things that DOESN'T get modeled in a keyboard guitar sound is the difference between 'open' and fingered notes. Open notes ring longer, and are usually brighter, but in keyboardland, they are all the same!

Maybe in future, they could have open AND fingered samples...

So Diki, et al. (In your opinion) When soloing, do you have to try to make a guitar sound like a guitar in order for it to be a good solo, OR, could you just play what sounds good to you using that voice and not worry too much about whether it sounds like an authentic guitar? Wouldn't we have more creative freedom if we just used whatever technique we possessed to make that particular voice fit the tune? Do we try to emulate/simulate certain instruments because the audience demands that the guitar solo in that cover tune sound like a guitar or could we get away with using that voice (because it's a good fit for the song) without the 'guitar playing' techniques, and perhaps give that solo a whole new interpretation.

Note: I am not necessarily advocating this, merely asking the question. That's because we usually fail so miserably when trying to simulate other instruments from the keyboard. Heck, it's hard to even do a good organ without those waterfall keys.

chas

Hi Diki,
Guitar Mode in the Korg is only for style parts so I doubt you'd notice a difference in strummed chords anyway?? I'll check
the single strings once I get the capo sorted out, but I have my doubts it would be that sophisticated either. They did create a new range of "RealxxxGuitar" sounds to go with the Guitar mode, but the manual is so lacking in detail, compared to the info Yamaha supplies
ie no drum maps
no info on the RX voices
no info on the Real Guitars
no info on the RX noises

wheras Yammie fully details the Mega voices & all the drum maps etc

I remember Roland used to do it too, I would have been lost without my VA7 Drum maps/ or have Roland stopped supplying that info too, I couldn't find the Drum Maps in the E80 manual either, unless there's an extended one.

Is Rolands guitar mode for RH melody playing as well as for styles? if so, a combination of the 2 functions on the keyboards sounds ideal haahaa.

Meanwhile I'll be happy if I can create a few more Unplugged type styles with the guitar mode function. I'm off to study ( as per your suggestion) on how Korg created theirs.

best wishes
rikki
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Diki:
[B]