Well, I finally got around to taking my own advice!

I have always felt that conversion of styles is MUCH easier if you can actually listen to the original. So... I fired up my ZoomH2 and recorded the GW-8L's ROM styles (so far, just the Pop/Rock section - all 56 of them!) to help those trying to convert these. Even other Roland arrangers (E/G series) fail to map the sounds very well, it being a new product based on an entirely new module from previous Roland's (Sonic Cell). So just loading the style is going to sound TERRIBLE!

You've either got to pore over the patch maps for each product to try and figure out from the style data what sound is supposed to be which, and even that's not that easy, as cryptic as some of the names are, or simply LISTEN to the original, upon which, what sounds each of the Parts are becomes pretty obvious.

I prefer the latter!

So, for all your listening and tweaking pleasure, here are the audio files: http://www.synthzone.com/files/GW8-L%20Rock_Pop%20styles%20audio.zip

Nigel has been very kind to host this for quite a while. A word about the files. This is a fairly large file (about 64MB) so those on dial up better be prepared to wait a long time! Due to forum software, it has to be one file, so it is a folder containing the 56 styles in MP3 format. They are recorded at 128kbps (would have liked a bit better, but the file size would have mushroomed). For all but abacus and spalding, this should be sufficient for you to tell all the parts' sounds..!

The structure I chose was Intro4 (the complex one) Var1 Fill1 Var2 Fill2 Var3 Fill3 Var4 Fill4 (forgot this one on some of the recordings) and Ending4 (the complex one). All on the chord of Cmaj. Every sound the style uses should be present with this system.

The styles themselves (untweaked, in simply GW-8 form) are available here: http://www.roland-arranger.com/smf/index.php?topic=1179.msg7126#msg7126 along with manuals and patch lists. Only the ROM styles and NOT the World section are here, as the GW-8L has an additional 64MB of samples specifically for those World styles, and would translate VERY poorly to arrangers without them.

For those of you with slower internet collections, each of the styles' audio can be streamed from here: http://roland-arranger.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=302&Itemid=42 (with thatks to Søren at R-A.com for all his work putting them up).

I am not sure if you have to be a member to stream them. If so, don't worry, it's free and easy to do...

I am currently working on the remainder of the ROM styles (Jazz/Latin and Traditional) and will get those posted as soon as recorded...

I hope those of you into style conversion will find this resource useful. I only hope that some of you find it SO useful that you might consider doing it to your OWN arranger's ROM styles. I would particularly like to hear recordings of PA1X, PA2X and T2 styles, to help with my own conversions. Yes, it takes a fair bit of time (these took me maybe 2-3 hours recording), but it will be an invaluable resource that will remain useful for a LONG time...

Enjoy.

Diki,
Even if I have no direct benefit from this, other than getting a pretty good idea on how GW-8 sounds out of the box without having to find and play one, I would like to extend my congratulations for your work Diki. Sacrificing 2-3 tedious hours for this task is no little feat.
Thanks

For some reason, Win zip 12 Pro does not like the archive, I opened it with 7zip

Thanks, trident. To be honest, it was not THAT onerous a task, as I was getting to hear the styles for myself too, often for the first time.

I don't think it is all THAT representative of how the instrument sounds and plays, to a certain extent, because one chord repeated ad nauseam doesn't really give you an impression of how the style sounds with changes being applied. I still encourage you to go and find one to play, if these pique your interest even a little.

At its' price point, it is a worthy contender, IMO.

There are some styles/intros reminding me of:

Every Breath you take,
Something U2 like,
Jump,
Rock me Amadeus
Macarena
Nothing's gonna stop us now
Smells like Teen Spirit or something else I can't place
Like a Rolling Stone (live from Rolling stones)

Were they "simple", "empty" or "uncluttered" sounding or is it just me?

I think the styles themselves have a very 'Roland' like flavor. On the whole, yes, I think Roland leave more space for YOU to play than most others do.

Intros and Endings, OTOH, can get a bit cluttered, but don't forget, this is one of four Intros, usually, a countoff, a simple Intro, a simple Intro that YOU play the chords on, and the complex, full one you hear on the demos. If you use Intros at all (I tend to skip them except the count in), you'll usually find something that works...

Would you prefer I decompress the zip and just put all the files in a folder so that they can be downloaded separately instead of one big file?

We have them all streaming individually up at the R-A.com site, if users prefer that. Up to you, in the end, but the individual thing IS covered...

Diki,

Could you post or send me the additional latin styles of the G8L (latin & brazilian), I guess it would be from the extended latin section.

Thanks,



[This message has been edited by mc (edited 10-09-2009).]

Hi Diki,

can you please just give me a couple of the world styles from the GW-8L?

I am just after the Beguines / Boleros / Merenges and Bossas.

I am happy to spend time remapping the drums and other instruments to get as close as I can.

I understand as you say that most of the world styles rely on the extra sound samples, i just really want to see what i can do with the existing sound and rhythm set of the GW-8E.

thanks it would be much appreciated!

OK.... It'll take me a while (you have to copy them all one by one to the user area) but I'll get on it.

Thank you Diki for your work.
Apart from some drums and ac piano, most sounds and styles in particular , is no comparism to say PSR s 700.Especially guitars and overall style programming.Too early 90's for me.

I know I'll be breaking some hearts here but , just IMHO. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImsxV32ii8U

Well, to each his own... Personally, the drums rock my world on this one. Other sounds too, mostly, but organs are weak. Of course, there's no Mega Voice guitars and basses, a clear Yamaha advantage. But, great guitars on a compressed drum sound ain't no improvement, in my book!

Shame it's no walk in the park (which it ought to be) to connect the two together (S710 and GW-8L) and get the best of both worlds. Actually, thinking about it, those two ought to compliment each other quite well...

C'mon, arranger manufacturers! Get your sh*t together and pick a MIDI standard for connecting two arrangers..

Another vote of thanks to Diki for this work, much appreciated.

I agree Jamman GW8 is clearly no match for a Yamaha S-series unit...the proof is in the video.

Well, as long as Donny says it is 'clearly' no match, that I guess settles it!

Mind you, put Voncken or Baartman on a GW-8, and maybe it's not so 'clear'!

I think the GW-8 sounds terrific....a great way to add some variety and the Roland sound to your kit.

Still, I'm hoping the next OS upgrade will add Style Assembly/Part swapping.

Great little 'board, just the same.

You can do style assembly out of the box (does the Yamaha do it in the box?) in a computer by using MIDI. It's a bit convoluted, but it can be done.

Roland made a free program to do this...

I'd much rather do it on the keyboard...I can hear the changes right away...can you edit them in your G70, and use them in the GW-8?

I'm betting style making will be on Yamaha's lower priced instruments, so Roland should take advantage while they can.

No word on a G70 replacement?

Got my PSR-S910 today...very nice.

Haven't tried doing it with a G70. Thing would be, you couldn't really audition it without having to change it to G70 sounds (might be able to do it with MIDI out, not sure about that) which would kind of defeat the purpose.

I thought that much of Yamaha's style editing and creation had to be done with PC programs, though. Or is that just the Mega stuff?

Yes, style assembly out of existing parts would be great to have in the box, but good grief! You've got to leave SOMETHING for MOTL and TOTL models to have over the baby of the family! Otherwise, how you going to sell a G80?