Can’t really find the settings for enjoyable playing, sometime the tracking is too sensitive so it plays an open note whenever I lightly lift up my fingers. When I play a chord it never gets all the notes, most times just two, and at different loudness even though the attack was the same on all strings. Also, when playing chords, some notes get doubled.
I’m using a Telecaster on the bridge position, intel i7 10th gen cpu with 16gb ram and a behringer interface. I set both volume and tone knobs to max as recommended and properly gain staged my interface.
Is this just a fun plugin to play around with when bored or can it be used as a proper key midi controller alternative when set up properly? I’ve seen videos where people get perfect tracking but I can’t seem to find the right settings, does the guitar have a role in terms of string action, etc.?
I have listened to your files.
I like the way you play, and your guitar playing is excellent… for a guitar.
Unfortunately it is not adapted to the technique of playing i.e. a piano (or percussive type instruments).
It is acceptable on the “synth” file because the synth envelope has a slow attack, so short notes, harmonics and very short bends are “erased”.
For the piano, this is not the case since it has an ADSR envelope with an immediate attack, a longer or shorter decay and sustain, so all the effects specific to the guitar will be undesirable here: for example, a bend will trigger a succession of totally incongruous short notes on the piano, etc.
You will find on this forum a lot of useful tips to be able to make a good tracking, knowing that the main thing is not to manage to convert what you play for a guitar to a different instrument, but to play on your guitar by reproducing the playing technique of the chosen instrument.
To take the example of the piano (or any instrument with fixed keys), the bend should not be used ( or, at most, the glissando should be used) because bending does not exists for piano.
Playing an instrument with Midi Guitar means thinking “instrument” and not" guitar".
Some links to improve the adaptation of guitar playing to an instrument:
Thanks for the detailed response, I’ll probably wait until they release 3.0 to see if the tracking has improved before buying. I’ve been playing for 3 years but spent less than a couple of days connected to an amp or an interface so all the terminology on the knobs confuses me. Can’t lie though, when trying different instruments through this plugin it really is inspiring.
Perhaps you may trigger fewer artifacts and ghost notes wih MG3 but at the risk of repeating myself, do not kid yourself: improved tracking will not do much if you do not adapt your playing to the specific technique of the instrument playing.
Personally, when playing guitar to MIDI (hardware or software) it took me a few years to think instrument and not guitar. This will influence the way you play the guitar by attacking the strings differently, muffling certain end notes, etc.
Exactly this… when I am going to play “piano” for my band without a keyboard player I have to adapt my style accordingly, and breathe. I want to play guitar riffs instinctively but if I fingerpick it properly the results are nice. Also it’s possible to record right to midi and edit later… enjoy!
I’ve noticed if you finger pick notes of a chord all at once, 4/5 times not all notes will be tracked, but if you stroke the same chord with a pick or a finger it’s way more consistent. Btw, is it normal if all the strings are muted and you stroke through all of them, notes still seem to come out even though the noise gate is set to max?
Hi! Often it is the respective intervals making up the chords, that is the issue. You know about the minor second I guess? You can’t get any chord with minor second interval in it to ring out. But there are intervals that are harder than other for the software to pick up on beyond the minor second.
Also the way you press your fingers on the fingerboard is most relevant. If you want to play blocky chords (rather than strumming or arpeggiating them), you must be extra cautious to not let any of the notes go, or worse; only pressing hard enough to just trigger and retrigger notes. I noticed a slight improvement in playing chords hybridpicking them (pick and fingers together at the same time) with a flatter fretboard (20" radius). But it takes a lot practice. And I would advise you to practice with the instrument you intend to play loaded, and ignore what goes in to trigger this. I guess you are more interested in what is coming out anyway? Oh, and take the time to go over all intervals in isolation to see where your specific setup is failing.
To your other question: Yeah, I can too get notes to trigger even with my noise gate set to max, and muting the strings simultaneously. But setting you noise gate that high is detrimental not only to the nature of the out coming MIDI, but also create unnecessary latency, so it is certainly better to learn to play clean, rather than hoping for the software to pick up on and separate good from bad notes. With a noise gate on max, what happens to dynamics?
You’re right, and on a side note I’d like to add that this is also true the other way, for keyboard players playing for instance an emulation of a string instrument: playing a violin glissando on a keyboard requires to learn a technique specific to that particular plugin, it being a keyswitch or a velocity control or a pedal… Same goes for midiguitar applied to mimicking other instruments. However, sometimes you just want to be creative in which case, everything goes, bend a piano note, or change a xylophone’s adsr… I’m combining five synths and samplers with different reverbs, two guitar amps and one midi channel that limits the midi input to the first octave, lowers it one octave to control a bass synth monophonic with no reverb, the whole thing making one sound with deep clear basses and sparkling harmonies evolving at different rates. Everything’s possible.
May I ask what settings do you prioritize changing first when you’re not satisfied with the tracking? Right now I’m changing the noise gate until it stops tracking putting my fingers on a fret.
Absolutely! I don’t use noise gate at all, and I have the lowest possible setting on the input gain (in the audio interface part under the Interface Tab) in standalone mode. After that I usually start out with the three knobs (Gain, Tone, Curve) at twelve o’clock, and change those only IF I need that (for most plugins and instruments, I don’t) Other than that 256@44.1 for latency, and never use Legato on the desktop version of MG 2.2.1 (It messes with the bends function). The rest is in the fingers. Hybrid picking. Don’t forget that a MIDI note has an on and an off message. And I have become acutely aware of how important it is to also stop a note from ringing before you go to the next one. It also applies to chords. Any minuscule silence before striking the next note makes a world of difference to your picking game.
In reading Herold’s reply, I find myself agreeing with everything he writes even though I have only a couple of weeks of playing around with this software. I’m just getting started with this amazing software and really appreciate everyone who posts their tips to help us get more use out of it and can tell that based on the instrument I’m trying to drive, my playing needs to adapt to each one.
I also listened to your files, Mizmiz and it’s nice guitar playing. I think my expectations are much lower than yours, though, because after I listened to the “clean” file and switched to the piano file I was shocked at how well it was tracking all your notes and chords! But since I’m using the software mostly to record into a DAW, I can tolerate having to take several passes to get a section right.
Again thanks to all for their tips.
Although I use MG2 mostly live, I sometimes use a daw to record MIDI parts.
I totally agree with @wamerman that recording multiple takes makes things easier, but I sometimes tend to record once and then work in the MIDI file to refine the quantization, eliminate unwanted notes, manage velocity, etc… Maybe because precision is not my strong area
I gave up on the Yamaha G50 as I ALWAYS ended up extensively editing the MIDI after recoriding in a daw not matter how I adjusted my playing technique. Same with MG2 really.
Live mixed with the actual guitar signal is a but hit and miss but usually tolerable.
I used to have a cool Logic environment that filtered out short and low velocity notes, made sure PC’s and CC’s etc didn’t get out of order with notes, etc which helped with a daw. Now I have Ableton and Cakewalk but hav’nt worked out how to to the same if indeed it is possible.
False triggers when defretting is such a vibe killer.
Adjusting my playing style for the G50 didn’t help my rsa or whatever it is either.
