u-he

jsphweid · Post by **jsphweid** » Sun Sep 16, 2012 9:24 pm

I'm testing zebra 2 / zebralette on cubase, windows 7. Can I use a mic to manipulate the breath controller? I know audio has to be converted to midi, but I can't seem to find a good solution for that. Seems like it should be very simple.

Thanks!
-joseph

Howard · Post by **Howard** » Mon Sep 17, 2012 7:05 am

(just in case it's not clear) "Breath" is defined as MIDI CC #02, so all you have to do is send this CC somehow, e.g. from a knob on your master keyboard.

bmrzycki · Post by **bmrzycki** » Mon Sep 17, 2012 3:21 pm

Maybe this app can get you there? I haven't tried it. And of course since this is amplitude you'll have to place the mic very close to your mouth (or start yelling loudly) to get max CC value.

http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... 88#2650588

jsphweid · Post by **jsphweid** » Mon Sep 17, 2012 9:06 pm

Thanks for the responses. Good to know.

So, I need something that will convert the audio signal amplitude to midi data, then some controller to route the data to CC 2.

Or, I'm just guessing, but I could probably use midilearn to connect them. Since those are just defaults and Zebra seems really flexible that way. (I'm able to reroute random sliders on my keyboard because I don't have a modwheel.)

Yeah, I'm sure that application works, and it probably does many things that I'll never need it for. People have made a few freeware versions but they are technical and don't have any sort of manual. So I'm not really sure they even work. So if you know of any sort of freeware vst, that does just that (unlikely, I know), please let me know!

Tony Ostinato · Post by **Tony Ostinato** » Mon Sep 17, 2012 9:24 pm

http://thepiz.org/plugins/?p=AudioToCC

that dude is literally one-stop shopping for all your midi vst needs.

then get a cheap mic and actually blow on it.

its not going to be as good as a yamaha breath controller (arrrrrgh discontinued) or a wx5 or akai ewi at sensing breath pressure but its cheaper.

easier than this too :

bmrzycki · Post by **bmrzycki** » Mon Sep 17, 2012 9:26 pm

It looks like Piz has done this for you:
http://thepiz.org/plugins/?p=pizmidi
* midiAudioToCC - Converts audio amplitude to CC messages.

I actually just map one of my keyboard sliders to do channel pressure (Aftertouch) and another to do breath (CC2). They work great when exploring the sounds of Dark Zebra.

(Edit: Tony Ostinato beat me to it!)

hollo · Post by **hollo** » Mon Sep 17, 2012 10:02 pm

bmrzycki wrote:
I actually just map one of my keyboard sliders to do channel pressure (Aftertouch) and another to do breath (CC2). They work great when exploring the sounds of Dark Zebra.
(Edit: Tony Ostinato beat me to it!)

+1 Brian

jsphweid · Post by **jsphweid** » Tue Sep 18, 2012 12:26 am

Yeah, I'll have to try that one again. I played around with it a bit but couldn't get it to work. It seems great at detecting and converting the sound coming out, but my mic going in goes undetected. Do you just use it in cubase as an Fx?

jsphweid · Post by **jsphweid** » Tue Sep 18, 2012 2:27 am

So okay, I've gotten this far.

So I get an audio track open in cubase, load the audiotocc effect, and it can pick up the signal (moves whenever I talk), but only when I have "monitor" on in cubase. No midi output device except "MIDI to host" is checked. Under continuous, I changed the value CC to 2 (and right to something else) since that is what Howie said breath control used in zebra.

So it is set to CC 2, midi to host is checked, but zebra still doesn't pick it up. I'm not really sure what to do or check. Suggestions? Thanks for your help!!!

bmrzycki · Post by **bmrzycki** » Tue Sep 18, 2012 3:57 am

Is there any sort of midi logger available for Cubase? I use Reaper so I just use the built-in one. It sounds to me like the vst is working and the problem (just a guess) is related to routing either the mic into the effect or routing the midi out of the effect into Zebra.

I'm afraid I don't have specific suggestions -- just what I think it might be.

groundhum · Post by **groundhum** » Tue Sep 18, 2012 3:22 pm

jsphweid wrote:So it is set to CC 2, midi to host is checked, but zebra still doesn't pick it up. I'm not really sure what to do or check. Suggestions? Thanks for your help!!!

Doesn't pick it up as in no MIDI activity at Zebra?

Or, is cc2 maybe not assigned to anything in the Zebra patch?

jsphweid · Post by **jsphweid** » Tue Sep 25, 2012 9:00 pm

Ok, new development.

On one of the midi input tabs on cubase, it is set to "All MIDI Input" or something. Under that, one can select either "USB MIDI Cable" or "Insert CC AudioToMidi" (or whatever the program is called).

Obviously, I need input from both the insert from the audio channel and the midi cable (my keyboard).

However, it seems like zebra (or cubase) will only take one... When I have it on All Midi Input, it picks up the keyboard, as it always has, but only the keyboard...

The only way I can get it to pick up midi from the insert (the vst that I used above) is when I manually select "Insert AudioToMidi CC" (or whatever). So it seems like a choice between one or the other. Obviously, when I select All available MIDI, it should pick up both.

Is this a limitation in zebra, cubase, my cable?

u-he

KVR Audio

breath controller + midilearn