just got a Juno Gi. Got some questions

[Xtrife]

Hi all. I purchased a new Juno Gi about two weeks ago, havent had much time to use it but I'm loving it so far.

I have a couple of questions though, wondering if any of you guys could help me.

1. Is there a countdown click for the recorder? every time i tried recording something i'd have to start playing and press the record/play button simultaneously, resulting in out of tempo playing and such.

2. Is there a way to assign separate values to the pitch bend joystick? what I normally use is +2 to the right (+x) and -12 to the left (-x). I can't seem to be able to set it that way on the Gi. There's the D-Beam though, I was hoping that, in case i must leave the joystick range at +2 then maybe i could set the D-Beam to do a -12 pitch bend? I've tried to set it to assignable and set it to pitchbend but so far, the pitchbend range is still the same one that's assigned to the joystick, so -2...


Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

[tnicoson]

1. Here is a link to a YOUTUBE tutorial on setting up a metronome/click track with the Rhythm Pattern section:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhEvaFPNObY


2. Section 3 [PITCH] on Page 36 of the manual - Bend Range - 0 to 24 - states that equal amounts of bend will be applied to both left and right directions of the lever, so no help there.

The D-Beam is limited to a max of 6 semi tones of up or down pitch bend, so you could set it for your +2 (right) bends and the lever (in the left direction only) for your -12 bends.

Enjoy your new Gi. It has some quirks, but it is still a really nice board.

Regards,

Ted

[Xtrife]

Thanks Ted.

I have to say though, the way he sets up the metronome is not doable for me. I mean, what if I were to record some part in the middle of a song, would you have to find out what measure of the drum track arrange the part is at, remove it, then add a metronome just to record the part, then replace the metronome with the previous drum track arrange ?

[tnicoson]

Xtrife

Mmmm ! Yes ! I see your point. I guess if I were faced with that situation, I would probably just try to use the drum track as the metronome, but now I am getting kind of out of my league. The only time I record to the Gi's onboard recorder is when I am just noodling with new ideas. I do all of my keyboard formal takes to a MIDI sequencer so that I can change mix parameters and voices and make microscopic corrections, etc. That is why I am never without my trusty iPad and Acer Netbook with Sonar on it. (I bought an extra large carry bag with a strong shoulder strap!) Then I add any vocal or acoustic instrument audio tracks and mix it all down to a stereo audio file. The MIDI file has the added advantage of providing me with a boiler plate archive for future remixes. This is my way of coping with a coming age of sequencer-less keyboards. I think the youtube video you viewed on a metronome track for the Gi is that fellow's way of coping with the same trend.

I wish I could be more help with this. I did read through the titles of the various posts here, but didn't really see anything that would seem to apply. Hopefully another Gi user that has already found a solution to this will pop in here and give you some advice. In case you have not found it yet, there is another popular Roland Forum over at Keyboard Forums. You might try posting your question over there as well :

http://www.keyboardforums.com/forums/ro ... boards.73/

Best of luck with this !

Regards,

Ted

[Xtrife]

Thanks again Ted, your replies are appreciated. I guess you're right, I like the Juno Gi recorder but really, Its a lot easer to use a DAW on my desktop (my juno is just sitting next to it anyway). I do love the Juno Gi so far though, but i feel like i really do want to like (and use) its recorder.

Then it makes me wonder, if I'm not using the built in recorder, would the Juno Di have been a better choice ? i mean, the main difference is the recorder isnt it? plus, the Di has an editor !
Does the Di sound as good as the Gi?

[tnicoson]

Xtrife

I have two "mom & pop" local music stores within 25 miles of me. They are about a mile apart. When I went looking to try out the Di and Gi, I started with them. One had a used Di they had taken in on trade for a Casio XW-P1, and the other, being the authorized Roland dealer, had a new Gi. I have to say that, driving back and forth and listening to both units, I really was not able to tell the difference, so I ended up 40 more miles away at Guitar Center where they had a Di racked up over a Gi. Both units fed the same amp/speaker set through a switch. Then, it became very obvious that the Gi had a definite sonic quality edge over the Di. This is not to say that there is anything wrong with the Di, just that there is a sound quality difference that goes with the additional price. Some of this might be attributable to higher quality amp circuits and A/D converters in the Gi, but I have a feeling much of it comes from the fact that the Di still uses the "patch/performance" technology of the older Junos, while the Gi has the new LiveSet technology of the Jupiter 50/80. It's not exactly the same engine, as it lacks performance/behavior modeling, but still uses the new engineering design. On top of this, the Gi has twice the wave ROM of the Di, although at least some of this just goes with the additional tones the Gi has over the Di. Additional tones can be critical when it comes to selecting that one particular sound that makes the target mix really exceptional rather than mediocre, because that tone is not available on the lower priced unit. So . . . bottom line . . . I think you got more for your additional investment in the Gi than just the audio recorder, but even that goes for around $450 USD in the stand alone version (except it has 8 individual sliders instead of 4 shared sliders).

Hope you keep enjoying your Gi !

Regards,

Ted

PS - The local store brought their Gi down to within $50 of Guitar Center, so I went with them to keep the local business and economy going !

[specialplant]

Some of this might be attributable to higher quality amp circuits and A/D converters in the Gi, but I have a feeling much of it comes from the fact that the Di still uses the "patch/performance" technology of the older Junos, while the Gi has the new LiveSet technology of the Jupiter 50/80. It's not exactly the same engine, as it lacks performance/behavior modeling, but still uses the new engineering design. On top of this, the Gi has twice the wave ROM of the Di, although at least some of this just goes with the additional tones the Gi has over the !

I am sure the Gi sounds better than the Di due to the larger WaveROM, but I definitely don't think that the LiveSet structure has anything to do with it. Giving up the patch / performance structure is a step backwards in my opinion, it's a much poorer structure in which you cannot access the basic components of the sound any more: the waveform itself. You cannot combine 4 waveform elements to form a patch any more. In the Juno Stage you could theoretically combine 4 elements to a patch and 16 patches in a performance, so - again theoretically - 64 waveform elements at a time for a performance. Forget this with the simple structure of the Juno Gi. Luckily, the sophisticated patch/performance structure still exists within the giant PCM section of the Integra, and a similar structure in the SN Synth sections of Integra and the Jupiters. The Yamaha Motif and MoX also keeps a similar structure of even 8 waveform elements per voice.

[Xtrife]

Well its good to hear that the Gi sounds better than Di. I'm actually pretty damn happy with my Gi. Especially when you consider the fact that i bought it new for $550 usd. I have to say though, as specialplant mentioned, the LiveSet feature feels very limiting on the patch editing side.

And honestly, I wish there was a 61 key version of the Jupiter too, so I could at least consider buying one. I can't stand having anything other than 61 keys. I think In the future, I'll be buying a V-Synth anyway, for great distortion mono-leads for soloing, and some electronic/experimental sounds.