457: Using Roland (GK) Guitar Synthesizers with Sibelius or G7

It is possible to enter notes into Sibelius or G7 by using a guitar synthesizer. These synthesizers use a MIDI pickup which you add to your guitar (or buy a MIDI guitar such as the Brian Moore iGuitar) and connect to an interface box via a 13-pin cable. Two companies which make such pickups and interfaces are Roland and Axon.

If you are considering buying a Roland synthesizer to use for note input into any version of Sibelius or G7 then please note that there are two main types of synth. Roland have a GK series and also a VG series. The VG series are NOT designed to be used for transmitting MIDI note data and therefore cannot be used for note input into Sibelius or G7. Examples of interfaces which do not work are: Roland VG-88, V Bass, VGA-3 and VGA-7. The somewhat confusing MIDI ports on the back of the interface are only designed to send data such as program changes and MIDI dumps to other devices. The GK series are designed to be used with the Roland GK guitar and bass pickups and therefore do send MIDI note data and can be used with Sibelius or G7.

We have tried the following synthesizers:

• GR-33
• GI-20
• GR-20

with the GK2 or GK3 pickups.

For information on the Roland series of inferfaces please click here then tick the 'Synthesizer', 'Guitar' and 'GK' boxes and click on 'Find'. You can then select a G-series device and then on the GK button for more specifications.

For information on setting up the Roland GI-20 with Sibelius or G7 please click here

You can also use the same sort of pickups and connector cables into the Axon AX100 interface.