Roland GR-55 Plays Pop
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- Опубліковано 7 лют 2025
- Hi Folks!
I demo for Roland/BOSS, and figured a good way to illustrate the sheer power and flexibility of the GR-55 would be to scribble down a list of well known and distinctive tracks, then see how closely I could recreate them with the Synth.
Even I was surprised to find it pretty much impossible to stump! Hopefully you'll agree, the sounds I ended up with are darned close. Pretty much anything you're after is in there if you're willing to go digging.
As mentioned in the video, with the exception of the drums everything you'll hear, be it the parts I play or the parts on the backing track, was recorded entirely from the GR-55 via a usb cable.
In conclusion, the GR-55 is an amazing tool. Even in the hands of a regular tool.
Apologies in advance for the bad hair day...
Edit: August 5th 2013
Given that UA-cam comments sections are generally the exclusive domain of turbocharged douchenozzles, I'm truly humbled and very grateful for all the kind words. And flattery will get you everywhere...
Check out the link below, the file should contain the patches I played live and most of the sounds I used on the backing track too.
Have Fun!
drive.google.c...
Thanks to Michael for hosting the file, hopefully anybody that has been unable to get hold of the patches should now be sorted!
This must be the BEST demo of GR-55 on the Internet! It really shows all the possibilities, fantastic work, thanks so much. As someone else have mentioned, Roland should pay you for this!
wait they didn't pay him for this????? Now that's a legal crime!
Yep totally agree... looks like you need to learn some decent non-standard chords to stop it sounding like you're just playing a guitar synth... Jump rocked... Time to dust off the Spandex(tm)!
what is the title of the song that uses the saxophone????
UA-camr Petani George Michael song “ Careless Whisper”
@@edisonmirandilla7017 thank you very much,brother for the title of that song,,,,because i love that song,,,,,suksess for you brother🙏🙏🙏🙏
Here are all the songs:
1. [1:17] Viva la vida - Coldplay ("Viva la Stringy", "String Section", "It's a Violin")
2. [1:59] The Final Countdown - Europe ("European Synth")
3. [2:22] Poker Face - Lady Gaga ("Ladio Ga Ga", "Poke A Face")
4. [2:46] Careless Whisper - George Michael ("Saxy Ballad")
5. [3:10] Gold on the ceiling - The Black Keys ("Gold Keys")
6. [3:27] Tubular Bells - Mike Oldfield ("Tubular")
7. [3:43] Superstition - Stevie Wonder ("Clavie Wonder")
8. [4:05] EastEnders theme tune - British Soap Opera ("Soapy Piano")
9. [4:17] Sledgehammer - Peter Gabriel ("Gabriel's Hammer", "Sledge Bass")
10. [4:48] My Heart Will Go On - Céline Dion ("Titanic Tone")
11. [5:09] Ten Ton Hammer - Machine Head ("Ten Ton RAAWWWK")
12. [5:26] Take On Me - A-Ha ("Popgasm")
13. [5:37] Shape Of My Heart - Sting ("Nylon Sting")
14. [6:26] Feel - Robbie Williams ("Feel The Piano", "WAIL!!!")
15. [7:20] Jump - Van Halen ("Don't Do It!")
16. [7:50] Party Rock Anthem - LMFAO ("Party Pop")
17. [8:06] Omen - Prodigy ("Portentious Saw")
18. [8:20] Tom Sawyer - Rush ("Lee Whiz")
# [time] song name - artist (what's on the GR-55 screen)
Thanks for your help in the comments and welcome if I helped you!
JFs743 17. The Prodigy - Omen
18. Rush - Tom Sawyer
Thanks Iheb Mekki
Just missing one now
JFs743 8. EastEnders theme tune (British Soap Opera)
18 Tom Sawyer
17 prodigy something :)
Roland should pay You for promoting this amazing stuff.
+duchu14 how do you know he didn't get paid by Roland already
+RatedA4Aliens He does say that he is a roland demonstrator. See his other videos too.
He's not Adam Jones?
been watchin GR55 demos for a week straight now. This was most entertaining and an excellent demo of the synth, etc.
Thank you for this excellent demonstration showing how a guitar synthesizer can be very musical in the hands of someone with talent and not just a toy that makes strange sounds.
This is 5 years old and still the best demo of this unit .. Great job!!!
Now this comment is five years old. 🎉
I like your picking style. I like that you included the "Wail" full distortion ability of this unit. You didn't give us just a bag of nuts. You showed us how fast that dog can run when it's on fire!!!
From all appearances, I'd say this is the best patch demonstration of any unit anywhere on you tube. I'd love to have all my neurons and synapses functioning as well as yours do. Kudos to you for dedication to the craft and putting the time in to get there.
