The Roland "Twin Rack Pack":
GI-20 GK-MIDI converter and
XV-2020 synth module

The "Twin Rack Pack"

At January's winter 2003 NAMM show, Roland unveiled the GI-20 GK-MIDI converter. This unit's sole purpose is fast and accurate MIDI triggering of guitar (or Stick) signals from the GK-3 pickup. As soon as the GI-20 was available, Stick Enterprises carried it at a very competitive price for those Stick players with MIDI-equipped instruments.

At the same NAMM show, Roland also unveiled the XV-2020 synthesizer unit, a 64-voice expandable module that comes in a small half-rack size and is packed full of sounds.

In an effort to clear out some of my own floor units, I recently picked up one of each of these units (GI-20 and XV-2020) to create the synth "twin rack pack". Both are housed in the same sleek silver half-rack chassis. Side by side, they look like a single rack-mounted synthesizer unit. Aesthetics aside however, I was unprepared for the performance I would get out of this combo.

The GI-20 pitch to MIDI unit's tracking is near flawless. You can set up multiple patches each with varying tapping response and transposition. All six strings can be sent to a single MIDI channel or each individual string can be sent to a different channel, allowing you to hook up multiple units and get different orchestral or lead voices from each string.

The XV-2020 synth module has several hundred different sounds of superb quality. Coming in such a small package, the controls on the face of the XV-2020 don't allow you to do much more than simply change patches (of which there are plenty). Something new that Roland introduced with this model, however, is a handy USB port right on the front of the unit. Using this port, you can plug the XV-2020 directly into your computer and edit the user patches using editing software supplied on a CD-ROM that comes with the unit. The editing software is extremely well laid out and allows ultra-fine editing of each user patch. You can also create brand new patches from scratch starting with any of the built-in tones. Also included in the XV-2020 are 17 rhythm sets giving you access to all manner of drum/percussion sounds.

My impression of this setup so far has been hugely favorable. I love the sound and control and find the software very easy to use. Combine this package with a nice MIDI foot controller that allows control of multiple devices and you get a tidy yet very powerful package.

Both units are now available from Stick Enterprises with selling prices of $350 for the GI-20 and $600 for the XV-2020. Buy both units and get the Roland RAD-50 rack mount adaptor which will firmly fasten both units into a single rack space.

Glenn Poorman

More on the GI-20
More on the XV-2020