MIDI is data – Audio is sound
Digital Evolution
MIDI stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface and allows a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers and other related devices to connect and communicate with one another. The creation of MIDI in 1983 is closely tied to the development of music synthesizers, and until recently a digital keyboard or controller have typically been used to generate the Note on Note off information that can then be turned into a sound.
Guitarists as well as other stringed instrument players and wind instrument players have not been able to enjoy the full functionality of MIDI like pianists and drummers.
In the more recent years things are slowly improving with a growing number of devices that emerge and disappear all with the aim of providing Note on Note off MIDI communication or some form of analogue to digital conversion where latency times are in audible.
Varying attempts to provide guitarists with the ultimate flexibility of the digital world have been made by some of the biggest music instrument companies such as Yamaha, Fender, Roland and Gibson as well as numerous smaller companies. The penultimate solution has yet to be achieved but a varying array of products using differing techniques are getting closer to it. Here is a selection of some of these products presently making waves!…or MIDI!!
Fishman Triple Play
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The Fishman Triple Play is one of the more advanced MIDI pick-up systems available today and can be bought to fit on an existing guitar or bought built into guitars like theFender Fishman TriplePlay Stratocaster HSS guitar fender.com
…or the Godin Session Custom TriplePlay godinguitars.com
See a review by Premier Guitar
See a video review by Sweetwater
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Jam Origin
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This is thought to be a game changer by some, MIDI Guitar turns any guitar into a polyphonic MIDI controller. The polyphonic pitch detection system has a pitch prediction method that reduce latency to a unheard new level. It requires no special pickup just plug your guitar into a computer or iOS device through any audio interface and MIDI Guitar lets you control almost any soft synth.
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Roland GR-55 & GK-3
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The Roland GR-55 is a revolution in guitar synthesis, with features never before available in any guitar processor. In terms of speed, it’s the fastest ever. It’s also the most accurate, thanks to newly developed pitch-detection technology. See more on the synth www.roland.com/gr-55
…or the pickup www.roland.com/gk-3
See a review by Guitarst
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Jamstick+
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The jamstik+ is a Bluetooth Smart enabled digital guitar with real strings & frets. It works with your iPad, iPhone or Mac & select Android devices and a multitude of music apps, including an interactive guitar lesson app series, so everyone from beginners to pros can just play.
Bluetooth Smart technology makes for a simple, fast and wireless connection. It’s the lesson-practice-recording studio you can take with you.
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STAR LABS
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Ztar MIDI guitar from Starr Labs offers unsurpassed ultra high-speed MIDI control for today’s guitarists. The Ztar differs from other guitar synths in that it provides the industry’s only glitch-free, 6-string x 24 fret touch-sensitive keyed-fingerboard; ideal for playing and controlling all aspects of synthesizers, samplers, and sound modules.
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Roland V Guitar
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A company always on the edge of digital innovation is Roland who back in 1977 produced the year the world’s first guitar synth, later partnering Fender in 1995 – they launched its first digital modelling guitar product, the VG-8. Again in 2007 saw a further release with Fender the VG guitar fully kitted out for virtual sound modelling. More recently in 2012 Roland released the VG Stratocaster G-5 with Fender. This time a Mexican made Fender marketed by Roland not Fender.
Roland G-5 guitar
About V guitar
GK 3
Friend Jam free software download
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Line 6
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It was Line 6 who can lay claim to pioneering digital modelling technology for the mainstream with the POD the worlds first computer based sound modelling device that revolutionized how guitars can be recorded. In 2002 they went on to launch the Variax the world’s first digital sound modelling guitar.
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Fusion guitar
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One of the best sounding travel guitars we’ve tried is Yamaha’s Silent Guitar, which offers a choice of modeled simulated tones or piezo-sourced sounds routed to headphones or an external amp. It doesn’t have its own amp and speakers built-in though, like, say, a Vox Apache. And there’s no Lineage-like smartphone integration to mix in some digital effects. In fact, you might struggle to find all three in one instrument. Unless you stumble across the Fusion Guitar from Melbourne, Australia-based designer and guitarist Dave Auld, which combines an iPhone dock, amplifier, battery and speakers in one futuristic-looking axe.
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Godin guitars
www.godinguitars.com
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Several years have passed since the first Multiac made its debut and Godin continue to refine their designs and explore new possibilities. There are now twelve Godin models that include synth access.
