Record midi bass on Guitar?

[Pathfinder]

So, I don't have or want a bass guitar, but would like to use my electric guitars to record midi bass lines, later to be rendered to audio.
I have a midi controller\keyboard ( which I have always used for midi bass and drums) but I do so much better , being a guitar player, using my guitar to record the bass lines. With the guitar I can really nail the nuances, timing, etc, etc and of course it doesn't sound mechanical because it isn't. I know I can just use audio but then I don't have as much freedom with VSTS for playback.
Is their such a thing as an "inexpensive option"? BTW I should add I do own Melodyne Editor 4 full. I did notice Reaper has this thing called REATUNE  which does exactly what I am talking about, supposedly, pretty easily?
Thanks

Edited September 21, 2020 by Pathfinder

[scook]

Try MIDI Guitar 2 by Jam Origin

 

 

[Pathfinder]

17 minutes ago, scook said:

Try MIDI Guitar 2 by Jam Origin

 

 

So it looks cool and is certainly inexpensive, especially since it's polyphonic. Guess I need to read the docs becaus I want to record the midi IN CW, not import it or anything.

Thanks as always Scook

EDIT: So, I downloaded the free trail and it installs as a stand alone app & a x64 VST-That's great!

Edited September 21, 2020 by Pathfinder

[scook]

IIRC, the demo is standalone only. (I guess this has changed over the years) The full version also has a VST plug-in.

The standalone will give you an idea of how responsive the software is to guitar and it will load synths so you can hear how it plays.

To use the VST -

• Add MIDI Guitar 2 VST to the guitar track's FX rack,
• set "Enable MIDI output" on (see image below) and input echo on
• add a synth to the project using either an instrument or audio+MIDI pair and choose a preset
• set the instrument or MIDI track input to MIDI Guitar 2 and enable input echo
• play guitar

 

Edited September 21, 2020 by scook

[Pathfinder]

37 minutes ago, scook said:

IIRC, the demo is standalone only. (I guess this has changed over the years) The full version also has a VST plug-in.

The standalone will give you an idea of how responsive the software is to guitar and it will load synths so you can hear how it plays.

To use the VST -

• Add MIDI Guitar 2 VST to the guitar track's FX rack,
• set "Enable MIDI output" on (see image below) and input echo on
• add a synth to the project using either an instrument or audio+MIDI pair and choose a preset
• set the instrument or MIDI track input to MIDI Guitar 2 and enable input echo
• play guitar

 

Guess I have some reading to do.  I cannot get the menu to enable midi output with the midi guitar 2 vst. Also as far as the VSt, its not really a free trial, well it is but severely limited -interrupts you very quickly with the buy now window or continue. Pain really. I'll keep looking. 

Scook I know where enable midi output is in the properties window of the vsts, but I don't have that window. Dumb, I know.

Edited September 21, 2020 by Pathfinder

[Pathfinder]

Hey Scook...........DUH....Found it all, seriously tired. I will start fresh tomorrow-looks very promising

[scook]

Good

It is a decent guitar to MIDI solution.

 

[Craig Anderton]

You may want to use the version for Bass instead, although I found it less reliable than the Guitar version, for some reason. I'd be interested in your experiences, I did some pretty extensive experimentation with it but ultimately, found it needed too much cleaning up to be fun. You might find Melodyne's pitch-to-MIDI conversion is all you need for doing bass lines. 

[Pathfinder]

13 hours ago, Craig Anderton said:

You may want to use the version for Bass instead, although I found it less reliable than the Guitar version, for some reason. I'd be interested in your experiences, I did some pretty extensive experimentation with it but ultimately, found it needed too much cleaning up to be fun. You might find Melodyne's pitch-to-MIDI conversion is all you need for doing bass lines. 

Hi Craig,

I had it working a couple of times, other times, without changing a thing, it didn't work.

But when it did, it did not track well for me. I was only playing bass lines, simple ones-to learn the app. I used a pick so notes would be clearer.

Just doesn't track well here anyway. Maybe it's me? I only have the free trail and the constant interruption where you have to click Buy or Continue may be a part of the issue. Pretty bad demo imho. I tried mono, poly, etc, etc. 
Even though I own Melodyne 4 Editor full version, I am not familiar with it. I bought it on a whim way back when and just kept upgrading, figuring one day I would use it.

Thanks for the input

Edited September 21, 2020 by Pathfinder

[John Vere]

I tried it a few times as well and found it way off the mark for my likes. I do own a GR 50 which works way better but never really translated to bass lines properly either.  Way to much midi editing involved...

The best results so far is to play them on a real bass and drag the audio track to a midi track. Which is Melodyne.  This works brilliantly. There will still be some editing needed but very little compared to the guitar synth method. When done and using Ample Bass it can even fool me as to which I'm hearing live or memorex! 

OK so you do need a real bass, but it can be a very cheap bass as long as it's playable.  I have never tried doing this with a bass line played on a guitar which also might work but that would throw  my playing off. Guess you record an octave higher and then just drop it down once it's midi. 

Edited September 21, 2020 by John Vere

[KSband]

I use the fishman tripleplay wireless system on my guitar, you could use it to play vst basses or whatever else you want. It's not perfect but I find it useful for recording keyboard sounds. It's not cheap either.

I'm a guitar player not a bass player but I got a 75 dollar ebay bass and am happy with my recordings. I can't do a perfect performance but the audio transient shrink/stretch is pretty easy but time consuming. I just do the transients on the drums and then line up the bass lines to that, works really well. My midi guitar tracks end up needing a lot of editing too because they never play perfectly clean.

[Craig Anderton]

Also, don't forget that you can just transpose the guitar down an octave and use some EQ to make it sound better. Not ideal, but it can do the job.