Polyphonic Guitar to MIDI VST/AU "MIDI Guitar"- BETA TEST

[mandolarian]

I did not want to also go for the added expense of a GR processor so I threw a quick circuit together to power the pickup and amplify the signal.

Would you be willing to share your circuit? A hex output preamp is pretty 'spensive for pleb guitarists. I have a GR-33, but the latency is horrible - 110 ms on the low strings. It's only useful for slow envelope pads or precognitive solos. The latter requires psychic techniques that really kill the improv vibe.

[nix808]

The GK3 need 7-18v.
I am running mine on mains power at 9volts.
This is all the circuit involves,
There are no components apart from the jacks and power supply.
Prolly u can track down the wiring of the pins on the net somewhere.
For me, Ubertar wired the 13pin connection.
Cheers.
PS-I run my own audio to MIDI guitar with the hex.
Latency is around 1800 samples average for all strings,
and it is based on measuring the interval between 0 crossings.
8D
Many thanks to 'MIDI Guitar', I am not bringing the 8 input soundcard
to the beach this summer partially coz I have now poly over 1 connection.

[tboneUS]

Would you be willing to share your circuit? A hex output preamp is pretty 'spensive for pleb guitarists. I have a GR-33, but the latency is horrible - 110 ms on the low strings. It's only useful for slow envelope pads or precognitive solos. The latter requires psychic techniques that really kill the improv vibe.

I have PM'd some details as I did not want to Hijack this main thread.

[JamOrigin]

Greetings, everyone! There is no way I'm going to have time to read all of 28 pages, but I've read what I could. A couple of basic questions:

What is the "Final Price" going to be? The $99.95 USD posted now or something other after beta?

How long is this beta release you are offering free good for? Does it time out at some point? I don't mean the offer. I mean the plugin itself timing out. Will it?

This plugin / standalone has been under development for a while now. I realise this one is a lot trickier than building some simple EQ plugin or so on, but when roughly can we expect this to come out of beta and be offered as some form of finished product?

I need a list of DAWs that this is not compatible with at this point. Unfortunately, I don't have the time to experiment and try various schemes and setups that some of you have. Can someone sum up where it doesn't work and what its current plugin trouble are?

Thanks for those of you who are knowledgeable enough on these issues to reply.

Cheers!

Good questions, Telenator. Let me answer the best I can according to how we see things currently.

1. Right now its 30% early adapter discount, so $69.99. The offer lasts throughout December. After that its going to be $99. We dont have any plans to end the free trial. We think its important people can try it out before buying.

2. We will end the BETA when its ready. Our current plan says february. MIDI Guitar was actually 5 years under development by now, so a few month of BETA testing is a relatively short time frame for us.

3. As for DAW compatbility the rule number one is that as long as you can use it as an audio effect it should work just like you would use a simple reverb. It can be used as an audio effect because it has its own internal VST/AU hosting.

Most will want to use the MIDI output feature of the plugin to record midi into the piano roll. We will spend some time in January to create video guides for each major DAW. It works for most DAWs. For now we have a very first overview on the midi guitar page. The last resport is typically to use the standalone version of MIDI Guitar with the virtual midi feature built in, which you can hen select in the DAW.

Hope this answers your questions.

[Kraznet]

I bought it and it works in Samplitude and Sequoia x64. This plug-in shows great potential. I will do a setup tutorial when I get time.

Regards
Kraznet

[spinedoc]

I bought it and it works in Samplitude and Sequoia x64. This plug-in shows great potential. I will do a setup tutorial when I get time.

Regards
Kraznet

This is a good question. Would be great to just vocalize a melody and covert to midi accurately. I read where the new version of Live will have the capability.. Would be awesome as a plug in!

[The Telenator]

JamOrigin, thanks so much for all the answers and detailed info! I came on-board here very recently, but your response brings me up to date. I had heard things -- such as your lengthy work on this project, so this time in beta truly is minimal. I haven't had much time to test -- must get to it more this weekend! -- but already I think I'll be using your creation for a very long time. Continued Best Wishes . . .