Fantastic!!! The titles of your presets are perfect ("Don't Do It!" lol), the choices are hilarious, and the facial expressions sell the whole thing. Thank you for the good playing and a laugh at the same time!
That was one of the most awesome performances I've seen in 20 years!!!
Brilliant demo and great guitar playing too! This really shows off the wide versatility of the GR55. Big thanks, Tony
I must have watched this more than a dozen times. Insanely good playing. What a musician. And the sounds are awesome! Thanks James.
Man after my own heart. You're the first guy I've seen to do justice to the GR-55. I'm about to replace my 19-year old GR-1, and now I'm more stoked than ever. Cheers!
Most useful demo I've seen for this, concentrating on the flexibility of the synth. Also great fun! Thanks - much more likely to buy one now.
Likewise to the previous comment by Paul below.
"I want to sell my GR-55 but every time I watch this video I can't."
If I could drag myself away from youtube videos of people who obviously know how to use it, maybe I might learn someday too.
Darn good demo. Thank you!!!
Some really great playing!! I bought one 3 yrs ago and love it.
I didn't realise that Ben Stiller was not just a great actor but brilliant on the guitar too ;-)
Great demo!
Like it, I see what you did there! 😁
Steven Hunt q
Tremendously fun education! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I am more stoked than ever to geek out on my GR-55. My wife may not see me for weeks!
Dude that is just awesome! The best demo I have ever seen for this product, you should work for Roland and show them how it should be done 😁
Nicely Done Sir! Very well done, best demo, excellent musicianship.. most impressive!
Thank you for publishing this video.
James, it was a pleasure listening to your demo, you're a great player man! I'm sold on this unit thanks to you... or, I should say no thanks to you, cuz now I'm off to talk to the wife about how this unit will enhance my life, and thereby hers also.... :/
haha the wife never unstands Lol
This video made me want to buy a gr-55. Nobody has demonstrated what could be done with it so cleary like you did. Thank you!
This is about latency time questions which remain unanswered. I am a long-time user of Roland guitar synths. Roland GK pickups work on the basis of "listening" to the strings to identify the actual pitch. Such listening takes a certain time, and this time will be longer for low pitched sounds coming from upper strings (or any other string if tuned particularly low), since lower frequencies are naturally defined by longer periods of oscillation. So, no matter how good and modern this technology is: you will always find a delay between what you play and what you hear. While this delay is almost unnoticeable for higher tones, say strings 1 thru 4 in standard EADGBE tuning, it starts to be something on 5th string played on the first frets, and ends as a real problem on a wide region of the 6th string. Fortunately, setup options available in GR synths allow the assignation of lower tones to thinner strings. Thus, if your bass line works bad on 6th and 5th, you may "retune" (on the device, not the guitar) your 4th and 3rd and play the same stuff on them instead, where there's no noticeable delay (since their actual physical vibration frequencies remain higher than those on 5th and 6th). As an user, I would be the first one pleased to know when this is finally solved, but I am afraid it would require a different "listening" device, one with an inmediate response, as in the SynthAxe.
Nick
How about replacing strings 5 & 6 with lighter gauge strings tuned an octave higher, then re-assign the pitch to play an octave lower? No good of course if you want to play the actual guitar sound, but it would solve the delay problem. Use an electric guitar patch to simulate.
old Canadian guy here and yes music guy.... best gr 55 demo ive seen..got one coming next week ! so much cool stuff on this unit and the learning curve will keep me busy for a bit..but hey I got a lot of that!!! thanks for the video
How on earth am I supposed to go on living without one of these things? Time to sell a kidney... absolutely amazing!!
I got my GR55 3 days ago. This video couldn't have come at a better time. By far the best demonstration of the GR55 ive seen yet.
Great great demo !!! you're the best !!! You must be paied by Roland ! Thank you
Brilliant! Asolutely brilliant! I own a GR 55 and was very pleased with it. Your video inspires me to do, as you say, a lot more digging. Congratuliations on your excellent playing!
I always wanted my guitar to sound like a keyboard from the early 90's.
Yup
You're missing the point here... This can turn your guitar into a midi controller. It's not just about the live synth sounds. For any proficient guitarist who sucks at keyboard and needs to compose music professionally and in a hurry using midi data this is a god send. Connect this to the ESX24 in Logic and you can sample ANYTHING on your guitar. There are infinite possibilities here for recording and composing
@@the_quadracorn *finally gets it*
you are so right.
dudeya so you’re telling me I can plug this guitar into Logic Pro and it’ll work with any synth on the system?
@@lazarocruz6739 yes! as long as it's connected via midi
Holy crap, what an awesome demo! Not sure which is better, your phenomenal playing, or some of the insanely funny facial expressions. ROTFLMAO!
This has to be THE best GR-55 demo video available. Roland should pay you a commission for every GR-55 this video sells, I know this video clinched it for me, I'm buying one!
