As you guitar synth players know, there's usually 2 ways to control a synth with a guitar. POLY (normal, which any polyphonic MIDI compatible synth supports) and MONO mode, which is rarely supported by synths.
POLY mode is poorly suited to representing a guitar though. In POLY mode, there's only one pitch bend for the entire MIDI channel, so there's no way to express the bending of individual guitar strings. Also, on guitar it's possible the play the same note on more than one string, and this is a fuzzy area on a single MIDI channel. When one of the 2 duplicate notes ends, there's no way to predict which one the synth will cut (if it even started two of the same note, many won't.)
In MONO mode however, you typically pick a MIDI channel from 1 - 11, that represents the monophonic sound of the first guitar string, then the next 5 successive MIDI channels are used to represet the rest of the strings, each one to be played with a monophonic synth voice. Not enough guitar synth players do this, because not enough synths can support it. But I want mine to!!! AFAIC, this is the ONLY way to control a synth from a MIDI guitar controller!
So, to test, I'm going to need some examples. To the person who posts the best example, I'll give a free license of Poly-Ana (when it's released... hopefully in beta before the end of this month) as well as SCAMP. Also note that Poly-Ana may be released as Beta before I actually get the MONO guitar synth feature working, but the feature WILL be added, before version 1.0.
Sorry but I can't give everyone a free copy, so this has to be done contest style. Play me a nice piece (doesn't have to be very long) in MIDI MONO MODE on 6 channels!!! NOT POLY MODE on one channel! Make a .MID file out of it (for other formats and/or project files, contact me), post it (or email to me if you're shy, though I'll be posting the winner just for the record), and please make sure it's got both some vibrato/whammy (assuming you have one, you won't be disqualified if you're a hard tail. And if you do whammy, preferably do it up AND down in pitch) But you must absolutely include some individual string bending (obviously strings only bend up) of at least 2 different strings, together and at different times (and be sure to tell me what your controller's bend range was set to in semitones.)
Oh, one other rule, it has to actually be YOU doing it, because I may need to interview you about some stuff. So don't send me someone else's demo that you located.
If you can also provide an .MP3 or .wav audio out version of the same performance (as clean a sound as possible please, distortion won't help) that will GREATLY increase your chances of winning. Though it's not strictly necessary.
This isn't a talent contest, per se. Your song, someone else's, a few chords and some noodling, I don't care... I just need some test material. Yes, you should be able to play well enough that it doesn't sound awful and your string bends are on pitch. Variety is good, i.e. play some loud AND some quiet parts. Some chords AND leads. But you don't need to be Pat Metheny (though he's welcome to enter!
) The winner will be the best TEST material, not necessarily the best performance.Not sure of the time period on this contest. It'll be over when I announce a winner... and that will depend on how fast entries come in, as well as my available time. I also can't guarantee when Poly-Ana will come out, but I'm in the final stretch so it *should* be within the next few weeks. Poly-Ana will cost $69.95 (USD) while it's in Beta, then will be $129.95 once it hits version 1.0, probably in another month or two. SCAMP is currently $39.95, and is going up to $69.95 on Sept 1. So, $109.90 worth of prize software. That's gotta be worth an hour's work?
(KVR Mods: I'm posting this under Instruments, as it's in regard to R&D for an instrument, but if it's more appropriate in another board, go ahead and move it.)
Thanks in advance everyone. And good luck!
