MIDI Pickup for Composing?

[bhuether]

Hi,

I know most people are interested to use MIDI pickups to control synths, and while I might eventually be interested in that, my main interest is in composing, with option of tab and standard notation. I just want to be able to "record" ideas into tab easily and accurately. From reading, I can't tell which of the options would suit me best and just curious what others have to say.

thanks,
Brian

[janmulder]

I have not yet found a reliable solution ... not a good midi pickup nor a good guitar midi to notation software. I end up having to do so much post editing that I found it easier to do it manually or with a small midi keyboard.

If you want something for entering midi I'd try one of the midi 'guitars' ... Like the old Casio ones of yore.

[mhs]

It's something like voice recognition programs (which have made strides recently) in that there are so many "judgement calls" required that notation is still easier done by hand. (for me).

I've tried a few midi->notation-software solutions and even using a keyboard, they leave you with fairly exact representations of what they think happened. That is: They get exactly timed notes on a stave and it doesn't look anything like readable music or what you had in mind. That makes sense to me because only we know what we have in mind.

Before I went out last night I did a quick transcription (pencil and paper) of a multiple odd-meters tune that was pretty complex (something with Yo-Yo-Ma and Thile) and it took about 30-40 minutes and was exactly what anyone would want from a lead sheet. I can't get close to that in a) entering via midi b) editing out all the nuances that are wrong c) finding out that the notation program doesn't support some common but oddball thing.

But let us know if you find a better solution.

[Psalad]

There is a newish one from Fishman that people say is pretty good...

[el_kabong]

Brian -

I've used two different models of MIDI pickups on an acoustic guitar, including the RMC Acoustic Gold piezo saddles and the Roland GK magnetics. As you may already be aware, the trick with these is twofold: a) setup and b) playing.

Presumably, the RMC piezo saddles are better suited to applications with strings that have less (or no) ferrous content, which can include bronze wound acoustic strings. Although the RMC product line is well regarded, being used in several OEM installations, I've found that the Roland GK can be used successfully with bronze-wound acoustics, if set-up properly....meaning proper string clearance and sensitivity settings in your interface/synth unit.

On the playing side of the equation, clear articulation is key, requiring practice and discipline. Single-note lines will always be easier to accomplish, but well-played chords shouldn't be a problem, given the above caveats.

So long as your MIDI interface has MIDI-out capabilities, running the signal to your computer/DAW isn't any more difficult than with a keyboard. Although I've only rarely bothered to do so, I have tested this process successfully. Obviously, you can apply whatever virtual instrument you like to the MIDI track, but even if all you want to do is transcribe it, there are software programs that will do that for you too.

Hope that helps, Scott

[Hyoung]

Godin makes several great guitars with built in MIDI pickups, which is the best approach for consistency. I have played the nylon string acoustic and the electric and both are very good. Paired with the Roland GR synth it's a lot of fun!

[Von Beerhofen]

I've used the old GR system with magnetic hexaphonic pickup and then switched to the Shadow with piezo's.
Had a lot of fun with both but as previously described I had to do a lot of post recording edits due to retriggered notes, timing errors, delays and falsely interpreted notes. Still, having learned all editing features of the software at hand (which took over a year or so) it did become a usefull way of composing. I've also used direct input in the software, sometimes using a staff notation or pianokeyboard notation (bit easier), which allowed me to program stuff beyond my playing capabillaties, but it also allowed me to practice that stuff untill I could play it.
As for the notation programs I've used, they were all pretty cumbersome to use but quantizing features were sometimes helpfull.
The programs are pretty expensive and evolving continuously, upgrades cost money, so I just stuck to what I had and learned to deal with it.
Cakewalk, Cubase, Nuendo, Pro Tools are a few which are available, many having modular expension features which allow these programs to become pretty powerfull with higher CPU speeds.
It can become pretty complex but the basic packages work well as standalone too. Multi timbral synthesizers/soundcards will let you get the most out of it. Soundcanvas, Emu, Roland, Yamaha cards were pretty popular but the choices nowadays are much wider, so is their pricerange.
It's been great fun to use that stuff and educational too. Hardest is probably to get the right guitar paired with the right pickup, the Godin is speciifically develloped as a Midi guitar but there are others too. Cheapest solution is probably Roland's GK but positioning it to get the best out of it may take a bit of effort and depends on the guitar used, best guitars are solid bodies with very few overtones.

Ludwig

[mhs]

Years back after the initial MIDI "die-off" (it was very popular when it arrived and then went through a slack period), I was able to buy two (you needed two for spare parts) Casio MG-510's for ~300 bucks. I still have them. They're basically Ibanez made Strat copies (really good ones) with a Hex pickup and a 5-pin DIN MIDI output.

I have no idea what they go for these days if any are still around, but the tracking is actually good, and the 5-pin plug makes it easy to attach to modules, standard MIDI inputs, etc. The guitar part is , to me, better than any real strat I've had, but the entire device, being from the early micro-miniature phase of digital electronics is kind of heavy. Lots of discrete parts. Cutting edge 1977 technology ;).

Getting the guitar MIDI part of this equation is (to me) the easy part, and getting what you want notated correctly the part that is still easier with pencil and paper (or manually entering on some notation program). Also: There's that entire world of learning things and improving your ears and abilities that goes with just listening and writing that doesn't get helped much by using a MIDI instrument and notation software.

Funny, because I work about half-time in the tech sector (embedded software) much of my life, but for practical usage, I try to steer clear in these sorts of applications.

I'm glad you started this thread and for the replies because I never hear about this stuff anymore.

[Psalad]

I too still have a working Casio 510. I'm sure the newer systems like the fisman are better.. Hope so anyway.