Why doesn't the G2M track pitch correctly?

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james
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Why doesn't the G2M track pitch correctly?

Post by james »

The G2M will track the pitch of a signal very quickly and very accurately. However, the limitations of converting a vibrant analogue signal into a digital MIDI signal can cause problems if the receiving MIDI device isn't setup correctly for the G2M.

MIDI can control pitch in two ways: note and pitch bend messages. The G2M is configured to use both of these so that the note is used to sound the note you played and pitch bend is used to apply any deviations that are required to this: off-tuning, string bends, vibrato, trills, etc.

The main problem is that there is no single setting for how far the pitch-bend message should bend a note. The default, and mostly standard setting, is for pitch bend to allow an upward bend of 2 semitones and a downward bend of 2 semitones. This also matches the range a typical guitarist would bend a string (without a tremolo, of course). The G2M also uses this range.

If your synth / sound module has a patch that is not set to this +2/-2 pitch bend range the messages from the G2M will not translate into the desired pitch bend. In extreme cases if the patch is set to bend a full octave (+12/-12) playing this on the G2M will sound very strange indeed and it will feel like the G2M can't track the pitch at all.

The solution is to simply ensure that whatever patches you use with the G2M have their pitch-bend range set to +2/-2 semitones.
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