Pitch-to MIDI anyone?

[tomt]

Is anyone using a pitch-to-midi converter with an electric guitar?Do you need a special mic attached to your guitar?Are they any good? There was a lot of talk about it years ago but you never see them around. Do they still exist?TomT

[allends]

Aug 13, 2008, 4:43am, tomt wrote:Is anyone using a pitch-to-midi converter with an electric guitar?Do you need a special mic attached to your guitar?Are they any good? There was a lot of talk about it years ago but you never see them around. Do they still exist?TomTHi Tom,I have an electric guitar with a MIDI pickup and I plug it into a MIDI converter before the signal goes to my PC. I can trigger samples on my PC just like I'm playing a keyboard! Here is a picture of my guitar. The pickup MIDI is embedded into the bridge and you can see the MIDI controls (a switch and 2 nobs) over to the right. Some acoustic players have installed the saddles in their bridge so they can trigger MIDI notes without an electric guitar:Here is a picture of a less expensive pickup design by Roland. I hear that it works well:Here is an example of the least expensive MIDI converter from TerraTec. It is my choice but some players swear by the Roland products too: I have seen and tried pitch to MIDI programs that don't require a special pickup but I couldn't make music with any of them. If you are interested in this subject I can load you up with more links and personal insights.Cheers,Allen

[tomt]

Thanks Allen, nice guitar!So, for you it works quite well I understand?If it isn't too much trouble for you i would be happy if you could post some more info on this subjectBest Tom

[mrsunshine]

...yes, much links and info plz ...Thanks, Chuck

[gongchime]

From my experience I can play faster than those midi pickups can track although I understand they're getting better. If you have a legato approach, they can't track you. They need distinct clear lines. I was always enamored with Holdsworth's crazy guitar. Tune the strings to any tension level you prefer. They can all be the same. The frets are all the same distance apart. You can finger pick one set of strings while you fret another set. Just crazy.

[mojobone]

There seems to be some confusion here between standard MIDI guitar and pitch-to-MIDI converters. Standard MIDI guitar requires a hexaphonic pickup, as shown in Allends' post; because each string has its own detector, the guitar can be played polyphonically (meaning more than one note at a time) pitch-to-MIDI converters are monophonic only, but you can use virtually any instrument, as long as you don't play more than one note at a time. Either option will require adjustments to your playing technique, because sloppy playing will result in glitching. Most pitch-to-MIDI converters don't work very well, IMHO you'd be better off recording a performance then extracting the pitch with something like Melodyne. A standard MIDI guitar is a much more useful tool for inputting MIDI in notation programs and for general playing.