i2m with vibraphone?

The i2M musicport™ MIDI Converter & Hi-Z USB Audio Interface

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omvibes
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Joined: Mon Dec 28, 2015 2:40 pm

Re: i2m with vibraphone?

Post by omvibes »

Hi James, so, received the Sonuus, thank you. My thoughts are as follows:
1. In terms of sustain, in reality there is no need for the additional stuff previously mentioned, as notes seem to sustain through the whole life of the pressed vibraphone note, longer than I expected.
2. Getting some tracking issues with the lowest few notes (notes two octaves higher often ring), and sometimes when i dampen a note on the vibraphone using the pedal to stop the note, the note a semi-tone above plays briefly, which is annoying. I can probably work on tightening up the dampener mechanism on the vibraphone, but is there anything in the i2m software/ editor I can do to improve things?
3. There seems a bit of latency in the signal (vibraphone - i2m - camera connection kit - ipad), anything I can do to improve that in the software editor?
Oli
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james
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Re: i2m with vibraphone?

Post by james »

Hi Oli,

Sustain -- ok, that makes sense.

Often when notes are stopped the vibrating "thing" (string, key, etc) doesn't stop immediately. Often the lower-frequency notes stop more than the higher frequency ones, so you get a short high-pitched ring when it stops. Just a little of this can fool the i2M into thinking there is another note being played). Unfortunately, the i2M picks this up assuming you played a new note.

One setting on the i2M which may help is the "velocity filter". These ghost notes are lower level, so their MIDI velocity will be lower than normal notes. The velocity filter lets you stop notes which are below a certain velocity. So this may help you turn off these lower-level notes.

As for speed, you can try different instrument settings: guitar, 4-string bass, 5-string bass. Guitar can be a little faster than the bass modes, for example; but you need to watch the lower-notes are still ok.

Low notes are always a problem because it takes longer to measure their frequency. A way around this is to play higher notes on your instrument and transpose the notes down (an octave or more) on the i2M editor. This can help with low-note problems, and reduces latency.
omvibes
Posts: 10
Joined: Mon Dec 28, 2015 2:40 pm

Re: i2m with vibraphone?

Post by omvibes »

Hi James, thanks for the tips, I'll try them. I guess if I raise the velocity filter, then it will also reduce the sustain length of notes based on the natural decay of the vibraphone notes, I will have to experiment with it.
On a side-note, the i2m works great with my Sequential pro one synth, allowing it to become a monophonic midi controller without any further boxes etc. Bonus!
Oli
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james
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Re: i2m with vibraphone?

Post by james »

The velocity filter won't affect the sustain of notes. It only affects new notes (stops them turning on if the level is too low). Notes will always sustain until the signal completely disappears.

Cool about your Sequential pro one synth. Years ago I did a similar thing to test the original G2M: connect a hardware monosynth synth to the G2M to them play another synth -- it can work really well :D
omvibes
Posts: 10
Joined: Mon Dec 28, 2015 2:40 pm

Re: i2m with vibraphone?

Post by omvibes »

Hi James, so, tried to change the velocity filter and can't seem to save the changes in the hardware, i.e. I make changes to the velocity filter and close the software, but when I open it again, the velocity filter is back to zero. Having the same problem with the output db dial, i.e. I make changes, close the software and disconnect the hardware, but when I reconnect everything, the setting is back to the previous one...how can I save both these settings? (Had a look in the software manual, but couldn't see anything).
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james
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Re: i2m with vibraphone?

Post by james »

Are you using the latest firmware in the i2M, and the latest editor? If there is a mismatch some parameters (like the velocity filter) which were added later, might not work.

The latest firmware is version 1.4.0.
omvibes
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Joined: Mon Dec 28, 2015 2:40 pm

Re: i2m with vibraphone?

Post by omvibes »

Hi James, yes, I needed to update to the latest firmware, now velocity filter changes are being saved. Now to see if I can make any changes that remove the ghost notes. Thanks for your support so far, James!
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james
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Re: i2m with vibraphone?

Post by james »

Glad that was the problem. Thanks for letting me know.
vibraphon
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Joined: Mon Nov 14, 2016 7:59 am

Re: i2m with vibraphone?

Post by vibraphon »

Hi,
I too try to use i2m for a vibraphon with pickups, but the latency is much too high.
I got the i2m from ebay. So it might be an older version.
I have successfully installed the last firmware 1.4.00.
hardware version is 1.42.02

Is it possible that older im2 hardware has more latency?

My installation:
vibraphon with pickups -> i2m (factory settings) -> PC witn Win7 -> Kontakt 5

Thank You
Paul
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james
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Re: i2m with vibraphone?

Post by james »

The latency is not higher on the older i2M. With the latest firmware, you have essentially the latest i2M.

What audio device are you using in Kontakt for sound? This is usually the main cause of latency.

The i2M has a special "latency test mode". In the edit on the "setup" tab you can enable this. It will flash the light on the i2M and send MIDI notes, you can use this to listen to the notes to hear the latency. You want to get the latency on your computer low enough so that you can't hear any delay between the note and the light flashing. If you have too much latency here, you need to fix it before worrying about the Vibraphone.
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