Here's what I THOUGHT was going on. Would someone who DOES kindly correct me...

When you have a track that IS in Guitar Mode in a style, you still just play a regular chord in your left hand, correct? Then, all the strum notes, velocities, RX notes etc. are played by the style track (not by you in realtime), and the chord you played is remapped to a chord that is guitar correct....

Is that about it? You mention in one post that there ARE some styles with tracks (maybe only one per style?) that remain in Guitar Mode, while other guitar Parts are in normal...

Here's the problem, or at least the difference, as I see it. Once again, please correct me if I'm wrong...

The difference between a regular track, even though it has been recorded using a real guitarist with a MIDI guitar, and a Guitar Track, comes about when you play a chord that the guitarist DIDN'T PLAY. You have separate tracks for maj, min, 7th and diminished (that right?) on the Korg. So if you play those chords, you WILL get a correct guitar chord for those choices. BUT... if you play a chord that there is no EXACT recording of it, the NTT (note transposition table) will make the chord play the chord that you played, but NOT voiced the way a guitarist would.

On the other hand... in Guitar Mode, it will ALWAYS remap whatever whacked out chord you play to something that a guitarist WOULD play. Big difference, IMO...

For those that work with guitarists, or play one themselves, this difference between chord shapes is critical. There is something completely different between how a regular track does a Cm7+5 to an Fm7 than the Guitar Mode plays it. Guitarists don't whizz up and down the neck playing barré chords all night long. They play different shaped chords, depending on where they are. THIS is Guitar Mode's revolutionary change.

So, does anyone have a detailed description of how the Korg DOES use Guitar Mode in live play, or did I pretty much get it right?

BTW, I was somewhat confused by spalding's post here...

" It would not make any sense to use guitar mode in a factory made style as it would (and could never) sound as natural as a real player. Guitar mode is used in an attempt to simulate a real player, not replace one."

If simulating a real instrument is NOT trying to replace one, what is?

I think the problem comes from relying on manufacturer hype, rather than your own ears. Sure, they used real guitar players to make the style in the first place. But the minute you start playing different chords than THEY laid down, you are no longer listening to a live player. You are listening to a machine interpret the live player's playing! And doing a pretty poor job of it!

Guitar Mode is the beginning of the future... Parts that use genuine player techniques and chord re-voicing techniques to interpret your chord choices into genuine performances that a real guitarist WOULD play. On the Roland implementation of this feature, WHERE you play in the Chord Recognition Area determines the inversion of what is strummed. So play a C chord, then an F chord without moving your hand, and the guitar part plays a C chord, then an F chord without moving the chord. In other words, instead of a simple barré jump, it plays the F chord the way a guitarist would. As a different SHAPE, not the same shape higher or lower on the neck (which is what regular tracks do).

Can the Korg do this? It's amazing when you hear it (if you already know what a guitarist WOULD play)...


Now imagine piano parts that do the same thing (change inversion, rather than block transpose chords), horns that change inversion to keep voice leading correctly, strings, you name it... We're on the brink here folks, and it doesn't involve audio loops. It just takes the horsepower to model these more complex behaviors on to the sounds that use them.

Guitar Mode is (hopefully) just the beginning....