Is this finally the answer to converting audio to midi - even chords ?

[adrianallan]

Thanks for the two replies.

I think that this sortware starts an exciting new age. It is also, conversely slightly worrying how common it is in the pop world. Any sort of glitch can be fixed with ease.

There are now real time pitch correctors for singers and this is why a lot of drummers wear headphones - they are playing to a click track so that the singer can lock into the auto-tune. How common this is amongst major acts now I'm not sure ?

So on the one hand I love this software, but maybe I long for a day when a mistake was a mistake and live performances and one-take recordings were more engaging for that reason.

But I will be trying out the beta and then exporting the midi to notation composer to see what happens !

[Mark W]

Hello Adrian,

So on the one hand I love this software, but maybe I long for a day when a mistake was a mistake and live performances and one-take recordings were more engaging for that reason.

This controversy has been going on for many years already; but the controversy will be intensified by the widespread capability to correct performance mistakes in recordings.

Here's a positive way to view this. As listeners, we will be able to choose the kind of listening experience we value, on a case by case basis. If I want to hear the immediacy of a live jazz performance, I can listen to a recording that has been intentionally left uncorrected. Or, I can listen to a live jazz performance!

If I want to hear Chopin played by Van Cliburn exactly as he played it, uncorrected, then I can listen to his historical recording.

If I want to hear some techno music performed intentionally flawlessly, corrected for live performance errors, then I can acquire such a recording.

Both we the listeners and the performing artistics will work it out in the marketplace what music is offered as live uncorrected performances, what music is offered with corrections, and which music is offered both ways.

If one perfers always to hear live uncorrected performances, then the market is likely to satisfy that taste, as there will be many who prefer live uncorrected performances. Those who prefer live uncorrected performances probably need not worry that performance correction made possible by technology such as Celemony's will suck the human character out of recordings. There might even grow to be a more distinct dichotomy between live performances and recordings, so that live performances will be appreciated, and so that performing artists will be rewarded in the marketplace for performing live.

The above speaks about the relationship between the listener and the performing musician. Consider now also the composer. If I want my own composition to be presented to listeners with quality more faithful to my intentions as a composer, not limited by my own piano keyboard skills, then I now have the option to prepare the performance in slow-time rather than real-time. I am thrilled to have that option, since the only only other practical option would be to convince some other better musician to study and perform my composition. My piano compositions may not be worthy to be hear by others; but at least I can now perform my compositions on the piano as I would like them to be heard... after some editing using Celemony's Melodyne. Sigh... if I only could spare the time to do that. I'm so envious of you who get spend time using these products instead of spending rediculous hours making them.

Cheers
-- Mark

[adrianallan]

Another little clue that the world of polyphonic note recognition is with us (and ever improving) I received this e-mail today

Dear Adrian,

The first ever Polyphonic Guitar Tuner is now in stock at Gear4music.com.

Play a chord and the PolyTune will show you which strings are out of tune immediately.

Sounds like a useful gadget !

In ten years' time... a program that can transcribe an full orchestra ?

[Mark W]

Hello Adrian,

Another little clue that the world of polyphonic note recognition is with us (and ever improving) I received this e-mail today:

Sounds like a useful gadget !

In ten years' time... a program that can transcribe an full orchestra ?

Yes, a guitar chord recognition tool is definitely useful for the purpose describe in the name of this tool: Polyphonic Guitar Tune.

However, recognizing a single chord played on the guitar is child's play compared to recognizing a stream of notes played on the guitar. The latter is what Melodyne Editor by Celemony already does pretty well.

In ten year's time, will there be a program that can transcribe a full orchestra? I suspect not. I would be thrilled if in 10 years there were a program that could transcribe orchestral music as well as Melodyne Editor today can transcribe polyphonic instruments (piano, guitar), voice (!) and very small ensembles. I had been waiting for the entire life-span of Notation Software (15 years) polyphonic transcription, and had given up hope a couple years ago that I'd ever see anything as good as what Celemony has now delivered with the Melodyne Editor.

I haven't seen the Polyphonic Guitar Tuner used, so I won't make any assessment about whether it does well at its claimed job of recognizing singularly played chords. Even if it does a fantastic job at that, though, that accomplishment is almost almost irrelevant to our hope for good note recognition (transcription) of audio stream data.

Cheers
-- Mark