Roland 2 manual Recording a Song Track by Track

To start a new song using a style:

1 Press the STYLE button so it lights, and select the style you want to use.

It’s easier than ever in Version 2 to locate just the style you want, using the new STYLE FINDER screen. See Page 5 for details.

2Press the SYNC START button so it lights.

3 Press the SONG REC button so it flashes—the GW-8’s now ready to start recording.

When you press one or more keys to begin style playback, recording automatically begins at the same time.

4Press the desired key or keys to begin style playback and recording. If you’d like to play along on keys that aren’t triggering chords, do so—everything you play will be recorded along with your styles.

5Select the chords, style sections, and variations you want for the song until you reach the end of the song.

6Press the START/STOP button at the end of the song.

The GW-8 processes your new song as an SMF, adding to the beginning of the song all of the required SMF MIDI messages that ensure proper playback. These messages are placed in the first few beats of the song, before the music begins.

7To hear your song, press the START/STOP button—after the two beats’ worth of MIDI messages go silently by, the song plays.

Now that your new song is created, you can add additional song tracks to it using the methods we describe below in “Recording a Song Track-by-Track.”

If you played along during recording, your playing’s recorded on the track for the keyboard part you used, as shown in the table on Page 23 of the GW-8 Version 2 Supplementary Manual.

Recording a Song Track by Track

When you start a new song by recording a track—or when you add additional tracks to a song you’ve already begun—you can do so using either of two methods. You can record songs

•in realtime—recording as you play, as you’ve always been able to do on the GW-8.

•using step recording—by entering notes and chords one-by-one instead of playing them. We’ll explain this mode in detail below.

You can switch between methods as you work on a song, selecting the mode that works best for you at any given time.

Here’s how to select the type of recording you want to do:

1 Press the SONG button to light it—this selects the New_ Song on the Main screen.

2 Press the PART VIEW button to display the SONG TRACK screen.

On the SONG TRACK screen, you can see and set up the song’s parts.

3Select the part you’d like to record. You can select any part. (Typically, you’ll use Part 10 for your drum kit.)

4Highlight the Tone parameter and select the sound you’d like that part to play using the tone buttons and the VALUE dial, or using the GW-8’s Numeric-entry feature.

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