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Moog guitars
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The Moog Guitar: winner of Guitar Player Magazine’s 2009 Reader’s Choice Award, Electronic Musician Magazine’s 2009 Editor’s Choice Award; 2008 Summer NAMM “Best In Show”; a 2008 “Best of What’s New Award” from Popular Science Magazine and a 2009 Mix Foundation TEC Award. More importantly, it has inspired players to new creative heights, and opened the door to totally new forms of expression with a guitar.
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You rock Guitar
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The YRG is a MIDI guitar for recording, composing, and creating tablature via MIDI. It can also be used stand-alone with its internal sounds. The YRG’s patented fingerboard technology and electronics have revolutionized the way a guitar player, other aspiring musician or DJ can create, record and play music. The YRG connects to a host of mobile devices including the popular iPad to use with GarageBand. It also connects via USB to the MAC and PC. The YRG can be used with most recording and tablature software such as Logic, Reason and Ableton to name a few. Also compatible with Legacy MIDI synthesizer devices via its 5-pin MIDI connector.
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Lineage Guitar
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This MIDI guitar is one of the latest contenders and boost some good performance charactoristics. The Lineage MIDI Guitar is the next step in the evolution of guitar to MIDI. Building upon the patented and proven technology of the YRG, Inspired Instruments aims to satisfy modern high end studio and performance needs.
Review
www.gizmag.com
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Latency
One of the main stumbling blocks at arriving at an established digital playground has been the problem of overcoming latency, but this issue takes on a different form if note on note off information is transmitted instead of analogue (wav.) as it is so much lighter.
Digital v’s Analogue
Another problem is providing a realistic enough digital replication of a classic value amp with its respective pedals.
A valve amp will always have a place for producing pure rich tones right off your finger tips and no one is suggesting otherwise and it can even be recorded into a DAW as a wav. file. But as the digital world improves its’ technology by increasing sampling rates, producing better processing speed and bit rates there is great deal of versatility and functionality that can be done digitally even if your finished work ends up in a studio and is recorded in analogue.
MIDI and digital can help
Obviously there are levels and levels off professionalism and varying schools of thought on how someone may address guitar playing, but making use of a simple DAW set-up can have a number of advantages.
MIDI and digital units can provide a large amount of versatility and functions at relatively affordable prices. From effects processing to song writing, learning and recording there are endless possibilities. With such things like virtual sound modeling, notation software and the concept of transferring note on note off information directly from a guitar pick-up all improving and becoming more affordable the creative environment for guitarists is slowly expanding.
On-Line listing at Sweetwater
sweetwater.com
Get perfect custom tone with a complete guitar studio in your computer. Stunning amps and effects – exquisitely modeled in a powerful and intuitive virtual effects rack. Premium sound quality, maximum flexibility, and total control for guitar, bass and more. Legendary guitar and bass amplifiers, modeled with award-winning Dynamic Tube Response Technology. These amps convey the character, charm, and feel of their real-world counterparts. Each amp has its own matched cabinet plus an extra set of alternative cabinets – 27 exquisite models in all.
Redesigned from the ground up, ReValver 4 — the latest version of Peavey’s award-winning ReValver modeling software — contains revolutionary amp modeling capabilities that capture the true characteristics of real tube amplifiers. Running Stand Alone or as an AAX/VST or AU plug-in on Mac or PC, ReValver is renowned for its industry-leading amp modeling accuracy which is achieved by modeling an amplifier down to the component level. Now Peavey has updated and improved the modeling engine in ReValver 4, taking amp modeling to a whole new level of realistic tone-shaping possibilities. ReValver 4 also incorporates a GUI and UX redesign and the ability to run on a Windows® tablet, plus other high-level features including GIG mode, ACT™ (Audio Cloning Technology) and RIR 2 cabinet modeling.
SimulAnalog is a research project that studies numerical and DSP techniques applied to computer music; the main branch is about the digital simulation of analog instruments and processors. Guitar Suite is a suite of vst plugin with amplifiers and analog processors for guitarists.
Studio Devil Amp Modeler Pro is a guitar amp modeling and audio effects plug-in for use with VST, AudioUnits, and ProTools RTAS compatible hosts running on both Mac and Windows platforms.
Vandal is the only guitar and bass amplifier that combines the characteristic sound and feel of a real hardware setup with the advantages of a software application – all for you to enjoy on your computer!
Imagine you have a tool to express your talent with the best tone ever. Imagine people listening to your guitar tracks and saying “wow! how did you get that killer tone?!”
A highly respected guitar amp and cab simulation these amp plug-ins are developed Alain Poulain in Canada and are free. The plug-ins are available for both PC and Mac, so head over to the LePou website and have a look for yourself.
