Roland GW-8

The Roland GW-8: The World in a Workstation

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The GW-8 is the next generation of Roland’s unique GW-Series workstations with intelligent backing-track functionality. With its fresh, contemporary sound-set and expressive interactive musical styles from pop to rock, plus authentic ethnic styles and a multi-format USB Memory Player feature, the GW-8 will bring a world of music to your fingertips. It’s especially well-suited for “one-man-band” performance.

Flagship Sound Engine with Easy User Interface

With Roland’s world-leading sound technology at its core, the GW-8 rivals any workstation on the planet with its rich, expressive sound. The GW-8 comes loaded with hundreds of the freshest and most essential sounds taken from Roland’s top workstations. In addition to its authentic sound set, the GW-8 is equipped with many user-friendly controls, such as the expressive D BEAM and the Analog Modify knob, which allows instant adjustments of sounds to suit your taste. The GW-8 is perfect for live entertainers who play multiple roles in their performances.

Intelligent Backing Styles

The GW-8 is packed with a huge collection of styles representing a broad range of music genres, from contemporary rock, pop, dance, jazz and beyond. In addition to the excellent library of contemporary sounds and styles, the GW-8 is equipped with ethnic instrument sounds and authentic regional musical styles, with special focus on Latin American genres. Each backing style has four intros, four main patterns, and four ending progressions for you to craft your own arrangements live.

USB Memory Player Feature

One of Roland’s most popular new features is built into the GW-8: the multi-format Song Player that allows song data to be played directly from USB Flash memory (accepts MP3, .WAV, AIFF and SMF format). In addition, the GW-8’s Center Cancel function can minimize main vocals from pre-recorded songs, great for karaoke-style performances or music practice.

Style Converter & Playlist Editor

Bundled with each GW-8 is Roland’s Style Converter software for PC, which lets you create and convert your own MIDI data into GW-8 backing styles and install them via commercially available USB Flash memory devices. Also included is the Playlist Editor for customizing the order of songs. Users can easily create a dedicated Playlist for each gig.

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Product Features:

• Contemporary music workstation with high-quality 128-voice sound engine derived from Roland’s renowned Fantom-X Series
• Wide variety of contemporary sounds and interactive backing styles with special focus on Latin American genres, plus additional banks of ethnic sounds and styles from around the world
• Onboard 16-track sequencer for saving your interactive performances
• USB Memory Player feature allows direct playback of MP3, WAV, AIFF and SMF files from USB key
• Center Cancel feature for audio files enables karaoke-style sing-along
• Newly-designed graphical display, plus Style Select button, Analog Modify knob and D BEAM
• Style Converter and Playlist Editor software included
• Also found as: GW8, G-W8
• Authorized Internet Dealer
• 1-year Parts/90-days Labor Manufacturer's warranty

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Specifications:

• Maximum Polyphony: 128 Voices
• Parts: 16 parts + Keyboard part
• Wave Memory: 256 MB (16-bit linear equivalent)
• Preset Memory:
• Performances: 128
• Tones: 896 + 256 (GM2) + World
• Rhythm Sets: 32 + 9 (GM2) + World
• User Memory:
• Performances: 128
• Favorite Performances: 100
• Favorite Tones: 100
• Effects:
• MFX: Upper and Lower / 78 types
• Chorus: 3 types
• Reverb: 5 types
• Backing Type: Style, Song, USB Memory Player
• Tempo (MIDI): 20 to 250
• Style Variations:
• 4 Intro
• 4 Main
• 4 Ending
• 4 Fill In
• Sync Start
• Stop
• One Touch Setting
• Song (16-track Recorder):
• 16-track
• Rec mode (Mix, Replace)
• Count In
• Punch In-Out
• Input Quantize
• USB Memory Player: 999 songs
• SMF: format-0/1
• Audio File: WAV/AIFF/MP3
• Preset Memory: Styles: 130 + World
• User Memory: Styles: 100, Songs: 200
• Controllers:
• D BEAM Controller
• Pitch Bend/Modulation Lever
• Control Knobs x 2
• Display: 240 x 64 dots white graphic LCD
• Connectors:
• Output Jacks (L/MONO, R)
• Ext Input Jack
• Headphones Jack
• MIDI Connectors (IN, OUT)
• Hold Pedal Jack
• Control Pedal Jack
• USB Connector: COMPUTER (supports USB MIDI)
• USB Connector: MEMORY (supports USB 2.0 Hi-Speed Flash Memory)
• Power Supply: DC 9 V (AC Adapter)
• Current Draw: 1,000 mA
• Size & Weight:
• Weight: 13 lbs. 4 oz. (6 kg)
• Width: 41-3/16" (1,045 mm)
• Depth: 12-9/16" (318 mm)
• Height: 4-1/16" (102 mm)