Step right up, guitar players—and plug into your laptop, plug into a synthesizer, or for
that matter, play a synthesizer on your laptop from your guitar. (All prices are MSRP.)
The MicPort Pro (which converts XLR
mic signals to USB) has served me
well, and the guitar version, AxePort
Pro, is just as good: It’s a cigar-shaped
interface with a 1/4", 1M impedance
connector. Plug in your guitar at one
end; the other end has jacks for USB
and headphones.
The sound quality is excellent—you
can get serious level in the ’phones
(both the headphones and guitar input
gain have their own knobs), and Axeport
also does 96kHz recording. Two
cool software features are an applet
that lets you mix the processed sound
with zero-latency dry sound, and the
ability to aggregate AxePorts and Mic-
Ports in ASIO mode—add a MicPort if
you’re a singer, or another AxePort if
you play a stereo instrument like Chapman
Stick. For eye candy, you’ll love
the white ring around the jack that
lights up when you plug in to USB (you
can turn it off, though).
AxePort Pro needs no drivers for
Windows XP, Vista (32/64), or Mac OS X
10.4. Also included: ASIO drivers and
software extras on a 1GB USB stick
(check the website for Vista-64 drivers),
a 6' USB cable, and carrying pouch.
There’s stiff competition from
compact devices like NI’s Mobile I/O
and IK Multimedia’s Stealthplug,
both of which include excellent
amp/effects sim software. But for
the sweet spot of small size and big
sound, AxePort delivers—and the
multi-driver aspect is a plus.
Sonuus G2M Guitar-to-MIDI Converter
($129, www.sonuus.com )
The G2M fills a unique slot in the market:
It does monophonic (single-note)
guitar-to-MIDI conversion for under
$100 street, and doesn’t require a special
pickup—just plug and play. It’s also
cute and small, with a hi-Z guitar in
and boost switch on one end, a 5-pin
DIN MIDI out connector (not USB) and
guitar “thru” jack on the other, and
LEDs on the top that show power on
as well as tuning, low battery, clip, and
MIDI activity. The G2M requires a 9-volt
battery; the company claims about 70
hours of battery life.
As with other converters, you’ll
need to adjust your technique for the
best results—strings and frets weren’t
designed to be switches, yet MIDI
wants clean, unambiguous notes.
Don’t play more than one note at a
time, and use the palm of your hand to
deaden the harmonics for better triggering.
The G2M prefers flat picks with
a fairly light touch; if you’re a basher
or use a thumbpick, dial back a bit on
the dynamics.
Your first attempts will probably be
glitchy, but once you adapt you’ll get
good results (also try adding EQ
and/or compression before the G2M). I
found the G2M ideal for bass lines,
strings, brass, and interestingly
enough, drum/percussion overdubs.
Don’t expect miracles, but given the
low price and daunting task of guitarto-
MIDI conversion, the G2M opens up
MIDI guitar—and MIDI’s editability—to
a far wider audience.
Applied Acoustics Systems Strum
Electric GS-1 ($229, www.appliedacoustics.
com )
This plug-in/stand-alone virtual instrument
(VST, AU, RTAS, Mac/Windows)
is a tough product to review, because I
really like it—but maybe not for the
reasons AAS would expect. No, it
doesn’t replace a guitarist, although
you can come surprisingly close.
Where the GS-1 excels is in creating
“idealized” guitars (the engine is based
on physical modeling), as it can provide
“guitaristic” sounds you can’t
get any other way.
If you want to emulate “real” guitar,
read the manual—your success will
depend on how well you take advantage
of the mappings AAS has done to
relate notes and gestures to a
keyboard (e.g., hit a single note, and
that’s what you hear; hit a chord, and
it’s voiced like a guitar—but you can
also do upstrokes and downstrokes,
program strums, link parameters to
MIDI, and the like). There are plenty of
useful presets to get you started, but
still, you need to learn to play them.
Things get really interesting when
you edit parameters for individual
strings—everything from pick/finger
characteristics to hammer-on, pickups,
and amps. (However, note that while
GS-1 includes amp simulation, it’s not on
the same level as full-blown amp sims.)
If you want to bring something new
to your music, Strum GS-1 is intriguing,
versatile, clever, and fun. Is it for you?
Fortunately you can download a demo
version, and decide for yourself.