Kuassa Amplifikation One captures the dynamic response and characteristics of hardware distortion modules, amplifier heads, and guitar amplifier loudspeaker cabinets, captured by various types of microphones in multiple configurations. It must be noted that the Kuassa Amplifikation One is not emulated or modeled after any specific amplifier, but rather is an amalgamation of the best hardware schematic designs, tube designs, and digital signal processes, implemented in the digital domain.
Sibelius is the world’s best-selling music composition and notation software, offering sophisticated, yet easy-to-use tools that are proven and trusted by top composers, arrangers, publishers, educators, and students alike. With Sibelius 7.5, you can express, accelerate, and promote your creativity in more ways than ever before, enabling you to deliver beautiful, professional scores faster and share audio and video versions of your work—with stunningly realistic musical phrasing—to make your talent stand out from the crowd. It’s the fastest, smartest, easiest way to write music for live performance, film and television, media entertainment, or in the classroom.
To notate music is to look forward – to the performance, and beyond. Whether you’re creating a simple lead sheet, making worksheets for your students, or composing your magnum opus, Finale helps you easily capture your musical ideas, produce beautiful notation, and quickly share the results.
MagicScore 7’s interface and comprehensive features make it the smart choice for musicians, composers, arrangers, teachers, students, choirs, ensembles and song writers. The MagicScore music notation software offers excellent capabilities which facilitate the creation of compositions of any complexity, including polyphonic ones. However the interface is not as intuitive or professional as some of the other music notation software but it is a fraction of the price. Some of the main features include; Quick Input a fast way to type scores, customizable layout, score your entry using a MIDI-device, the virtual guitar fingerboard or the virtual piano. Publish “live” sheet music in the Internet using built-in plug-in.
Guitar Pro is a multilingual interface available in 19 languages on the Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems. It is a multitrack editor of guitar and bass tablature and musical scores, possessing a built-in MIDI-editor, a plotter of chords, a player, a metronome and other tools for guitarists and musicians. It has versions for Windows, Mac OS X (Intel processors only), and Linux and is written by the French company Arobas Music.
QuickScore Elite Level II is Sion Software’s premier software for composing music – an elegant, integrated scoring, audio and sequencing program that Electronic Magazine awarded their 1998 Editors’ Choice for notation software upon its debut and has won the Top Ten Reviews Gold Award for five years running.
The Pro Tools Eleven Rack is a hardware/software bundle that provides one of the more competitive recording and amplifier emulation solutions for guitar players at present. Pro Tools Eleven Rack is a hardware/software bundle that provides the ultimate recording and amplifier emulation solution for guitar players. It comes with the high-quality, DSP-accelerated Eleven Rack hardware interface, industry-standard Pro Tools Software, standalone Eleven Rack Editor application, and built-in Eleven Rack Expansion Pack, providing everything you need—and more—to showcase your skills. No matter how you use it, you’ll always have the right tone at your fingertips—in the studio or on stage.
POD® HD500X and Pro X deliver an incredible combination of powerful features and amazing tone to inspire your creativity. Featuring extraordinary depth, character and versatility, POD HD X multi-effects will take your playing and your sound further than ever before. Use your POD HD500X or Pro X* as a MIDI controller, the ultimate audio interface for recording guitar and the center of your performing universe. With cutting-edge technology and all the power you need to define your sound, POD HD500X and Pro X are the most advanced POD multi-effects—ever.
The Kemper Profiler is an entirely new and groundbreaking concept for guitar amplification. Finally guitar players are able to easily transfer their signature sounds into a conveniently sized box and take them anywhere: to the rehearsal, into the studio – and most important of all – on stage. For your convenience, the KPA comes loaded with 199 factory profiles created by top engineers and producers in premiere studios around the world.
The Axe-Fx II XL is the ultimate all-in-one preamp/effects processor. It contains a incredible virtual inventory of hundreds of vintage and modern guitar amps, speaker cabinets, guitar stompbox and studio effects, and more. It accurately recreates the sound and feel of tube amps and can tone match the sound of your live amp or a recording. It is ideal for both stage and studio use, with heavy-duty construction and a high-quality, low-noise design.
Continuing from the appeal of the G2M and B2M, the i2M musicport combines the features of both these units (to support both guitar and bass) with an optimised USB interface for even faster MIDI performance. Featuring extended MIDI features and configurability to satisfy the most demanding users, and a high-impedance audio interface that won’t suck the tone from your instrument, the i2M musicport is the new way to connect your musical instruments to your computer.