[CurryPaste]

Thank you all for the kind words!

Here is a Sneak Peek at a few new functions.

PITCH BENDS!

[sheldrakes]

You've gone this far, how about a TALENT button

[fischkopf]

I tested the evalutation verion and it's awesome. Recognition is pretty good with my Ibanez guitar. It even works great with vst instruments in FL-Studio.
Great Job!!

[brainstem]

Howdy,

CSeye here, grumpy old man from the age of vinyl.

The only thing of importance I have to say is this: As soon as I heard my SG trigger the Test Piano in the Trial version of MIDI Guitar I was sold! PERIOD.

The initial listen of the Test Piano was as articulate, without any sense of latency or false triggers beyond what I'm currently accustomed to with my Godin LGX-SA/GI-20 combo.

My testing involves playing sampled piano and bass lines using the open low E and A strings which will quickly reveal latency in a MIDI guitar converter. Again, equal to, if not better than my current set up.

Happy to say that I'm now a licensed user of MIDI Guitar.

Below is my report of using MIDI Guitar with Logic 9.1.8 (i5 MBP, OSX 10.8.2). In case someone has already posted a similar report, my apologies for not reading all 30 pages of this thread... I stopped at page 15, then downloaded the open beta.

MOTU Track 16 Cue Mix Guitar 1 channel Muted.
- After initial tests with Audio Output set to Test Piano, I changed the MIDI Guitar Stand Alone Audio Output Instrument to No Instrument.
- MOTU Track 16 as Input and Output Device. Input Channel: Only Channel 3 which is the first Guitar input.
- Buffer Size: 128
- MIDI Output Route: "MIDI Guitar Virtual MIDI Out"

As a result of the last step above (- MIDI Output Route: "MIDI Guitar Virtual MIDI Out"), "MIDI Guitar" appears in Logic's Physical Input object in the Environment without any additional work. That's it. No need to click on the IAC bus. It's just there.

Having used a Yamaha G10 from 1989 through '95; then in succession- a Roland GI-10, Axon AX-100, Roland GI-20 (currently in use), a GR-55 (a disappointing step backwards for triggering external MIDI- traded it in towards a JVT59 on which I installed a GK-3 ), and a Ztar Z7S (an interesting branch of guitar evolution-very expensive but ultimately disappointing, it gets some use for Step Input into Logic), I can say that "MIDI Guitar" is going to change the MIDI guitar converter landscape as we now know it.

Two days ago I was taking a fresh look at current offerings (which I periodically do, with the hope of finding MIDI guitar Nirvana...). The YRG Pro grabbed my attention. Then I found this thread and I'm still shaking with excitement.

Nirvana for me is not having to have a hardware MIDI converter for guitar. The wireless Fishman Triple Play was at one time the object of my desire, but it still hasn't seen of the light day...

With the "MIDI Guitar" software, I know have a very simple but powerful set up: MBP, MG software, audio interface, and guitar of my choice.

JamOrigin, Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!


Edit: I forgot to add that at this point, I've only used the default settings. Tweakery will occur in time. This just speaks to how well designed MIDI Guitar is that it's default put me where I want to be.

Yamaha G10- 1989

[AdmiralQuality]

How is everyone finding the velocity range?

It's my single big complaint. It doesn't seem to produce anywhere near the lower velocities. (Haven't looked at the raw MIDI output yet but I'd be surprised if it's getting below 64.) Ideally, the lowest volume note-on it can detect should send a velocity of 1, and the highest 127. Instead velocity response seems very restricted to just high valyes. Would be nice to have a slider for lowest velocity to send. (I think its a safe assumption that the highest is always 127.)

Velocity curves would be very nice to have too. (Yes, you can do that processing in MIDI but it decimates the gamut of possible velocities. Best to do it at the device doing the amplitude detection.)

