Bass Guitar Tracking Latency

All general pitch-to-MIDI thoughts, suggestions, complaints, etc.

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JayHurley
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Joined: Thu May 03, 2018 7:22 pm

Bass Guitar Tracking Latency

Post by JayHurley »

Is there any detailed information about tracking latency performance with electric bass guitar (including 5-string), such as any real measurements comparing audio samples to midi event triggering as a time series with at least millisecond accuracy? I would like to know when, in time, relative to the audio samples, the initial midi trigger is generated and then exactly when/how the subsequent pitch bend messages are generated/streamed.

I will probably buy an i2m (or is there a different model more suited to this sort of study?) and run the tests myself and publish the results back here, but if someone at sonuus or elsewhere has already looked at this level of detail that would save me the double work.

I'm keen on finding a robust solution for bass guitar to midi in a live performance scenario where latency and accuracy are both critical.

Thanks for any info you've got, cheers!
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james
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Re: Bass Guitar Tracking Latency

Post by james »

The specifications here are based on real measurements measuring from the start of the note being plucked until MIDI starts to be sent: http://www.sonuus.com/products_i2m_mp_s ... enu_anchor

In summary: 5 ms (E5), 17 ms (E2), 32ms (E1), 40 ms (B0)

However, it's not always so simple and can depend on how the note is played. A well-defined transient with a clear note (with a strong fundamental tone) will always give you the lowest latency. If the note doesn't start cleanly (or has a slow attack), or if the note is indistinct (e.g., two strings playing, or lots of harmonics-vs-fundamental) then the latency can be longer as the algorithm waits until it is more certain of the true note before it sends the MIDI note.

Latency and accuracy are opposing factors. You can minimise the latency, but get lots more false triggers, or you can increase the latency more a more accurate response. We believe we've struck the best balance to give low latency while maintaining accuracy (most of the time).
JayHurley
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Re: Bass Guitar Tracking Latency

Post by JayHurley »

Cool thanks!

Which sonuus product would be the best for my use case, live electric 5-string bass?
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james
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Re: Bass Guitar Tracking Latency

Post by james »

What are you connecting to?

Both the G2M and i2M musicport are used live by lots of people.

The G2M has a 5-pin MIDI connection, and the i2M has a USB connection.

For best performance, personally I prefer the G2M connected to a hardware synth for lowest latency (it removes a few ms of latency that a computer always adds). It makes things feel a little snappier (and no computer to go wrong).

However, the i2M gives you more options: you can create presets for transposing, harmonising, etc and switch presets live using MIDI program change.
viclobocga
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Joined: Mon Nov 19, 2018 5:14 pm

Re: Bass Guitar Tracking Latency

Post by viclobocga »

I am using i2M to write bass notation in Guitar Pro 7; I have a bit of latency I was wondering how I can tweak it. Also, only G string tracks well, the other strings are octaves lower. Is there a way I can adjust this so that my notes can sync in correctly on the tablature. I have the iM2 software installed.
Thanks for your assistance; I find i2M a great creative tool and it is an inexpensive solution especially for Bass.
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james
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Re: Bass Guitar Tracking Latency

Post by james »

For best tracking, first try out the tips suggested on this page, including watching the video (although it shows guitar, it's even more important for bass):

http://www.sonuus.com/products_i2m_mp_f ... enu_anchor
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