Cubase’s VariAudio: extracting MIDI from audio files : November 2009
Cubase’s VariAudio: extracting MIDI from audio filesArticle Preview :: Cubase Notes & TechniquesPublished in SOS November 2009 Technique : Cubase Notes Back in SOS August 2009, I took a look at pitch-correction using Cubase 5’s new VariAudio tool, which can be found in the sample editor. While pitch and timing changes are obviously VariAudio’s raison d’être, the tool has a further trick up its sleeve: MIDI extraction. In other words, using VariAudio, you can take a monophonic audio performance and extract MIDI timing and pitch information from it, leaving you with a MIDI part in place of your audio file. This type of audio-to-MIDI conversion has been around for quite some time (Logic, for example, has offered it for many years now, and it’s also possible in Celemony’s Melodyne), but this is the first time the functionality has been built into Cubase. So why would you want to extract MIDI from your audio? Although none of the current audio-to-MIDI conversion tools are without their particular quirks, they have a number of uses, which include extracting MIDI from a bass-guitar performance, enabling you to double the part with a bass synth (if the bottom end of your mix needs a little beefing up, for example). It can also be a useful way for a guitarist to create melody lines for synths, without using a keyboard or entering the murky waters of MIDI guitar controllers. In addition, extracted MIDI data can be used with Cubase’s scoring features to provide notation of parts for other musicians. Surprisingly, for such a potentially useful feature, the MIDI extraction process is given pretty short shrift in Cubase’s Operation Manual. Extraction Basics ...
Published in SOS November 2009 
| Wednesday 25th November 2009 December 2009
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