My pedalboard Neural DSP Quad Cortex and Roland Gr55

Started by marianguitar, February 07, 2023, 09:01:29 AM

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marianguitar



Pedalboard Neural DSP Quad Cortex + Roland GR-55 + MIDI Forte


Neural DSP Quad Cortex

Roland GR-55

Gerhat MINIMIX Volume pedal

Andrašovam Volume / MIDI separator



My current pedalboard motor (2022-04) is equipped with three basic units. for generating guitar sounds it is Neural DSP Quad Cortex, for generating guitar and synth sounds (PCM synthesis) Roland GR-55 and all of this is controlled via MIDI by the MIDI Forte 16F2D foot controller.

The set also features volume pedals that provide two maximum stereo controls over the output volumes. The first one is Gerhát – MINIMIX2, which provides volume control of two independent stereo signals (orange pedal), namely in such a way that in the basic state a certain minimum (basic) volume is set and, if necessary, it is possible to add it.

The second is Andrašov's MIDI stereo volume signal separator, which is used for stereo master volume control and also for MIDI control of two separate stereo incoming signals (purple pedal). There are two 6.3mm stereo jacks (11, 12) for the input, where two separate stereo signals come.

There are four mono 6.3 mm connectors (13, 14) at the output of the Andrašovan MIDI stereo volume - signal separator. The MIDI IN connector receives MIDI Program Change (PC) messages, whereby an even PC number turns on the red stereo output (guitar + synth) and an odd PC number turns on the green stereo output (ukulele).

Routing and signal options from the guitar

The output signal from the guitar is made up of the following paths:

1/ The signal from the pickups of the PK Guitars GU-1 guitar (number 2 in the photo), where there is a classic 5-position switch and because the mega-switch is used, the single coil pickups are switched on in positions 2 and 4 (i.e. together with the central a single is also one coil from edge sensors). So there are 5 different combinations for the color of the sound coming from the guitar jack output. The color can also be influenced by using the tone aperture (tone potentiometer).

2/ Signal from the piezo pickup of the PK Guitars GU-1 guitar (number 1 in the photo), where a classic piezo pickup is placed under the bridge of the ukulele body of the guitar. The sound can be colored by the two-band graphic EQ and the volume by the rotary volume potentiometer. The electronics of the piezo sensor also have a built-in tuner.

3/ Signal from a Roland GK-3 MIDI pickup on a PK Guitars GU-1 guitar (number 3 in the photo), where there is a built-in Roland MIDI pickup in front of the tremolo just before the bridge of the guitar (behind the rear humbucker pickup in the picture below - black rod with cable) and from it the signal goes through the cable to the Roland GK-3 control unit.


The sound can be colored by the two-band graphic EQ and the volume by the rotary volume potentiometer. The electronics of the piezo sensor also have a built-in tuner.




Signal routing and options in the pedalboard

According to the set parameters and controls on the GU-1 guitar and in the GK-3 converter, the signal passes through a 13-pin cable to a special 13-pin input on the Roland GR-55 (number 4 in the photo). In this signal, there is also a signal from normal guitar pickups (electrophonic), which is specially routed out on the GR-55 for further routing (number 5 in the photo). This signal arrives at the input of the Neural DSP Quad Cortex (number 6 in the photo above), where it is processed and sent to one of the stereo inputs on the Gerhat MINIMIX2 (number 7 in the photo).

The signal brought from the GK-3 to the GR-55 is also processed in the Roland GR-55 (guitar sounds, synth) and this is sent to one of the stereo inputs on the Gerhat MINIMIX2 (number 8 in the photo).

The signal fed from the Neural DSP and GR-55 to the stereo inputs of the Gerhat MINIMIX2 (pictured below on the left) is processed by the volume pedal (both signals are processed separately). This pedal has several outputs (such as the MONITOR output with signal level control or MUTE control), but here we will deal only with the master outputs, which are made up of two stereo outputs (number 9 and 10 in the photo). In my case, the pedal works in such a way that I have set (the potentiometer on the side of the pedal - yellow spot) the minimum volume (the pedal is set in the lower - minimum position by default).


Stereo signals 9 and 10 are directed to inputs 11 and 12. Andrašovan MIDI stereo volume signal to the separator, where there is another possibility of controlling the stereo volume of both signal paths separately. However, this one is set the other way around, i.e. in the basic setting it is at full volume, and if necessary, the volume can be lowered to the set level. The signal finals are two stereo outputs (2 x L/R), one L/R stereo output for the guitar (13) and one L/R stereo output for the ukulele (14). You can see the overall signal flow diagram in the image below.


Both the Neural DSP Quad Cortex and the GR-55 can be controlled via MIDI, so I use the MIDI Forte foot controller (15) to control the necessary parameters (basically 3x program change – Neural – GR55 and Andrašovan). With the GR-55, it is also necessary to send the specification of the bank, so the MSB and LSB parameters for the program change are also included.


The KILL SWITCH (16) is used to completely dampen the signal (without the need to download anything) - the switch on the upper right of the photo with the Line6 sticker). The electrical supply and power sources are hidden between the two volume pedals (17).


In general, it is possible to create a range of sounds (signals):

– only Neural DSP Quad Cortex plays

– only the sound from the Roland GR-55 plays

– both Neural DSP Quad Cortex and Roland GR-55 devices play

– plays only the sound from the piezo pickup on the ukulele through the GR-55 processing separately

– they play sounds from the piezo pickup on the ukulele and modeling through the GR-55 together

– plays piezo pickup on ukulele, modeling through GR-55 and selected sound with Neural DSP Quad Cortex together


MIDI signal routing:

From the Foot MIDI controller (Microdesignum MIDIForte16F2D) the MIDI signal goes from the MIDI OUT to the MIDI IN of the MIDI Solution device 1x MIDI IN / 4x MIDI OUT.


Here, the MIDI signal reaches separate MIDI outputs (OUT), where it is separately fed via MIDI cables to the Neural DSP Quad Cortex (messages MIDI channel 1), Roland GR-55 (messages MIDI channel 2), Andrašovam MIDI audio signal separator ( message MIDI channel 3).

sixeight

Cool setup. Would love to hear some audio examples.

gumtownadmin

Wow !! What a great setup, and an interesting looking guitar too.  :)
Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else.