Great demo Sir
6
By far the BEST GR-55 demo I've seen!!
Great tones, great playing, fun and, (about time) USEFUL
When you played Sledgehammer, I lost my shit. Love it!
Man You're a very ACCOMPLISHED guitarist and the many different sounds you're giving us,this is by far the best demo Video out there. Thsnks alot James
amazing...awesome even. I'd love one of them, but I fear of being kicked out of the house by the wife if I buy just one more guitar related thing!
she must know that guitars are the reason why men have girls. lol! kiddin :)
Simon, be a man! Get one, hide it and play when wife is away?
She might be ok if you make beautiful music for her
Dude your demo was incredible I had one of these years ago sold it now I miss it great sounds
muito bom! parabéns! / Very good! Congratulations!
'Been here last year. 'Totally re-impressed with your skills. I would absolutely be in heaven to be ABLE to have such clarity of mind to musically flow like this. You're the total package! Would mind hearing and seeing you gig with Tommy Emanuel.
Waooo Ben Stiller playing guitar so good¡¡¡
You should receive the commission on the GR-55 I just purchased! Great demonstration of the sounds inside this "miracle box". John Cleese saw your introduction and wants to give you a job! Well done, sir!
I NEED ONE OF THESE!
*Sells Keyboard*
Briliant, absolutely brilliant! A fantastic demonstration of what can be done with this unit. Great mix of songs too!! Very well done.
Fantastic cheesy sounds.
I'm gonna get one of those.
this pedal is a must have, and a great way to put on a show especially when you are a band that is just gaining recognition
That was amazing! now do some sega megadrive, gameboy and super nintendo sounds.
Breath Taking Best demo ever,Sorry I find you 10 Years Later
absolute bang on i want them patches please!!!!!!!
now that's what you call a Demo top class mate
regards ian
I watched a lot of GR-55 videos, but yours was so inspirational that I went out and bought one! Take note, Roland....
Fantastic demo - where might I get my grubby hands on the patches? Pray tell!
A few years have passed and it still sounds amazing!
Adam Jones stunt double
Me too! Lol I opened the thumbnail, to check it wasn't him!!!! HA!
No doubt! thought for sure that was Adam when I saw the thumbnail.
Splendid. Great work on the patches and playing! I also use the 55 for gigging and find it nearly limitless. Thanks for posting.
Can you please upload the patches again? Link is broken
In my eyes the most amazing pice of hardware in music ever.....playing it nearly every dayand still are amazed!
oh my god that lady gaga was priceless
The best demo I have seen of this pedal. Well done, your work is appreciated.
That was truly awesome... I've been dreaming of getting a GR55, and I keep trawling for videos of demos. Alex Hutchings' ones are good, but by this one blows everything out of the water... now I am really desperate to get my hands on one... cheers!
Performed with tongue-in-cheek but that was the best GR-55 demo yet! Absolutely brilliant! You just sold more VG's & GR-55's than Alex Hutchings. ROLAND, SEND THIS MAN HIS COMMISSION CHECK! I have that exact beautiful GC-1 with GR-55 so I'm off to download TABS and Google cheesy 80's hits...
Fantastic demo of the GR-55... I know you did it long time ago.. but still good today and very inspiring...!! the selections to demonstrate the different colors are excellent.
Congrats...!! God Bless.
Roger
I love ya man , your demos are so good and that means your playing and chops . It takes massive command to do what you do. Plus best accent on the tube! Cheers mate , you got me on board on this beast , many thanks and keep on pickin and grinning!
Ending was EPIC (as was the entire demo)--thanx for the nod to the boyz and the modern day warrior :)
BEST DEMO ever. Funny,informative..the GUY can play..this demo has it all. And its not a stiff affair like it was filmed at a Noisy NAMM booth (yuck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!).
Well done. Very Well done.
GtrGeorge
Haven't played my GR55 for a long while watching this video Has given me new inspiration. Thank you.
Really outstanding demo and great playing! Thanks for putting in all of the work to put this together!
Exquisite. I'm doing a dissertation on digital guitars right now, and I'm using this video in my interview section to demonstrate its awesomeness. Big thanks for the preset downloads too :)
Dude!!! I am just laughing my a** off in utter disbelief of hiw amazing this pedal is! Well done my friend
Well..mate...ya sold me...I have a nice Godin midi guitar. I think I'm going to take the plunge. I'm in a pretty good band and this would bring new stuff to the table.....cool GREAT VID. Best Demo I've ever seen
Best GR-55 demo I've seen to date. Real, purposeful, relevant sounds.
I just got a GR55 and this video/demo was awesome to help me get started. It's been a while now though....time for a new vid with new songs and patches! 😁
Phenomenal guitar playing! Any label would be proud to have you...
