Hi can the kemper convert guitar to midi ?

  • Hi, im just trying to figure out a way to control my korg synth with my guitar. Ive tried the fishman triple play and sonuus g2m but wondered if the kemper can do it or if there are any other options, cheers and thanks for your help much appreciated :)

  • What you want is a guitar to midi interface that outputs midi through a standard midi socket.


    Buy a used Terratec axon (AX-100 rack or AX-50 USB) and a Roland hexaphonic pickup. Both of these are made to trigger external synths and work very well. Or a Roland GR-55 but this isn't good at triggering external synths (latency issues). Some of the earlier Roland GR guitar to midi devices (GR-33 etc) are better at triggering external synth. Or buy all of them if you're me !


    https://www.soundonsound.com/r…/terratec-axon-ax100-mkii

    https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/terratec-axon-ax50-usb

    https://www.roland.com/uk/products/gr-55/


    The cheapest way to try guitar to midi is JamOrigin's MidiGuitar 2 available as a trial for windows or mac. Play guitar into your audio interface - run the software. it has instruments built in, or can trigger software synths. Couple it with Cantabile - a freee vst host and you can build some fairly cool midi/synth/fx . Other guitar to midi software apps also exist.

    https://www.jamorigin.com/

  • Try to find a Casio MG-510 MIDI guitar, they are actually really good as regular guitars :thumbup:

    MIDI-wise they suffer from a slight latency , but that´s normal with every guitar-to-MIDI-systems .....


    Cheers !

    The adjective for metal is metallic. But not so for iron ... which is ironic.

  • Hi many thanks for your comments and help. None of those options have worked for me so far but I have been using a pc and an archtop so think thats why. My last option is the empress zoia which is expensive but it converts guitar to midi. Hopefully it will be better that the sonuus g2m which is very good just not perfect tracking

  • Hi many thanks for your comments and help. None of those options have worked for me so far but I have been using a pc and an archtop so think thats why. My last option is the empress zoia which is expensive but it converts guitar to midi. Hopefully it will be better that the sonuus g2m which is very good just not perfect tracking

    spoiler alert: perfect tracking does not exist.
    you will always have to develop a special playing technique to get the best results - I went the graphtech piezo to Axon AX100mkII route early 2000, then Sonuus and Jam Origin.
    The Sonuus is fun and great to record basslines and lead and the Jam Origin has been hit and miss for me, sometimes it tracks complex chords beautifully and without any issue and the next minute it throws false triggers and wrong pitches everywhere.

  • You can help tracking by making your playing super clean, and useing a damper on your strings at the nut. Flat wound strings help to reduce ghost notes too. I have an archtop with flats, and its pretty good with MG2


    I'm really looking forward to MG3


    What was wrong with the Fishman tripleplay and a usb to midi interface cable like the Roland UM-One or similar ? The Fishman has good tracking - does it not share te midi outside of its own software ?

  • I won my Fishman TP in a giveaway. Then found out it only worked with iOS and I only have PC. I sold it on Reverb in 2 days. I would have kept it because it looked pretty awesome on vid reviews.

    Larry Mar @ Lonegun Studios. Neither one famous yet.

  • I won my Fishman TP in a giveaway. Then found out it only worked with iOS and I only have PC. I sold it on Reverb in 2 days. I would have kept it because it looked pretty awesome on vid reviews.

    ?? I use fishman triple play on PC ( win7 and now 10) and it works good.

  • I recently bought a Roland GI-20 guitar to midi/USB interface. Alas they don't make them anymore. Tracking as good as it gets with the Roland GK system. You could try a Godin guitar with the 13 pin output, they use piezo pickups. They claim improved tracking.

    Waaayyyy back i had a Casio Midi guitar, way cool in the 1980s but the midi tracking had some latency. Older Roland GS like GR-20 and even GR-1 have a good tracking for the internal sounds but a little latency on the midi output.

    Waaayyy back i used Atari computers with the built-in midi ports, excellent timing.

    I wrote a post here about the USB in of the Kemper. I wish i could connect my Gr-55 or GI-20 USB out to that port and work with the GK hex pickup. Alternate tunings, different FX on different strings etc.

  • There is a UK made guitar (BOB O’reilly Expressiv MIDI Pro 2) with wired frets. It tracks very well. It has a lot of on board controls including an X/Y pad, switches and pots. It is also expensive, retailing for $2990 €.


    Alternatively, the Sonicsmith Convertor E2 + Midvertor system seems to track well based on the video Sonicsmith has released. It not only does pitch to MIDI it also does pitch to CV with all of the necessary I/O to connect each string to a different modular synth. And each E2 module has a built in mono synth. It is also expensive ($430 per E2 module x 6 + $290 for the Midvertor module = $2400 after 15% discount). And you need a modular case with power supply, a guitar with a hex pickup, and a breakout box. So figure about $3,000.


    I am waiting and hoping for Keith McMillan Instruments to release its Stringport 2 guitar which will be a wired fret design.


    I won’t buy an expensive high tech solution from another continent from a small company that may not be able to do fast service.


    For now, I use an FTP and Melodyne Studio with a hex pickup. FTP is the best live tracking I have experienced. But it does make mistakes and has some noticeable latency.


    Melodyne does excellent pitch to MIDI after I have recorded each string to a separate track in Logic. The program can do polyphonic pitch to MIDI but it isn’t as accurate as doing mono conversion.

  • You could always buy a keyboard...... [ducks for cover]

    it is best to have both, one cannot replace the other.
    the voicings used on each instrument make that obvious: on keys it's often an octave in the bass and the upper chord is structured in thirds (good luck fretting that on a guitar), while chords on a guitar (in standard tuning) rely mostly on fourths and fifths (the g-b pair of strings being the exception).
    This is partially why piano played on guitar and guitar played on a keyboard will always sound off.
    The interface influences the outcome quite audibly.

  • it is best to have both, one cannot replace the other.
    the voicings used on each instrument make that obvious: on keys it's often an octave in the bass and the upper chord is structured in thirds (good luck fretting that on a guitar), while chords on a guitar (in standard tuning) rely mostly on fourths and fifths (the g-b pair of strings being the exception).
    This is partially why piano played on guitar and guitar played on a keyboard will always sound off.
    The interface influences the outcome quite audibly.

    This is true but many great players have managed to make the guitar synth a unique instrument in its own right. Players such as Adrian Below, Pat Metheny and Allan Holdsworth spring to mind.