Midi guitar

[polaris20]

And it's certainly better than the MIDI Guitar plugin, which has horrendous latency. The iOS app is even worse, to the point where I want my money back.

haha only the best latency in a software guitar-to-MIDI solution so far, plus it's polyphonic. I realize that this is the hardware forum, but the OP should definitely check out the MIDI Guitar plugin (http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=359095), if only to have something to compare other stuff to. It's also way cheaper than any hardware solution, plus you can use your own guitar.

The Triple Play could also be a winner, but it's already a year past the original release date, so I'm not very excited about it anymore. The MIDI Guitar plugin takes care of my MIDI needs just fine at the moment.

The Triple Play is coming out next month; if you read the thread, you'll see Sweetwater already has a landing page for it. MIDI Guitar has the best latency of a software guitar to MIDI solution? Absolutely. It still sucks, and there's no way I'm paying $100 for a BETA application. It's not even as good as using a Roland GR-30's MIDI out to a MIDI/USB converter.

[zerocrossing]

Brian Moore makes MIDI guitars that use USB rather than 13-pin.

I'm personally not a fan of the Starr instruments. Too cheap feeling.

I've demo'd the Jam origin, and it shows promise.

G

Yeah, I'd heard so much great press about the Ztars I was expecting something that didn't feel like a $29 toy, and I was disappointed. Sent it right back. I'm shocked anyone likes them. I don't know what the Fishman Triple Play will be like, but I think your best bet it to start practicing keyboard.

[polaris20]

Brian Moore makes MIDI guitars that use USB rather than 13-pin.

I'm personally not a fan of the Starr instruments. Too cheap feeling.

I've demo'd the Jam origin, and it shows promise.

G

Yeah, I'd heard so much great press about the Ztars I was expecting something that didn't feel like a $29 toy, and I was disappointed. Sent it right back. I'm shocked anyone likes them. I don't know what the Fishman Triple Play will be like, but I think your best bet it to start practicing keyboard.

Judging by the people who've tried it, if you like Axon stuff, you'll like the FTP more. If you like Roland gear, you'll really like it more.

If you're expecting keyboard perfection, perhaps learning keyboard is still the wisest investment.

[zerocrossing]

Brian Moore makes MIDI guitars that use USB rather than 13-pin.

I'm personally not a fan of the Starr instruments. Too cheap feeling.

I've demo'd the Jam origin, and it shows promise.

G

Yeah, I'd heard so much great press about the Ztars I was expecting something that didn't feel like a $29 toy, and I was disappointed. Sent it right back. I'm shocked anyone likes them. I don't know what the Fishman Triple Play will be like, but I think your best bet it to start practicing keyboard.

Judging by the people who've tried it, if you like Axon stuff, you'll like the FTP more. If you like Roland gear, you'll really like it more.

If you're expecting keyboard perfection, perhaps learning keyboard is still the wisest investment.

I've had both the Roland and Axon stuff at different times in my life and I thought the Roland was OK if you were using it's crappy sound engine. Man I'd love to see them put in something at least as good as their Fantom-engine based keyboards... An actual VA engine would be awesome. the last version I had was just fairly lame in the sound department. Maybe they got better? The Axon was better at triggering MIDI (it would have to be considering it had no sound of it's own)

Both suffer from the dreaded "yodeling" that happens when you just let notes die out. Don't try anything subtle when you're playing or they screw up galore.

The Ztar feels like someone taped Tic Tacs on a hunk of plastic. The string triggers were a joke. My Casio DG20 was a better instrument.

If the Fishman can preform better than the Axon, paint me interested. Wireless is nice for me, as is the price point. At that cost I wouldn't need or expect perfection but it could be fun to layer guitar and synth lines together.

[polaris20]

Brian Moore makes MIDI guitars that use USB rather than 13-pin.

I'm personally not a fan of the Starr instruments. Too cheap feeling.

I've demo'd the Jam origin, and it shows promise.

G

Yeah, I'd heard so much great press about the Ztars I was expecting something that didn't feel like a $29 toy, and I was disappointed. Sent it right back. I'm shocked anyone likes them. I don't know what the Fishman Triple Play will be like, but I think your best bet it to start practicing keyboard.

Judging by the people who've tried it, if you like Axon stuff, you'll like the FTP more. If you like Roland gear, you'll really like it more.

If you're expecting keyboard perfection, perhaps learning keyboard is still the wisest investment.

