old dog needs to learn new tricks ( midi setup )

[kiwigary]

Hi all, hope somebody can help me with my problem as follows. I play in a duo situation lead guitar & rythym guitar thats me. Well my old cr80 drum machine finally died (not worth fixing) So I bought a roland bk-7m backing unit (yes I know expensive drum machine) I would like to use more function of the machine but I have to use midi> Now I only play barre chords I need a midi pick up for guitar which type? I would also need an interface or would the bk7m handle that? I also sing thru a Digitech vocalist live 4 and that follows my chord changing but alas is not midi. Many years ago I tried a midi pick up to something with a sequencer but was not having a lot of success so time has now marched on and I've got time to experiment. Hope someone can help. thanks Gary

 

[DM60]

I am not sure of your question, but at least let me get more information from you that may help other help you. Number one, I think the right DAW/sequencer would be what you want, (like an Ableton Live) but there might be other options. So, let's make sure we have all of the information.

What is your objective? Live playing and it keeps the tempo to your timing? Also, since it has more sounds than just drums, I have to assume you want to figure out how to get it to follow you with the synth part when you play chords/notes?

Without some sort of sequencer/DAW, you want your guitar to be the MIDI input and do two things, tempo and synthesizer duties. Is this correct?

Going straight to the machine, using some sort of sound to MIDI pick up would be required. Now, the main question, has anyone used one of these and which one works the best.

I've seen some on the market, but decided to go a different route (a controller, MIDI keyboard and Ableton) the way Ableton is designed is for use in a live setting (non-linear) and recording normal (linear). But it requires someone manning the software. They do make foot controllers (you would have to look at Ableton to understand why if is different as it works with clips and scenes) for it, not sure how well they work. The software does allow for a very flexible and free flow of playing live. and can drive your Roland (MIDI Out).

But I think that scenario becomes more complex than you want. So Guitar ->MIDI pickup->Roland->Mixer.

I know, lot of words, but here is a start: MIDI Converter you can read the reviews. Price is not bad if it works.

 

[kiwigary]

Hi, and thanks for replies. I'll start with my set up as I would like it to do.
1, I sing through a vocalist live 4 which follow chord played on my guitar .no problem there.
2, I would use preset patterns on the bk7m and would like to us bass etc. to also follow my chords. as i can record direct from the bk7m to usb stick.
3, So main question would be guitar out to ? from to bk7m Sounds simple but with past exp I always seem to ask the impossible Cheers Gary

 

[kiwigary]

I forgot yes we play live and tend to lengthen songs or shorten as the mood of crowd changes. the tempo can be dialed up pretty quick or with foot pedal. cheers Gary

 

[c7sus]

The Sonuus GM2 is monophonic and will only track one note at a time. It sends note-on, note-off, and pitch messages and that's it. Has a good bit of latency too that would be problematic for live use.

Check out the demos of the Roland GK-3 on Youtube. I can't find any demos of people using the GK-3 in polyphonic mode but I'm pretty sure it will do that. Again, latency might be a problem in a live setup.

I think to really get what out want out of the BK-7m you will have to record the bass lines and save them as preset MIDI files. A simple MIDI keyboard controller would work for that.

 

[kiwigary]

Hi all, I have now gat the Fishman FTP guitar midi unit and it works very well no latency to speak of I'm very pleased with it. All the other programs that come with it are a waste of time to me took about 3.5 hours to download, install then upgrade. and i don't use any part of them lol cheers Gary