Hardware systems for generating MIDI output from guitars are often expensive, impractical and unreliable. Jam Origin's revolutionary software alternative is none of these things.
MIDI guitar: two words that give voice to the hope and despair of my age‑long quest to find a guitar‑led route to the world of synths and samplers. Along the route, some fine products have come my way, but none has quite cut the mustard. From the long list of the fallen, I have fond memories of the pioneering ARP Avatar and, in particular, of the Zeta Mirror 6 guitar, which combined fret‑scanning, capacitive touch‑sensing and pitch extraction to drive external MIDI synths with around 4ms latency via its companion Synthony rack unit.
Despite the disappointments, guitarists like me who wanted to record into our MIDI sequencers without wrestling with keyboards soldiered on, spending our hard‑earned cash with manufacturers who tried their best to cater to our needs. The early approach of pairing dedicated guitars with interfaces evolved fairly swiftly into the series of guitar‑neutral, one‑box systems with integrated MIDI converter and synthesizer, driven by proprietary hexaphonic pickups. The latest incarnation of this design from Roland dominates the sector today.
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Over the years, a number of small companies have developed specialist polyphonic guitar‑to‑MIDI converters, but they have typically been too expensive to have mass appeal, and all have seemingly fallen by the wayside. As a result, The desktop version of MIDI Guitar is the most configurable, thanks to the options on the Advanced setup page. what we have been left with in terms of dedicated guitar‑to‑MIDI hardware are either monophonic pitch‑to‑MIDI converters or the spiritual successors of the Synthaxe — ie. guitar‑shaped objects that can output MIDI. Now, however, the prodigious processing power of present‑day personal computers is coming to the rescue, by moving the focus of guitar‑to‑MIDI conversion away from specialist hardware and into the world of interfaces and software.
Based in Aarhus, Denmark, and founded in 2009 by Ole Juul Kristensen, Jam Origin have developed a new, patent‑pending polyphonic pitch-prediction and detection system that can operate with ultra‑low latency. This unique technology is the basis for the company's first foray into MIDI guitar software, appropriately named MIDI Guitar. (You might recognise the iOS version of this software from last month's App Works column in which Bill Lacey poured praise on the iOS version of the MIDI Guitar family. The app is also covered in this review to put it in context with versions for other platforms.)
The actual patent application (Generative Audio Matching Game System, US 20120132057 A1) makes very interesting reading, and sets out the methodology that lies behind the polyphonic pitch prediction and detection within MIDI Guitar. In extremely simple terms, it would seem that incoming audio from a source is compared against a stored library of pitches from that source, and the matches arising identify the pitches which are then translated to MIDI. As the title might suggest, the patent application also sets out the potential usage of the technology within a computer 'edutainment' game based around the concept of a jam session, and I'd certainly look forward to seeing that if it ever turns up in the real world.
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Meanwhile, however, Jam Origin claim that MIDI Guitar is the world's first low‑latency, polyphonic software that can turn any guitar with a pickup into a polyphonic MIDI controller. What really sets MIDI Guitar apart from its competition is that there is no need for any specialised hardware: all you need is a way of recording the output from your guitar's pickup into your computer.
MIDI Guitar runs on Windows (XP SP3 or newer), Mac OS (10.6 or newer) and iOS (iPad 2, iPhone 4S, iPod Touch 5 or newer). All variants are available as virtually unrestricted free trials, with the Windows and Mac versions being downloadable from the Jam Origin web site, whilst GarageBand (for Mac OS) and iOS variants are available on the Apple App Store. Installation under Windows and Mac is as simple as downloading and extracting the software, dragging the resulting folder into your Programs or Applications folder and manually copying the VST '.dll' files and the AU '.component' files to the necessary plug‑in folders. The desktop trial versions are fully functionalMIDI Guitar for iOS is a simple but surprisingly effective app implementation of Jam Origin's technology. except for occasional interruptions to the MIDI and VST/AU operation.
Installing and fully activating the iOS version of MIDI Guitar on my iPad 2 was as easy as I've grown to expect from the App Store. Opening the program brings up five information pages, three of which tell you all need to know about the app and how to run MIDI with other iPad apps and GarageBand. The other two pages show cable and Wi‑Fi MIDI connection graphics. Cabled MIDI via an iOS MIDI interface linked to your computer, synth or sound module is recommended as the route with the least latency. However, as Macs have built-in Wi‑Fi MIDI support and there are third‑party apps for that purpose available on the Windows platform, MIDI over Wi‑Fi is an option if you want to avoid trailing wires; you can minimise the actual latency by running a network cable from your router to your computer.
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Being the simplest incarnation of MIDI Guitar, the iOS version also has the least degree of display and control. You can set polyphonic or monophonic mode, switch the latency between 6ms and 11ms and alter the input sensitivity to suit your guitar's output and your playing syle. A bargraph displays the input level, and you can route the MIDI output to the inbuilt Test Piano sound, to the Virtual MIDI Out or, via the Network Session 1 option, to Wi‑Fi MIDI.
The GarageBand version is a step up in complexity from the iOS app, with the ability to select from any available input and output audio devices and channels. Sample rate can be varied from 44.1 to 96 kHz and buffer sizes between 128 samples (2.9ms latency) and 512 samples (11.6ms). If you wish to run in stand‑alone mode, you can choose the output sounds from a range of built‑in pianos and synths, add additional software instruments via AU plug‑ins, add AU amps and effects and route the MIDI output as in the iOS app. A single button‑press configures the outputs for GarageBand, disabling the Instrument and Amp/Effects sections and routing the MIDI to GarageBand via the Virtual MIDI Out.
