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[Swingin' Ryan]

I'm looking to spruce up my Roland by experimenting with pedals and the like. It's got a pretty decent onboard multi-fx section, but I reckon I could get a bit more juice out of the synth noises with some decent pedals.

I've been reading articles about the benefits of using guitar pedals on keyboards, but I'm wary of it either sounding shit or cocking my amp. Anyone have any tips/reccomendations for good pedals (guitar or otherwise) to use. Do any synth players make extensive use of external effects?

(I'm talking hardware stuff, I don't use any kind of programming, laptop/soft synths)

[lame guitarist]

Originally Posted by Swingin' Ryan

I'm looking to spruce up my Roland by experimenting with pedals and the like. It's got a pretty decent onboard multi-fx section, but I reckon I could get a bit more juice out of the synth noises with some decent pedals.

I've been reading articles about the benefits of using guitar pedals on keyboards, but I'm wary of it either sounding shit or cocking my amp. Anyone have any tips/reccomendations for good pedals (guitar or otherwise) to use. Do any synth players make extensive use of external effects?

(I'm talking hardware stuff, I don't use any kind of programming, laptop/soft synths)

i know a keyboard player that has a pedalboard through his gear, he uses a tr-2, ds-1 and so on and has even used a whammy pedal and univibe!! hasnt damaged his gear like so prob best to just experiment

[RockAustin]

I used to use a bunch of pedals with my Roland to manipulate the sounds in ways that weren't available on the actual keyboard - digitec whammy pedal, distortions, wah wah pedal (sounds great with strings) and I had a multi effects pedal too. I had a go of a boss GT8 multi effect pedal, which was pretty decent at the time, and that gave some more great effects.

It won't destroy your amp. Be gentle with it first and see what levels give you the best results.

Oh yeah, pedals are also great fun when you're on stage as you have things to stamp on for effect.

have fun

[Swingin' Ryan]

Originally Posted by lame guitarist

i know a keyboard player that has a pedalboard through his gear, he uses a tr-2, ds-1 and so on and has even used a whammy pedal and univibe!! hasnt damaged his gear like so prob best to just experiment

Excellent, cheers for the help

[Swingin' Ryan]

Originally Posted by RockAustin

I used to use a bunch of pedals with my Roland to manipulate the sounds in ways that weren't available on the actual keyboard - digitec whammy pedal, distortions, wah wah pedal (sounds great with strings) and I had a multi effects pedal too. I had a go of a boss GT8 multi effect pedal, which was pretty decent at the time, and that gave some more great effects.

Thanks for the advice! I'm going to have a scan around for a good second-hand multi-fx pedal.

Originally Posted by RockAustin

Oh yeah, pedals are also great fun when you're on stage as you have things to stamp on for effect.

Yeh, it will give me something to occupy my feet with! I've already got the D-Beam for mental onstage hand gesturing.

[RockAustin]

Originally Posted by Swingin' Ryan

Thanks for the advice! I'm going to have a scan around for a good second-hand multi-fx pedal.
Yeh, it will give me something to occupy my feet with! I've already got the D-Beam for mental onstage hand gesturing.

What kind of synth are you using and what sort of effects are you looking to get from the pedal? The first one I used and got a lot of enjoyment from was a digitec bass multieffects pedal... good to go with bass as it can deal with the low frequencies.

[Swingin' Ryan]

Originally Posted by RockAustin

What kind of synth are you using and what sort of effects are you looking to get from the pedal? The first one I used and got a lot of enjoyment from was a digitec bass multieffects pedal... good to go with bass as it can deal with the low frequencies.

It's the Juno-D, it's their kind of entry-level one but one a full-scale keyboard as opposed to the MicroKorg or the Micron, which is why I got it.

I'd quite like to get a decent delay/echo/reverb on the string sounds. There is a built in delay but it's not as good as the other ones.

[Stripey]

Originally Posted by Swingin' Ryan

It's the Juno-D, it's their kind of entry-level one but one a full-scale keyboard as opposed to the MicroKorg or the Micron, which is why I got it.

I'd quite like to get a decent delay/echo/reverb on the string sounds. There is a built in delay but it's not as good as the other ones.

just plug your pedals in and see what happens, theres nothing stopping you plugging your synth into a 6 foot rack of hardware on stage if you want to.

The juno-d's built in effects look quite editable and robust actually, what is it you don't like about the built in delay/reverb?

[Swingin' Ryan]

Originally Posted by Stripey

The juno-d's built in effects look quite editable and robust actually, what is it you don't like about the built in delay/reverb?

The built-in effects are great in general, the reverb is fine, but the delays are very much just a simple delayed reptition of the notes as opposed to a pedal like the Boss DD6 that gives more sweeping 'passages' of delay that I'd like.

Also, external effects pedals would let me use more than one at a time, whilst with the built in processor I can only have one MFX, one Reverb and one Chorus at a time.

[davetherave]

I use various guitar effects on my Roland GR20 guitar synth (JV1080 sounds), Boss pedals mostly, DD6, Overdrive and Pitch shifter. It gives a lot more variety to the stock roland sounds and the DD6 has a cool reverse delay effect, gives me some original noises