Members 459 Posted December 9, 2007 Members Share Posted December 9, 2007 I'm on a lookout for a hardware pitch-to-MIDI device and would like to know whether anyone here has any experiences of such devices. I'm planning to use such device to create some experimental off-the-wall synth soloes with whatever stable-pitched sounds I can get off from my mouth i.e. by singing, humming or whistling. Thus far I've found only one option and that is the "M/G-MidiAudio/Pitch to Midi-Converter" listed at http://www.bluemler-online.de/HMB_TEC_shop/index_shop.html page. The price in German eBay appears to be 162.90 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members The Real MC Posted December 10, 2007 Members Share Posted December 10, 2007 I've been around gear since the 1970s. I have never seen a hardware pitch to MIDI converter other than the guitar synths. There are hardware pitch to CV, but this was a tough nut to crack back in the 70s/80s. Fairlight used to make a pitch to CV converter as did a company called Gentle Electric back then with reputed decent tracking, but very few exist and the critical components were encased in epoxy. A subject of which little is known, I'm afraid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mytee2.0 Posted December 10, 2007 Members Share Posted December 10, 2007 I've been around gear since the 1970s.I have never seen a hardware pitch to MIDI converter other than the guitar synths.There are hardware pitch to CV, but this was a tough nut to crack back in the 70s/80s. Fairlight used to make a pitch to CV converter as did a company called Gentle Electric back then with reputed decent tracking, but very few exist and the critical components were encased in epoxy.A subject of which little is known, I'm afraid. only thing I can think of is combining a doepfer frequency->voltage module with this... http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/sep04/articles/analoguers300.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pogo97 Posted December 10, 2007 Members Share Posted December 10, 2007 A pitch-to-MIDI VST might be a fruitful area to search--wouldn't be hardware, of course. Not that I know of one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members C#minor Posted December 10, 2007 Members Share Posted December 10, 2007 A pitch-to-MIDI VST might be a fruitful area to search--wouldn't be hardware, of course. Not that I know of one. Google is our friend http://www.digital-ear.com/digital-ear/index.asp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cygnus64 Posted December 10, 2007 Members Share Posted December 10, 2007 I've been around gear since the 1970s.I have never seen a hardware pitch to MIDI converter other than the guitar synths. I actually owned one. It was made by IVL and I had it around 1987. It was monophonic. It had quite a bit of latency, unnacceptable for anything except pads. My goal was to use it for violin, and it was a waste of money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DigitMus Posted December 10, 2007 Members Share Posted December 10, 2007 I actually owned one. It was made by IVL and I had it around 1987. It was monophonic. It had quite a bit of latency, unnacceptable for anything except pads. My goal was to use it for violin, and it was a waste of money. I still do own one. It's an IVL Pitchrider - they made a number of different models over the years (later are better - obviously). The one I have is from about '88 or '89, and while I wouldn't call it useless, it certainly is "finicky".There are a number of different settings for accuracy and latency, as well as how it deals with sliding notes - bottom line: it's always a compromise. It tracks better on higher frequencies, and it's a good idea to use some heavy compression on the signal going in, as it doesn't like much dynamic variation. It's a fun toy, but it's not gonna turn your voice into good MIDI controller. Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cygnus64 Posted December 10, 2007 Members Share Posted December 10, 2007 It's a fun toy, but it's not gonna turn your voice into good MIDI controller. My solution was learning how to play keyboards. I'm not Van Cliburn but I can get around. When I was putting together my first rig in the 80s I desperately wanted a midi violin and none were available or too expensive. Even today, the midi violins dont work all that great, so I have an electric with a lot of effects boxes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members synthguru Posted December 10, 2007 Members Share Posted December 10, 2007 I still have one, too - but, it is a Breakaway Vocalizer 1000.It was sold at Sharper Image stores for a while and later distributed by Tascam.It has MIDI out and works as well as anything else I've seen and is more portable than the rest as it is self-contained with a speaker and tone generator (based on an Ensoniq chip) so you can hum into it pretty much anywhere you like. Roland also made one for a while called the CP-40. So, there are a couple you might find on the used market. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members girevik Posted December 11, 2007 Members Share Posted December 11, 2007 I'm on a lookout for a hardware pitch-to-MIDI device and would like to know whether anyone here has any experiences of such devices. I'm planning to use such device to create some experimental off-the-wall synth soloes with whatever stable-pitched sounds I can get off from my mouth i.e. by singing, humming or whistling. Are you sure you really need MIDI? How about just running your voice through effects? I knew a guy who used an old Roland VP-70 with a mic to extract MIDI Note Number and either MIDI Volume or MIDI Velocity values out of his trombone playing. This MIDI data was analyzed by his custom music software - it would "listen" to him and use the data in creating its own improvisations. Obviously, this was not the same as having his trombone trigger a synth directly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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