DAW or plugin that does audio to MIDI?

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Is there a DAW or plugin that can "translate" audio into MIDI? Depending on the source material and what you want from it, I can imagine it could be pretty complicated but would love to find something that can analyze different types of audio material and spit out a midi track. (Maybe be able to have some choice in how it analyzes like how you detect transients when you chop up and sample audio files...)

Thanks for any recommendations!

Greg

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Don’t most DAWs do it now? I know that Ableton Live and Logic will do it. They have very different ways of going about it, though
Last edited by W23 on Mon Feb 11, 2019 4:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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In Reaper Reagate can do it. For drums Superior drummer 3 can do it importing a wave file inside. Also for guitar you have Origin that can do it.
MXLinux21, 16 Gig RAM, Intel i7 Quad 3.9, Reaper 6.42, Behringer 204HD or Win7 Steinberg MR816x

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Celemony Melodyne does it even with AFAIK polyphonic audio sources?

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Sounds and presets for UVI Falcon "Iterata X".
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Ableton Live 10 will do it (not available in Intro or Lite Editions).
https://www.ableton.com/en/manual/conve ... o-to-midi/

There are 3 conversion modes, 1 & 2 results in a new track containing an instrument rack with a default sound, #3 gets a drum rack:
1. Convert Harmony to new MIDI track
2. Convert Melody to new MIDI track
3. Convert Drums to new MIDI track

The advice to use tracks with isolated instruments is very good, otherwise results can be very unpredictable, because any sound in the track can be detected as a pitch. But for a track with a monophonic instrument the melody conversion works well. Same for a harmony conversion with a chord track played on piano. And the drum detection seems to be able to isolate the kick, snare, and hi-hats. It is not 100%, so some editing and cleaning of the MIDI conversion may be required.
For the most accurate results, we recommend the following:

Use music that has clear attacks. Notes that fade in or “swell” may not be detected by the conversion process.
Work with recordings of isolated instruments. The Convert Drums command, for example, works best with unaccompanied drum breaks; if other instruments are present, their notes will be detected as well.
Use uncompressed, high-quality audio files such as .wav or .aiff. Lossy data formats such as mp3 may result in unpredictable conversions, unless the recordings are at high bitrates.
Windows 10 and too many plugins

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zzz00m wrote: Mon Feb 11, 2019 4:11 pm Ableton Live 10 will do it (not available in Intro or Lite Editions).
https://www.ableton.com/en/manual/conve ... o-to-midi/

There are 3 conversion modes, 1 & 2 results in a new track containing an instrument rack with a default sound, #3 gets a drum rack:
1. Convert Harmony to new MIDI track
2. Convert Melody to new MIDI track
3. Convert Drums to new MIDI track

The advice to use tracks with isolated instruments is very good, otherwise results can be very unpredictable, because any sound in the track can be detected as a pitch. But for a track with a monophonic instrument the melody conversion works well. Same for a harmony conversion with a chord track played on piano. And the drum detection seems to be able to isolate the kick, snare, and hi-hats. It is not 100%, so some editing and cleaning of the MIDI conversion may be required.
For the most accurate results, we recommend the following:

Use music that has clear attacks. Notes that fade in or “swell” may not be detected by the conversion process.
Work with recordings of isolated instruments. The Convert Drums command, for example, works best with unaccompanied drum breaks; if other instruments are present, their notes will be detected as well.
Use uncompressed, high-quality audio files such as .wav or .aiff. Lossy data formats such as mp3 may result in unpredictable conversions, unless the recordings are at high bitrates.
Wow, thanks for this and thanks to all for the recommendations! Super helpful. I don't have Live 10 but I have Live 9. I'll check to see if I can do that there. Also have Studio One and it has melodyne integrated...

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killmaster wrote: Mon Feb 11, 2019 4:32 pm
Wow, thanks for this and thanks to all for the recommendations! Super helpful. I don't have Live 10 but I have Live 9. I'll check to see if I can do that there. Also have Studio One and it has melodyne integrated...
Yes Live 9 has this as well, just glanced at my old user guide, the chapter looks exactly the same.

I also have the Melodyne Essentials that was included in another DAW bundle. That works with a monophonic source like a vocal melody or bass line, and there is also a percussive mode for drums and percussion.

You can upgrade to a version of Melodyne that handles polyphonic material for chords and harmony.
Windows 10 and too many plugins

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FL Studio has Newtone depending on which version one has.

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Select audio track in Studio One, right-click and choose Edit with Melodyne.
When Melodyne has finished its analysis, close Melodyne.
Drag the audio track that Melodyne analyzed into an Instrument track.
Check the midi (that Melodyne created) in the track and edit if necessary in the Instrument track.

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Musical Gym wrote: Tue Feb 12, 2019 4:28 am Select audio track in Studio One, right-click and choose Edit with Melodyne.
When Melodyne has finished its analysis, close Melodyne.
Drag the audio track that Melodyne analyzed into an Instrument track.
Check the midi (that Melodyne created) in the track and edit if necessary in the Instrument track.
Woah! I had no idea. So straightforward. Can't wait to try this! Thanks a lot! Great to have a way to use Melodyne. I hear its pretty great at analyzing... I'll try this and Live and see which one has better workflow and results, though this sounds pretty great.

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For real-time conversion check out Imitone.

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Reason 10. Just drag and drop audio to instrument track.

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Distorted Horizon wrote: Tue Feb 12, 2019 7:43 am Reason 10. Just drag and drop audio to instrument track.
Woah, thanks! I also have Reason 10. Great news, thanks.

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killmaster wrote: Tue Feb 12, 2019 4:44 am
Musical Gym wrote: Tue Feb 12, 2019 4:28 am Select audio track in Studio One, right-click and choose Edit with Melodyne.
When Melodyne has finished its analysis, close Melodyne.
Drag the audio track that Melodyne analyzed into an Instrument track.
Check the midi (that Melodyne created) in the track and edit if necessary in the Instrument track.
Woah! I had no idea. So straightforward. Can't wait to try this! Thanks a lot! Great to have a way to use Melodyne. I hear its pretty great at analyzing... I'll try this and Live and see which one has better workflow and results, though this sounds pretty great.
Nice, yes. But with limits!

The default bundled Melodyne essential should work fine for monophonic tracks or rhythmic percussion, but for chords you will need to upgrade to Melodyne editor for polyphonic audio use. A $399 upgrade.

Live will work with chords if the instrument is isolated, and not mixed with other parts.
Windows 10 and too many plugins

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