Recording studios are now not only digital but also portable, like the amazing BOSS BR-864, a completely self-contained 64-track digital recording studio that can run on batteries. You don’t have to go to the studio to record anymore; the studio can come to you. The majority of sounds used in modern music are often samples played by keyboard instruments or even laptop computers. This being the case, the question is: Where does this leave the guitarist? In the modern electronic musical arms race, is the guitarist being left behind?

The answer is: No way! In fact today’s guitarists have some very serious and advanced musical weaponry that can do everything that musicians already equipped with full digital computerized gear can do — and more. If guitar players are ready to get technological, not only can they compete in the electronic arms race, they can win. Here is look at some of the most advanced musical weaponry made for guitarists:

The Divided Pickup
Interestingly, the first weapon is based on technology guitar players already use: the magnetic pickup. The first leap into guitar technology begins by taking this simple technology to the next level: a divided pickup. This is simply a pickup that can isolate the signal of each string, something typical pickups cannot do. By hiding six in-line humbuckers under its case, and delivering a separate signal from each string, a divided pickup allows you to enter the world of MIDI and synthesis. It mounts directly to the surface of a guitar, or can be installed inside, just like a “normal” pickup, and gives a guitar a powerful interface into the digital musical world. What can a guitar do in the digital world? Everything!

Roland GI-20
Currently, many forward-thinking musicians are using small tabletop keyboard controllers with USB connections to drive computer-based soft synths for making music directly with their computer-based recorders. Guitar players are not left out of this process. The Roland GI-20 is a guitar-to-MIDI interface with a USB port that can do exactly the same thing. It takes the signal from the divided pickup and produces up to six MIDI data streams, one from each string, enabling a guitarist to connect via MIDI or USB to any MIDI device: a hardware or software sequencer, synthesizer, sampler, groovebox, or whatever. Is it easy? Yes. Basically, plug in your divided pickup-equipped guitar via its 13-pin cable, connect the GI-20 to the computer or synth, and play it. Is it expensive? No; in fact at only $395 list, it’s priced much lower than many keyboard controllers, and guitar players don’t have to take any lessons to learn to play it. They can use the instrument they already know how to play.

GR Guitar Synthesizers
So if guitarists now have the firepower to conquer direct-to-computer music creation, what do they have to do to compete with the industry standard of electronic music, the keyboard synthesizer? The answer is: Get a very powerful electronic arsenal known collectively as GR gear, and individually as the GR-33 and GR-20 guitar synthesizers.

The GR-20 and GR-33 guitar synths are true synthesizers, with hundreds of built-in waveforms and patches, and have processing exactly like many other contemporary keyboard synthesizers. But they have some unique features for guitar players that provide a very powerful advantage: direct synth performance from a divided pickup guitar, automatic guitar-to-MIDI conversion, hundreds of built-in sounds, and simplicity. GR guitar synthesizers are built into floor units, much like guitar multi-effects have been for years, so they can be operated with familiar pedals while the guitar player is playing. What can a guitar player with a guitar synthesizer do? Everything a keyboard synth player can do, and more. Play violin strings, organ, piano, orchestral sounds, synth effects, sitar, and hundreds of sounds. Even blend in the real guitar sound for massive sounds, or use the GR synth as a “supplement” to the real guitar.

Unlike a keyboard synth, a guitar synth can bend notes in the middle of a chord without affecting the other notes. A GR-33 guitar synth can transpose the synth sounds from each string up or down individually, for unusual textures and built-in harmonies. Guitar synths can make the performance of the sounds of other instruments sound extremely accurate and effective, because a guitar, unlike a typical keyboard, offers an extra-wide dynamic range and extensive articulation possibilities. In the digital musical instrument tools race, the guitar synth just might come out on top!

BOSS GS-10
Digital audio is an important element of modern electronic musicianship. Since USB has been adopted as the standard connection to computers (the U stands for universal), many advanced digital musical instruments now have USB ports so they can be connected directly to computer-based audio recorders. How do guitars enter this world? BOSS has the ultimate solution: the GS-10 effects processor and USB-audio interface.

The GS-10 is a complete arsenal of advanced technological tools for guitar and bass players. As a stand-alone guitar effect processor, it has COSM® sound models of 48 of the worlds best guitar and bass amps, 22 famous overdrive and distortion pedals, seven well-known wah pedals, studio compressors, and much more. It is simply the most advanced and powerful BOSS effect processor ever made. But that is just part of what it can do. With 1/4" stereo, RCA, and even an XLR mic input, and both an S/PDIF and USB port for direct connection to computers, the GS-10 is a true audio-to-USB interface that can take any analog signal and convert it to high quality digital data for computer recording. It can even input an already recorded digital audio track via USB and process, or “reamp” it, making the old expression “fix it in the mix” not only possible, but painless.

Guitar players who are still not sure about the full leap into high-tech music weaponry, and haven’t decided to use a divided pickup yet can still use all the power of the GS-10: The GS-10 doesn’t require a divided pickup; any instrument with a 1/4" output can plug right in. With its XLR input, the GS-10 can even be used to track vocals. And to guarantee full entry to the digital world, the GS-10 includes unlimited-track Cakewalk recording software, which makes the simple combination of the GS-10 and a computer a complete digital recording studio. It also includes super-intuitive onscreen editor/librarian software that’s so simple and elegant it pretty much eliminates the need for reading the manual, and makes using the GS-10 fun, not work. It even comes with a USB cable.

So are guitar and bass players left out of the digital music arms race? Hardly. With almost Star Wars-level weapons such as the GI-20, GR-33, and GR-20, and the BOSS GS-10, the race is pretty much over. Guitar players — you won!