Re: GR-30 and Guitar Craft Tuning/Squarepusher

[Andre LaFosse <altruist@earthlink.net>]

Greg Sundberg wrote:

> When I drop the bass string to a C, the GR-30 has a real difficult time
> figuring out the frequency of the string.  It'll jump back and forth
> from the low C to any number of frequencies that it picks up from the
> harmonics.  Has anyone else experienced this?  Any suggestions or
> resolutions?

Use the tuning control on the GR-30 to tune the string down within the
synth itself.  In other words, select the bass string, and using the
individual parameters for that string inside the GR-30, detune it by
four half-steps down to C.  You'll still be playing an E, but the synth
will transpose the note and it will sound through the synth as a C.  

The term I use for this sort of thing is a "virtual tuning."  It's a
good way of exploiting the individual string control afforded by a
hexaphonic pickup.  I guess Joni Mitchell is ecstatic about the VG-8 for
a similar reason, in that the unit can perform all sorts of virtual
tunings without having to adjust the actual physical strings.

Obligatory loop content:  Just got the two new Squarepusher releases,
which were issued domestically (in the US) on Nothing records.  Haven't
listened to them yet, but I'll post a review soon.

--Andre