OK, this is the demo Roland should have put out a long time ago. This really shows how the GR-55 can be used effectively. Thank you!!
The Sting "Shape of My Heart" passage at about 5:30 is really well played and sounds great for a nylon synth. Great video - and yeah, you should get paid !!
A well put together demo. One of the best I've seen !
I am in total agreement here...best demo I also have heard by a real mystro on the guitar who really knows how to demo the 55. Maybe Roland/Fender should have a look at this also and hire him..
Thanks very very much for a very very informative video and also the great concert you put on James and I too would love your patches.
Tommy from Canada
Best demo of the Roland system yet👍🏻
The best GR-55 demo available. It shows the real potential of the GR-55. Thanks!!!
what the food chain... that patch have everything I need for the coming gig! you just saved me hours and hours of trying to make those! take my soul NOW!
Damn you!! I want to sell my GR-55 but every time I watch this video I can't!!. It's possible, yes but not without a lot of hard work and a greater quantity of talent. Don't underestimate the ability required to achieve this!! No "regular tool" my friend. The GR-55 can be as simple or as complex as you want, from just plugging your own guitar through a COSM amp to virtual guitars, effects, amps, alt tunings all with 2 PCM synths from over 800 tones and your own guitar sound to boot. My best effort is IRIS by Goo Goo Dolls with acoustic BDDDDD tuning, strings backing, synth for the solo and even a bass thrown in on the 6th string. But playing the "horns" for Eddie Floyd's Knock on Wood or Wurly Organ for Thunders cover of Gimmie Some Lovin is easy and just as effective. Great to see people in the gig look up to see where the sound is coming from. Awesome kit, awesome playing but not for the Old Skool.
Clavi Wonder! And so many more! Keep up with the good work!
Nice video. The GR-55 is and sounds amazing. Nice playing dudebro.
hy!
top demo of the incredible sound generator of the GR 55. The second reason i view this vid are the untopable face expressions! Ceep on rocking - sorry i ment 'poping' !
Thie is just the best demo of the GR-55 that I've seen so far ... GREAT
llevo viendo tu video 10 años y no me canso... exitos espero ver algun video tuyo en la actualidad... fuerte abrazo desde Perú.
Hey. Seriously impressive! I finally broke down and bought one of these. I actually had a pretty cool (although older) set up. Was using a JV1080 with 4 X expansion. Played through a Roland GI-10 to translate to the JV1080. So I have a much larger library of sounds. I'm also spoiled because I had everything (even the kitchen sink), but . . . not as easy to use. Sounds like you need to spend time building the patches for this. You have definitely spent some time with this thing. Great playing. 1. I hope that Roland sponsored you; 2). You could turn that little segment into a nice little part of a gig as it's very impressive. I know that you put some work into it!
you played so many songs i love. you went from lady gaga to , naz (the nylon string setting i think), to freakin rush. i love all kinds of music but want to write pop/r&B COOLEST VIDEO EVER
I was looking for demo of the Roland gr 55 nothing decent till I found this.
Brilliant demo mate!! You covered it well.
Should have guessed that Roland/Fender have already grabbed you...lol just saw your other video James and that too was incredible.
Thanks again.
Tommy
I legitimately tried to avoid watching this video, because, well honestly, it looked like it was gonna be pretty cheesy... Then I get to practice last night, and the guys put this on (to see what the pedal I'm gonna get sounds like) and HOLY SHIT DUDE... Amazing!!!
Probably the best Roland Gr-55 - Roland GC-1 demo out there!
One of the best GR-55 demos I have seen and I have seen many.
Roland should MASSIVELY pay you for that, THUMBS UP MAN !
Fabulous playing. Super demo!
I've had the same guitar you use and the GR55 for 8 years and I still love it.
I don't sound as good as you , but I like my guitar sound.
Wowww. So cool man. So far you are one of the best ambassador of ROLAND CANADA :)
This is the BEST DEMO I’VE SEEN!!! All the questions I wanted answered were right in this demo! Thank you! 😌👍🏾🎸🎶
Thanks for the time you took to put this demo together.
Grate!
AHAH I love the mix buddy. Way to go. Getting to love this GR-55 more and more. Will get one when I can afford for sure !!!! THANKS
I have not laughed this hard in freaking years. When dude broke into careless Whispers I about died. Hilarious. I love it. Just researching old Synth pedals and pickups. Ahhhh. This guy rocks. Thanks man .
Just want to add that you are a very well schooled player BTW. Great Stuff.
dammit. now i'm on craigslist looking for one of these suckers. nice work dude!!
Indeed roland should pay you for this amazing performance , and letting us like this product
Great work, there. I never liked midi and all those fancy toys, but you make it look and sound cool, you could sell tons of these GR55's.