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Hello,

It's been a while. Can one of you fine gentlemen tell me if it is possible to enter notes directly into the Piano Roll by using an Instrument or Midi Controller. I mean like when playing a guitar each notes populates the Piano Roll without me ever touching my Laptop/Keyboard.Like would the Roland VG-99 Guitar Synth output the actual notes into the Piano Roll without me ever touching the keyboard?

Thanks Guys
You can use almost any controller to RECORD MIDI and thus get the notes in realtime, but attempts to use such to enter notes when the Transport is not rolling would be problematic. For example, how would the program know the duration of each note?

However, recording in realtime using MIDI can be fast and is very easy to do as compared to recording audio. I do it all the time with both Keyboard and Guitar Controllers.

And, correcting any mistakes made does not necessarily mean having to resort to Punch Ins, re-recording the whole thing again, etc. -- that's when tools like the PianoRoll or the Notation Edit window are fantastic. Clean up that badly played bar in seconds.


--Mac

Thanks Mac. Btw, what Guitar Midi Controller do you use ?

Thanks
I'm still using the good old Roland GK MIDI guitar pickup, mounted on an 80's era MIJ Strat that was hangin' around.

With the GK series pickups, you must also have a way to convert the pickup's output to MIDI data, it does not output MIDI data directly. Good news is that any one of the older Roland guitar synths can be used for that purpose, just ignore using its internal sounds. These can be picked up on ebay for very reasonable prices.

If you want a really nice dedicated MIDI guitar, check out Godin's offerings. Mmmm...


--Mac
Thanks for the info man. You mentioned Godin Multiac. I'm going to install the same RMC Individual Saddle System in my Classical Guitar. I'm going to use the outboard RMC Poly-Drive II Preamp. Hopefully this set-up plugged into the Roland GR Series Guitar Synths I will be able to play the notes directly into the BIAB Piano Roll ????
If you end up with a Standard MIDI connector at the end that outputs MIDI data properly, sounds like a plan.

Most guitarists, when first encountering MIDI on their guitar, expect a response that is much like the response we are used to when the guitar itself is just amplified via whatever type of sonic pickup system. That usually leads to them thinking that either something is wrong, or that MIDI guitar isn't what its cracked up to be.

As with many things that may be new to us, it takes a bit of practice with the MIDI guitar to learn what to do and what not to do, how to articulate for the MIDI environment, to not necessarily expect things like subtle hammer-ons or pulloffs to track well in the MIDI environment, even the slight amount of latency that will be inherent even with a very fast puter for softsynth use, or even with Hardware MIDI synths which have near-zero latency. These are simply the problems inherent in MIDI tracking.

The Nylon String guit is a good choice for MIDI IMO as far as those issues go, less demanding than the steel strings for me.

Before you make the big investment, be advised that there is an all software solution available that many are talking about and apparently using that I intend to take a look at this coming new year.

This software takes any standard AUDIO input from a guitar pickup and converts to MIDI data inside the host computer.

Be sure to check it out before going the all-hardware route.

http://jamorigin.com/products/midi-guitar/

It may just end up replacing my long-in-the-tooth Roland all hardware setup entirely. Reports from many other players are good.

--Mac
BTW -- I don't know exactly what your purpose will be, but a word here may be apropos:

If I was still on call to sit Studio Sessions, I would want HARDWARE solutions. Simply more robust, much faster (imagine an entire orchestra being paid to sit and wait while you have to reboot a Windows PC...) and more reliable.

But for use at home, whether recording or using my MIDI guitar to transcribe for teaching and publishing work, etc, software would not present that kind of issue. For me these days, a reboot or the time taken to figure out what went weird today is just a matter of takin' a likely needed coffee break, right? (Its gotten to the point where if the wifey sees me emerge from my little office and start messing with the coffeemaker and its not first thing in the AM, she gets that look of concern and asks what's wrong with the computers now...)

Think it out, make a plan that makes sense for you,


--Mac
Good advice Mac, thanks

And thanks for the pointers on the software solution. I'll definitely take a look at that. It's a very affordable option.

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