Getting Started with the GB-4

The first thing you have to remember is that, when you enter any of the Edit Modes, they are empty; a clean slate with which to start programming.  The basic use of this machine is with the Chord Edit area.

Push the Edit button twice.  The arrow on the display points to Chord Edit, and the display will read “COPY from001 PopFusion” - but you don’t want to copy anything at this point, so go on to the next page with the PAGE “+1” button.

This is the STYLE page, with “S=” on the top line.  The measure number (001) is next to the > sign.  Move the cursor passed the 001 to the middle field on the second line, then spin the dial.  This number selects any of the 100 internal background accompaniment rhythms for your new song.  Choose something suitable, you can always change your mind later.

Now move the cursor to the far right field, spin to the right and then left again.  You’ll see all of the options for the style here.  They are:
VR1 => variation 1 (the most basic)
VR2 => variation 2 (more complex rhythmically, sometimes with more instruments)
FL1 => fill 1 (leads nicely into variation 1)
FL2 => fill 2 (good before switching to VR2)
END => ending (put the ending here)
STP => stop (not the motor oil)
RET => return (to the beginning)
Choose VR1 then press the big PLAY/ENTER button.  The cursor will fly back to the far left, at the > sign.  This tells the machine to play the first variation of the style number you chose, starting at measure 001.  If later on in the song, you’d like a fill to appear automatically, change the measure number to that spot (e.g. 016) and put FL1 on the far right field, then press ENTER again.  When you have entered more than one thing on this (or any) page, you can view the data by spinning the dial while the cursor is on the > sign.
If you don’t know where you want the fills to be yet, you can come back to this page at any time during editing.  Use this page to switch to the second variation at a specific measure, and to have the GB-4 stop (or put an ending) at a particular point, or to create an endless loop back to the beginning of your song with the RET message.

Go to the next page with PAGE +1.  This is CHORD INPUT.
The display shows “>001-1-00” which reads “measure - beat - step”.  The measure number is just that, beat is the beat within that measure, and step is a further subdivision of the beat.  There are 48 steps in 1 beat.  You would use this if the chord needed to be placed between two beats, on the “and” if you were counting 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & etc.
ex: On measure 11, if a chord happens on the “and” of 2; set it like this => 011-2-24
	(24 steps is half way between beats 2 and 3)
Most of the time, chords will happen right on a beat, so step would be “00”.

To enter the chord progression, move the cursor to the 001.  Now you can input the chord directly with the C - B buttons, the 10 key pad (for all the extensions), and the flat/sharp buttons.  Input the first chord for your song, then press ENTER.  The cursor flies back to the beginning. (All chords last until the next chord happens; if G7 lasts for 6 measures, you do not need to put a G7 on every measure, but only on the first one it appears). Put the cursor on the 001 and dial it up to the next measure where a chord happens, type in that chord, press ENTER, and repeat.
Note: If you have more than one chord per measure, change the beat (and/or step if necessary) to show that position, then input the chord.  Remember to press ENTER after every chord you input.
While the cursor is on the > sign, you can dial through all of the chords that you have input to check your work.  Use the ERASE(reset) button to delete mistakes, then input the correct chord at the right measure/beat/step position.  Also, “slash” chords like D/G (a D Major triad with the bass playing G) are possible.  Input D, then press the “bass” button (the “/” symbol is on it) followed by the G button.

These two pages (STYLE and CHORD INPUT) are where most of the work is done making songs on the GB-4.  The rest of the editing pages are for copying, erasing, deleting, looping etc.  It is important to save what you have done BEFORE exiting the Edit Mode.  Push PAGE +1 until you get to the very last page - WRITE TO 101 USER_CHORD.  There are 50 locations to store your original progressions in, from 101 to 150.  Here you can choose one and also give your song a name with the cursor and the dial.  Push ENTER when you’ve done that, and the display will show SURE ?  Y/N - spin the dial to the right to answer YES.

Now you can play your song.  Push the small PLAY button at the top 2 times - the arrow should point to BACKING PATTERN.  Type 101 (or whatever location you saved your song to) then press the big PLAY button at the bottom.  The intro will play in the key of your song, and your chord progression will start after that.  You can skip the intro by pushing FWD once before you push PLAY.

To continue editing your song, go back to Chord Edit again, but this time, when you get the COPY from001 screen, dial up to the location of your song, press ENTER and dial to the right to answer YES.  Remember the edit modes are always empty, so you need to copy your song into it to make any more changes, fix mistakes, make it longer, etc.  Now when you go through the pages, you’ll see all of the data you’ve already input and you can start from there.  Don’t forget to go to the last page when you’re done and WRITE it.  You can write over the previous version, or if you’re not sure you’ve improved it, write it to a new location and compare them.

Good Luck!

Have Fun, Make Music
Troy Reigleman / Product Specialist / 1-800-421-2177