MIDI pitch tracking, (was Re: KT NEWS; and IED, against a sea etc.)

[Ken Howard <munnari!chook.ua.oz.au!khoward@uunet.UU.NET>]

Love-Hounds-request@GAFFA.MIT.EDU:
Steve Tynor says:-

 >much stuff deleted<
 > 
 > That's what I thought. I bought one of these gizmos in hopes of adding a
 > more natural interface to my MIDI setup (a CZ101, Synergy, Sun
 > workstation, and MIDIverb). The pitch tracking ability is really
 > _pitiful_. It's virtually impossible to hold a steady note. I have a
 > semi-professionally trained singing voice and can't hum well enough to
 > use it as a synth controller. (its kind of like adding a 'random
 > vibrato' (in semitones) to everything you do.  Ugh. Oh well. I returned
 > mine after a week of frustration.
 >
	 I have heard this from other sources and am not surprised
	 since even the 'steadiest' note is remarkably hard to track.
	 What needs to be done is to get a good estimate of the MIDI 
	 note number as quickly as possible and then use PITCH BEND messages
	 to track it. This avoids any nasty semitone chromatic jumps!

 > Anyone out there have a used Pitchrider (by Fairlight?) that I could
 > take off you're hands?  (I've heard that these are very useable for
 > brass/wind instruments - how do they work on voice?)
 > 

	 I have heard a demo of, but not used, the Fairlight Voicetracker
	 (I think thats what its called ?) --- VERY impressive on 
	 vocal material and horns.

	 In my own setup I use a Roland GM70 guitar-to-MIDI box (I got it 
	 very cheap!) with a modified front-end. This works very well on
	 horns, flute etc and quite passably with GOOD vocals.
	 The only limitation is the range of each of the 6 inputs is not 
	 much more than that of the corresponding guitar string (as you 
	 would probably expect!). This is less of a problem than it may sound.


				 ---Ken---

Ken Howard, University of Adelaide         |      Phone:  +61 8 228 5198
	    Department of Computer Science |      Telex:  UNIVAD AA 89141
	    G.P.O. Box 498, Adelaide 5001. |      Fax:    +61 8 223 1206
	    AUSTRALIA.                     |      ACSnet: khoward@chook.ua.oz