YanKleber
Retired
Bituosity MiGiC MIDI free guitar plugin - REVIEW
OK, it started as a complain and a ask for help, but I decided to turn it into a small review!
Yesterday I downloaded this free awesome VST (Beta 5) that supposedly turns a regular guitar into a MIDI controller and installed it on my system. After a few challenge to set it up in Reaper (I am a MIDI dumb ass) I got it thanks to Ash's help.
In case of you download the plugin and have the same issues I had to set it up in Reaper, you can find a how-to video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VT7dbRoDjPc
It's a very interesting project and I think that it may be a valuable plugin in a producer VST collection. Imagine a plugin able to instantly convert your regular guitar into a MIDI controller and do that cool things that you would able to do only with a special guitar/module such as that awesome Roland GR series. Watch the video below...
After installed and have it running on my screen, it is really very minimalist. It has four straight forward configuration tabs but in their how-to videos the only parameter they mention that you should mess with is the "Sens" one in the very first tab. It comes as default in a very high position and in the videos they reduce it dramatically.
Basically after to install the plugin you only have to (see the how-to video link for details):
1) Add it as an effect to a track
2) Create a MIDI track and add a virtual instrument to it (I used FM8)
3) Route the plugin track to the MIDI track
NOTE - Both tracks monitor must be on.
As soon you do that it already works immediately. As you play the notes in the guitar the plugin show up the notes in the screen (like a tuner) and you will hear the synthesizer sound as if you were really playing a synth guitar.
OK, now the real deal... so don't take your breath for so long.
For ME unfortunately, it didn't work so well as in the video where the guy gets a perfect note translation along the whole demo. In my case I am still struggling to try to make it work in a reliable way: it is erratic and either will miss some notes or will misread some notes/octaves. I tried several different settings (pickup switch position, pre-amp output volume, picking strength, plugin sensibility) but nothing seems to cause a healing effect. In my case the rate of miss/misread is about 20-25% that I think is way much.
But it was ME. I suspect in MY case that the fault may be in my guitar. Perhaps the pickups are generating too much harmonics along with the fundamental note and 'confusing' the plugin. But this is just a guess and I don't have how to test or solve it.
Nonetheless, I still thing that it is an exciting plugin, but the fact that it won't work perfectly in ANY guitar out-of-the-box makes it a bit frustrating. But it's still a beta version and it's free so it's not obligated to work as supposed as beta versions are for testing. To tell the truth I doubt that if it was a state of the art plugin capable to to everything it promises without any glitch that it would be given for free.
For the records... Along my Google research I found a forum thread from some a couple months ago here where someone else complaining about the same issue with erratic notes/octaves and a disastrous live performance.
OK, it started as a complain and a ask for help, but I decided to turn it into a small review!
Yesterday I downloaded this free awesome VST (Beta 5) that supposedly turns a regular guitar into a MIDI controller and installed it on my system. After a few challenge to set it up in Reaper (I am a MIDI dumb ass) I got it thanks to Ash's help.
In case of you download the plugin and have the same issues I had to set it up in Reaper, you can find a how-to video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VT7dbRoDjPc
It's a very interesting project and I think that it may be a valuable plugin in a producer VST collection. Imagine a plugin able to instantly convert your regular guitar into a MIDI controller and do that cool things that you would able to do only with a special guitar/module such as that awesome Roland GR series. Watch the video below...
After installed and have it running on my screen, it is really very minimalist. It has four straight forward configuration tabs but in their how-to videos the only parameter they mention that you should mess with is the "Sens" one in the very first tab. It comes as default in a very high position and in the videos they reduce it dramatically.
Basically after to install the plugin you only have to (see the how-to video link for details):
1) Add it as an effect to a track
2) Create a MIDI track and add a virtual instrument to it (I used FM8)
3) Route the plugin track to the MIDI track
NOTE - Both tracks monitor must be on.
As soon you do that it already works immediately. As you play the notes in the guitar the plugin show up the notes in the screen (like a tuner) and you will hear the synthesizer sound as if you were really playing a synth guitar.
OK, now the real deal... so don't take your breath for so long.
For ME unfortunately, it didn't work so well as in the video where the guy gets a perfect note translation along the whole demo. In my case I am still struggling to try to make it work in a reliable way: it is erratic and either will miss some notes or will misread some notes/octaves. I tried several different settings (pickup switch position, pre-amp output volume, picking strength, plugin sensibility) but nothing seems to cause a healing effect. In my case the rate of miss/misread is about 20-25% that I think is way much.
But it was ME. I suspect in MY case that the fault may be in my guitar. Perhaps the pickups are generating too much harmonics along with the fundamental note and 'confusing' the plugin. But this is just a guess and I don't have how to test or solve it.
Nonetheless, I still thing that it is an exciting plugin, but the fact that it won't work perfectly in ANY guitar out-of-the-box makes it a bit frustrating. But it's still a beta version and it's free so it's not obligated to work as supposed as beta versions are for testing. To tell the truth I doubt that if it was a state of the art plugin capable to to everything it promises without any glitch that it would be given for free.
For the records... Along my Google research I found a forum thread from some a couple months ago here where someone else complaining about the same issue with erratic notes/octaves and a disastrous live performance.
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