Sonnus G2M Version 2 review

[Karma1]

About a year or so ago I bought the original version of the G2M - a small guitar to midi converter box that allows you to use any guitar to trigger a synth, module, or software synth without needing a special pickup. Although it had it's limitations (primarily that it is mono only - 1 note at a time, no chords) for $99 it was not a bad little unit. However, it's usefulness depends a lot on how you play and what application you are using it for. Since I use it mainly for ambient soundscape type music with holding long sustained pads and atmospheric sounds, it was decent and worked ok. Not as much so for faster picked notes, leads, etc. The tracking varied a lot with different synths and patches - some were much better than others (this is important to note.) Since I was using it in a live performance setting, I usually just used a few sounds that were the most dependable for tracking and not glitching.

 

Anyway, after recently reading Craig Anderton's review of the new updated Version 2 (V2) model with it's improved tracking (supposedly 3 times better) and less inclination to mis-trigger notes, I figured for another $99 it was worth a try. And I'm glad I did. It's not just hype - it definitely is improved in every way. Again, it depends a lot on the synth and the particular sounds you use, but on sounds that respond well to being triggered by a guitar, the performance aspect is way better than the original G2M. It's still not going to meet some guitarist's needs, but Sonnus has done a good job on this upgrade. They also added a Chromatic mode switch to the unit for sounds like piano that don't require pitch bend. Speaking of which, the V2 actually tracks note bending and whammy bar movement pretty well.

 

Incidentally, I've written about this before, but one way I discovered to get around the monophonic limitation is that I play a note (usually an evolving pad sound with a lot of delay) and while it is sustaining, I'll play another note, and then another. They overlap and voila - instant chords. Sometimes I'll play a note and then press the hold pedal on the synth while playing a second or third note which can create a nice wall of sound.

 

I've mostly been using the G2M to trigger the Triton sound engine on my Korg Micro X and it's been great. But I'm looking forward to trying it with my Korg M3M and especially with the new Novation Ultra Nova I just ordered. With its touch sensitive encoders and modulation effects I think it will be cool to play a note or two, hold it with the sustain pedal and then tweak parameters on the synth while the sound is playing. I'll write more about that once I get it and try it out.

 

But the upgraded V2 is a definite improvement over the original version and worth checking out, especially at that price. There are a number of videos you can find through Google that demo the V2. Also, check out Craig's excellent in-depth review here on Harmony Central.

[Anderton]

Thanks for the props! Here's the link for the review. Note that there's an audio example--it definitely helps to get the point across.

[poserp]

There's a fair amount of stuff out there that will accept both audio and midi input these days... Have you tried doing both into the same instrument? For example, Arturia's Minimoog software will take audio and midi input, you could do stuff such as using the midi output to control the filter which is then applied to the guitar's audio signal. A number of hardware synths also have audio and midi inputs -- most major workstations, boxes like the Access Virus, the microkorg, etc. It would be cool, for instance, to use this in conjunction with the microkorg's vocoder to provide the raw audio for the carrier and midi for the modulator at the same time. I'll probably pick one of these up and try something similar myself in the near future.

[Karma1]

 

There's a fair amount of stuff out there that will accept both audio and midi input these days... Have you tried doing both into the same instrument? For example, Arturia's Minimoog software will take audio and midi input, you could do stuff such as using the midi output to control the filter which is then applied to the guitar's audio signal. A number of hardware synths also have audio and midi inputs -- most major workstations, boxes like the Access Virus, the microkorg, etc. It would be cool, for instance, to use this in conjunction with the microkorg's vocoder to provide the raw audio for the carrier and midi for the modulator at the same time. I'll probably pick one of these up and try something similar myself in the near future.

 

 

Interesting idea.

My Novation UltraNova synth has audio and midi input and a vocoder - I'll have to give it a try.

[Anderton]

Another trick with this kind of instrument is to lay down your guitar track, insert the FX section of a virtual instrument, then use a keyboard or other controller to process the sound by recording MIID control. For example, one cool sound is to set the synth filter to a fairly resonant bandpass setting, and have the frequency track a keyboard. Then you can do a "manual sample-and-hold" by playing the keyboard.

 

Another fun effect is to set up a fast decay and trigger it from a keyboard so you can "pulse" power chords.

[Anderton]

Oh, and since you mentioned vocoder - one very very cool effect is to send sustained, distorted guitar sounds into a vocoder carrier input, and instead of modulating it with a mic, modulate it with drum patterns.

[poserp]

Another thing to try is effect processors or other devices that can use midi note/velocity messages to control various parameters. For instance, perhaps you want a distortion effect that really kicks in with higher velocities. Or maybe a filter, so lower-velocity notes are effected less than higher-velocity notes. If you have a Kurzweil KSP8, the "PITCHER" might be fun too if you tie its pitch tracking to midi note number. I really need to get one of these and start experimenting...

 

...Adding, more subtle stuff could be done, too. One complaint I often read is that amp sims aren't "responsive" enough to playing dynamics. A bit of judicious velocity tracking might help fix that...