Synth/midi guitar

[Casar1973]

Hi,

Anybody with experience of these things? Can you hook them up to any midi synth, vsti etc?

[CapnLockheed]

You need to be a little more specific. There are many different
types and they all have their ups and downs. I own several
myself...a Roland GK3/GR-50 rig, a Shadow SH-075, A Switch
Vibracell with a Yamaha G50 converter and a Yamaha EZ-EG
which isn't a guitar at all but a guitar style midi controller.
Not only do they all have their individual strengths and weakneses but sometimes a synth that works great with one
will work like total crap with another....which is why I own
so damn many midi guitars AND synth modules!

Cheers....CL

[Casar1973]

Well I don't know anything about it except I'd like to play synthsounds by using a guitar if that is possible, what would you suggest?

[RunBeerRun]

Here's what I've had: the last 3 Roland guitar synths, which take one of those pitch to midi pickups that you mount on your guitar. Benefit of that is I got to use my Charvel, fast neck, low action, for some good synth sounds.

Bought an EZ-AG because it was so inexpensive, found that the neck was a dream to play, the buttons instead of strings were great too. Hook this thing up directly to hardware, you get stuck notes, midi spread out across 6 channels, just isn't ideal as far as every hardware that you'd connect it to. Hooking it up to a computer, you can filter out the low velocity notes, send all midi channels to just one, and it's ideal.

I hate pitch to midi stuff, stringed guitars for me are all about harmonics, muting strings, etc.

[CapnLockheed]

Well I don't know anything about it except I'd like to play synthsounds by using a guitar if that is possible, what would you suggest?

Of course its possible. It really depends on how you want to
use it. Are you going to be playing live with hardware synths?
Or are you going to be sitting at home in front of the computer.
RunBeerRun and I have told about the various systems and
their strengths and weakness.

What would I suggest? I would suggest you go online and do a little research. There's a huge thread devoted to the Yamaha EZ guitars right here at KVR. There is a user group on the Yahoo forums devoted entirely to midi guitars. I would suggest that if, at all possible, you go to a music store and try some out.

You need to do your homework and make an educated decision.
And you may not be happy with it. Guitar synthesis is not
for everyone....it takes a lot of time and effort as well
as adjustments to your playing style to get good results.
For the last reason alone MANY guitarists I know have tried
it and given up on it.

Like I said I have several different systems and I require all of them to fill my needs. It took me years of time, effort
and money to get to where I am now...and yes, it was worth
it. That's not to say you can't just buy either a Roland system
or a Yamaha EZ and be perfectly happy with it...just don't
expect a magic bullet because it does'nt exist!

If you're not willing to put in the time effort and money
to invest in a hardware system there are a couple of VST
plugins that will do pitch to midi...BUT...they are mono
(i.e...you can only play one note at a time) and they don't
track all that well.

Or you could always learn to play keyboard!!

Cheers.....CL

[hackenslash]

I have a GR33 with a GK2A on my custom guit-box. Love it!

[CapnLockheed]

I have a GR33 with a GK2A on my custom guit-box. Love it!

Yeah, Roland systems are great....as long as you're playing
the internal sounds...not so hot for controlling external
synths tho.

Cheers.....CL

[guitarhelper]

If you want to play sounds in the computer, the Axon Ax-50 is the best one on the market.
A little harder to setup than the Roland GI-20 but worth the effort. The GI-20 works but the lower strings track better on the Axon. Axon has more features.

Also if you use a piezo pickup system on the guitar, it makes it better than the external hex pickups.

Check out my review of the Axon Ax-50 in Premier Guitar magazine
http://magazine.premierguitar.com/Magaz ... oller.aspx

I have info on my site
www.guitarhelper.net

You can also contact me from there.

Brian
www.guitarhelper.net

[Newbie Brad]

If you don't mind less sophisticated features and performance, try Widisoft's WIDI Audio To MIDI VST 1.10. Works well. I also bought a license to TazMan Audio's TheExtractor but haven't played it enough for an opinion. Both the above are VST/VSTi format audio to pitch convertors.

[Shar*Chi]

I've been playing guitar a long time, and am considering whether to get a midi keyboard or a midi pickup. I'd like to see more info on this subject, Roland's product page for the GK3 doesnt give away much, and I can't even find the AIX-101 on Terratec's site.

What I want to know is what the capabilities and limitations of these setups are. Can they track slides, bends, taps, um CHORDS?! I'm finding it tough going getting anything comprehensive on the basic usability of Guitar Midi. I am a noob FL Studio user and I can't find much details about what is required. Also I note these companies sell little synth units such as the Roland GR20. What are they even for? Isnt the pickup enough to feed Midi data into the computer?

Also, guitarhelper your review link doesnt work if you arent a subscriber to that mag i think. Didnt work for me anyway.

I'm also wondering about a cheaper alternative approach - converting a guitar score recorded as a wav file to midi. I've been trying out a couple of freeware and demo apps but not getting any listenable results whatsoever. IE I cant hear anything from the .mid file. Unfortunately I currently am limited to onboard sound so could be some setting or problem there.