I've had both the Roland and Axon stuff at different times in my life and I thought the Roland was OK if you were using it's crappy sound engine. Man I'd love to see them put in something at least as good as their Fantom-engine based keyboards... An actual VA engine would be awesome. the last version I had was just fairly lame in the sound department. Maybe they got better? The Axon was better at triggering MIDI (it would have to be considering it had no sound of it's own)

Both suffer from the dreaded "yodeling" that happens when you just let notes die out. Don't try anything subtle when you're playing or they screw up galore.

The Ztar feels like someone taped Tic Tacs on a hunk of plastic. The string triggers were a joke. My Casio DG20 was a better instrument.

If the Fishman can preform better than the Axon, paint me interested. Wireless is nice for me, as is the price point. At that cost I wouldn't need or expect perfection but it could be fun to layer guitar and synth lines together.

According to Elantric, it's highly resistant to errors/glitching compared to both Axon and Roland.

[to_the_sun]

To me, there are only two options: Fishman Triple Play, or Baby-Z (or higher). The latter is only $200 more than the FTP, and is every bit as accurate and low latency as a keyboard controller.

So how much worse latency-wise is the FTP than the latter?

[polaris20]

To me, there are only two options: Fishman Triple Play, or Baby-Z (or higher). The latter is only $200 more than the FTP, and is every bit as accurate and low latency as a keyboard controller.

So how much worse latency-wise is the FTP than the latter?

I don't have a Baby-Z, but comparing the FTP to a YRG, and it's really quite good. the latency is not at all a nuisance.

[daveb63]

Just pulled the trigger on a baby-z today.. with some hesitation.. I sure wish there would have been a way to try one first.. but what the hell. I have been looking at these damn things for soooo long!

[tapper mike]

Just remember it takes a little getting used to.

[to_the_sun]

Is there any software out there that can do what these various pieces of hardware do, with any sort of reliability?

[daveb63]

jam origin is the only one I'm aware of .. it does audio to midi. I have tried it but was not able to get it dialed in well enough for my liking. Latency was an issue for me as well.

[nix808]

I have done it reasonably well.
latency is 2000 samples @ 44.1k.
This is not too bad considering a cycle of low E is 551 anyway.
It's because there is a percussive phase before I can get a decent read.
I have been doodling with a passive pickup recently,
I want to use Ubertar passive hex pickups,
but it looks like they bleed too much.
My Roland GK3 piezo pickup works much better at string separation.
I use an Ubertar breakout box which I have wired a 9v power supply to.
This goes via the 6 trs cables to my interface.
I have used 2 different interfaces, and they seem to work the same.
My 0-crossings counter is called 2SYN, I have written it help from Leif Oddson in Flowstone.
I am still refining the pitch tracking, like I say I have to put the Ubertar on the shelf and focus again on the piezo hex. Have not added vel yet. It's also possible to play with the raw frequency figure, instead of triggering MIDI.
Have only tried the GI-20, I have a unit. I had problems with double triggers on note on. My system seems as good IIRC
That said, I have played with filters for many hours to get it working OK.
Cheers, happy to field any questions, not sure if I will keep a couple of tricks up my sleeve.

[sOktay]

Hi guys,

Anyone else want to talk about their experiences with FTP? I have been looking at this and the Roland GR-55+GK-3 option, but from what you guys are saying, it sounds like FTP is better when it comes to tracking. GR-55 does a whole bunch of other stuff, and you're not tied to a computer so there's that, but I've also read a lot of negative reviews (guitar modeling being "not as good as [other product]", synth engine not being playable thru MIDI in, etc.) So I don't know what to do.

Help me KVR, you're my only hope! :)

[CapnLockheed]

My Triple Play arrives tomorrow. After I spend some time with it I'll post my thoughts. I have used nearly EVERY midi guitar solution ever made. Currently I have a GK-3/GI-20 combination that works reasonably well. I also use the GK-3 with a VG-88 MkII and, as that is hex signal processing as opposed to MIDI conversion, there's all sorts of things that the VG88 can do that the Triple Play cannot. I had some hesitations before pulling the trigger. First of all, the FTP does NOT fit on all guitars. Secondly, the built in Li-on battery is sealed in and can't be replaced.
Then there's the fact that the FTP MUST be used with a computer and cannot be used directly with hardware synths. This makes it a bit fiddly for live use. BUT some guys at V-Guitar Forums have hacked together an Arduino based MIDI2USB converter that allows the FTP to be used directly with hardware synths:


http://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=9426.0





I've contacted Paul Gallo, the head of the FTP project at Fishman and sent him this info in the hopes of convincing them that they NEED to make this product!!

[ew]

You don't even need to do that. Kenton makes a USB to MIDI converter:


http://www.kentonuk.com/products/items/ ... host.shtml

ew