[brainstem]

Is there a way to save the Stand Alone settings as a preset? Specifically, the Audio Device Input Channel. As it is now, in my case it reverts to Channel 1+2 Mixdown. I want it to retain the Channel 3 setting for my guitar input.

[JamOrigin]

Howdy,

CSeye here, grumpy old man from the age of vinyl.

The only thing of importance I have to say is this: As soon as I heard my SG trigger the Test Piano in the Trial version of MIDI Guitar I was sold! PERIOD.

The initial listen of the Test Piano was as articulate, without any sense of latency or false triggers beyond what I'm currently accustomed to with my Godin LGX-SA/GI-20 combo.

My testing involves playing sampled piano and bass lines using the open low E and A strings which will quickly reveal latency in a MIDI guitar converter. Again, equal to, if not better than my current set up.

Happy to say that I'm now a licensed user of MIDI Guitar.

...

Having used a Yamaha G10 from 1989 through '95; then in succession- a Roland GI-10, Axon AX-100, Roland GI-20 (currently in use), a GR-55 (a disappointing step backwards for triggering external MIDI- traded it in towards a JVT59 on which I installed a GK-3 ), and a Ztar Z7S (an interesting branch of guitar evolution-very expensive but ultimately disappointing, it gets some use for Step Input into Logic), I can say that "MIDI Guitar" is going to change the MIDI guitar converter landscape as we now know it.

Two days ago I was taking a fresh look at current offerings (which I periodically do, with the hope of finding MIDI guitar Nirvana...). The YRG Pro grabbed my attention. Then I found this thread and I'm still shaking with excitement.

Nirvana for me is not having to have a hardware MIDI converter for guitar. The wireless Fishman Triple Play was at one time the object of my desire, but it still hasn't seen of the light day...

With the "MIDI Guitar" software, I know have a very simple but powerful set up: MBP, MG software, audio interface, and guitar of my choice.

JamOrigin, Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!


Edit: I forgot to add that at this point, I've only used the default settings. Tweakery will occur in time. This just speaks to how well designed MIDI Guitar is that it's default put me where I want to be.

Yamaha G10- 1989

brainstem, KVR posts rarely motivates me as much as this one. Thank you for your support!

How is everyone finding the velocity range?

It's my single big complaint. It doesn't seem to produce anywhere near the lower velocities. (Haven't looked at the raw MIDI output yet but I'd be surprised if it's getting below 64.) Ideally, the lowest volume note-on it can detect should send a velocity of 1, and the highest 127. Instead velocity response seems very restricted to just high valyes. Would be nice to have a slider for lowest velocity to send. (I think its a safe assumption that the highest is always 127.)

Velocity curves would be very nice to have too. (Yes, you can do that processing in MIDI but it decimates the gamut of possible velocities. Best to do it at the device doing the amplitude detection.)

Yes, velocity control still missing. We have been hesitating because we were still thinking whether we nesed to involve the user in finding the range or if we can do it automatically. At this moment we're thinking we can do the 1-127 velocity without involving the user. Then there needs tonly to be a simple curve in the UI for you to map it into another range if needed.

Is there a way to save the Stand Alone settings as a preset? Specifically, the Audio Device Input Channel. As it is now, in my case it reverts to Channel 1+2 Mixdown. I want it to retain the Channel 3 setting for my guitar input.

Oh, i think we forgot to save channel then. We'll sort that out.

[Rusty Cadillac]

Looking forward to your tutorial (written or video), Kraz. Your Samp tuts have always saved me time.

I bought this app last week and spent about an hour with it (ProX, latest version). Very cool concept. At times, it came close but I wasn't able to spend enough time with it to get a consistently fluid feel but I see it has great potential.

Best.

I bought it and it works in Samplitude and Sequoia x64. This plug-in shows great potential. I will do a setup tutorial when I get time.

Regards
Kraznet