A MIDI Pitch‑bend On/Off switch and Range control are added, as is an 'all notes off' Panic button. An Output Visualisation facility gives you a view of either the waveform of the input from the guitar or the Polytuner, in which the pitches of each of the recognised strings are displayed on a series of rotary dials. For those who might find such complexity distracting, these visualisations can be switched off. A line of buttons across the bottom of the page illuminate to indicate the pitches being recognised, and can also be clicked on to generate the indicated pitches. The control complement is completed by level faders for a three‑channel mixer. As well as balancing the audio levels of the Instrument and Amp/Effects outputs, you can also adjust the gain of the MIDI velocity. The additional Plugins screen carries the Plugin Manager where you can add, remove and scan for AU plug‑ins on your computer.
Midi Guitar & Midi Bass Support
In the Windows and Mac desktop versions, MIDI Guitar can run either as a stand‑alone application hosting VST or Audio Units instruments and effects, or as a plug‑in itself in VST or Audio Units format. As most guitarists probably would, I began by approaching MIDI Guitar as a virtual instrument, though Jam Origin suggest that we think of MIDI Guitar primarily as a DAW plug‑in.
Either way, the desktop version is the most fully featured incarnation of MIDI Guitar. Its Essentials screen is almost identical to the GarageBand Basics screen except that the GarageBand default selector has disappeared and there is now an additional button that resets the program's Recognition preset (see below) to 'Electric Guitar Default'. Working on this screen is, other than that, the same as working on the GarageBand version.
The Advanced screen is where you'll find the additional editing and setup facilities that, to me, give MIDI Guitar its real power. If you're going to get the program to really work for you, this is where you'll be spending most of your time. In the Audio Device section, you'll see a drop‑down list of available MIDI Inputs, any or all of which can be routed in to merge with the guitar‑generated MIDI stream. This gives you not only the ability to use a floor controller to send MIDI controller information into MIDI Guitar via its Learn function, but also to use a keyboard to play the selected instrument in MIDI Guitar.
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The neighbouring Recognition section gains four new facilities in addition to the Sensitivity and Panic: the ability to set the level of Pitch Prediction, with the highest (and recommended) setting giving the lowest latency; the facility to adjust sensitivity individually for each note in the four‑octave recognition range, as well as to increase or decrease the overall sensitivity; the ability to move the lowest recognised note to E2, D#2 or D2, which accommodates drop‑D
Being the simplest incarnation of MIDI Guitar, the iOS version also has the least degree of display and control. You can set polyphonic or monophonic mode, switch the latency between 6ms and 11ms and alter the input sensitivity to suit your guitar's output and your playing syle. A bargraph displays the input level, and you can route the MIDI output to the inbuilt Test Piano sound, to the Virtual MIDI Out or, via the Network Session 1 option, to Wi‑Fi MIDI.
The GarageBand version is a step up in complexity from the iOS app, with the ability to select from any available input and output audio devices and channels. Sample rate can be varied from 44.1 to 96 kHz and buffer sizes between 128 samples (2.9ms latency) and 512 samples (11.6ms). If you wish to run in stand‑alone mode, you can choose the output sounds from a range of built‑in pianos and synths, add additional software instruments via AU plug‑ins, add AU amps and effects and route the MIDI output as in the iOS app. A single button‑press configures the outputs for GarageBand, disabling the Instrument and Amp/Effects sections and routing the MIDI to GarageBand via the Virtual MIDI Out.
A MIDI Pitch‑bend On/Off switch and Range control are added, as is an 'all notes off' Panic button. An Output Visualisation facility gives you a view of either the waveform of the input from the guitar or the Polytuner, in which the pitches of each of the recognised strings are displayed on a series of rotary dials. For those who might find such complexity distracting, these visualisations can be switched off. A line of buttons across the bottom of the page illuminate to indicate the pitches being recognised, and can also be clicked on to generate the indicated pitches. The control complement is completed by level faders for a three‑channel mixer. As well as balancing the audio levels of the Instrument and Amp/Effects outputs, you can also adjust the gain of the MIDI velocity. The additional Plugins screen carries the Plugin Manager where you can add, remove and scan for AU plug‑ins on your computer.
Midi Guitar & Midi Bass Support
In the Windows and Mac desktop versions, MIDI Guitar can run either as a stand‑alone application hosting VST or Audio Units instruments and effects, or as a plug‑in itself in VST or Audio Units format. As most guitarists probably would, I began by approaching MIDI Guitar as a virtual instrument, though Jam Origin suggest that we think of MIDI Guitar primarily as a DAW plug‑in.
Either way, the desktop version is the most fully featured incarnation of MIDI Guitar. Its Essentials screen is almost identical to the GarageBand Basics screen except that the GarageBand default selector has disappeared and there is now an additional button that resets the program's Recognition preset (see below) to 'Electric Guitar Default'. Working on this screen is, other than that, the same as working on the GarageBand version.
The Advanced screen is where you'll find the additional editing and setup facilities that, to me, give MIDI Guitar its real power. If you're going to get the program to really work for you, this is where you'll be spending most of your time. In the Audio Device section, you'll see a drop‑down list of available MIDI Inputs, any or all of which can be routed in to merge with the guitar‑generated MIDI stream. This gives you not only the ability to use a floor controller to send MIDI controller information into MIDI Guitar via its Learn function, but also to use a keyboard to play the selected instrument in MIDI Guitar.
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The neighbouring Recognition section gains four new facilities in addition to the Sensitivity and Panic: the ability to set the level of Pitch Prediction, with the highest (and recommended) setting giving the lowest latency; the facility to adjust sensitivity individually for each note in the four‑octave recognition range, as well as to increase or decrease the overall sensitivity; the ability to move the lowest recognised note to E2, D#2 or D2, which accommodates drop‑D
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