Sonuus G2M Guitar to MIDI Converter

No longer available at zZounds
Convert your guitar to be used as a solo MIDI guitar. This MIDI converter easily connects to your guitar like any pedal or tuner.

The Sonuus G2M is a simple to use, highly effective, guitar to MIDI converter. It is "Universal" because it doesn't need a special pick up mounted on your guitar, but instead simply connects to your guitar like any other effects pedal or tuner.

Designed to give accurate triggering, with low latency, it is a true plug and play solution for monophonic MIDI guitar. It can be used to sequence bass lines and guitar solos add an edge to your live performances - it opens up many creative possibilities. No modifications are required to your guitar; no special pickups to install; and nothing needs to be "stuck" onto your instrument. It works with all electric guitars.

Features

- Any electric guitar can be used as a solo MIDI guitar
- No guitar modifications or special pickups required
- Robust note detection - minimizes wrong notes
- Accurate pitch-bend determination
- Low latency
- Built-in tuner for standard guitar tuning
- Battery-powered with long battery life
- Compact, lightweight and portable

Robust Performance

Research has shown you that the most important aspect for pitch to MIDI conversion is reliable and reproducible triggering of notes. While low latency is important, robust triggering is the key to usability, you can easily adapt to some latency, but you cannot adapt to random, spurious notes.

By virtue of the unique, inherently robust technology used in the G2M you will be able to reliably generate accurate MIDI quickly and easily. Notes are generated exactly read more as played, and the nuances of your performance are captured with fast, accurate pitch-bend data.

Improves Playing Technique

For optimal MIDI conversion, your guitar playing needs to be clean and accurate. Accidental notes, resonating open strings and other sounds can often be converted into undesired MIDI notes. Often you don't hear these when playing guitar yourself, but can detect them easily when listening live to the generated MIDI.

Striving to improve MIDI note accuracy, encourages clean picking and accurate fingering, with good control over non-sounding strings by damping them.

Not only will your MIDI output be more accurate, your normal guitar playing will sound clearer and more professional. It's like having a tutor sitting beside you giving you advice. It's also great fun!

Usage Ideas

Sequencing bass linesThe G2M is great for sequencing natural-sounding bass lines. It is often more convenient to play the bass line using the higher octaves on the guitar where tracking is most accurate and latency is lowest. The resulting recorded performance can then be transposed in your sequencer to use as a bass line. Many sequencers will allow transposition of any number of semitones. Then, for example, you can play on the 3rd string and transpose back to the 6th string or lower.

Enhancing live performancesMixing your live guitar sound and a synthesizer sound generated via the G2M and your sound module or software synth provides dimensionality to your playing. Add to searing lead lines with a detuned synth lead, add rich harmonies using a transposed patch, get a huge wall of sound using bass sounds an octave down to follow your lead playing or rhythm picking. Once your guitar signal is translated into the MIDI domain, there's no limit to the layering of sounds you can achieve.

Guitar SolosTricky-to-play fast guitar parts such as solos can be recorded into your sequencer at a slow speed so accuracy can be achieved in the performance. Any mistakes in the recorded MIDI can be edited out in the sequencer and the result can then be played back at the required speed by changing the sequencer tempo. And because it's MIDI you don't get any of the transposition artifacts you would get if you tried to do the same with the original audio!

Notating your musicThe G2M is a great input device when used together with music notation software such as GuitarPro and Sibelius and most Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) software such as Sonar, Logic and Cubase. No longer do you have to think about how you will score your guitar part, you can simply connect via your G2M and play.
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Power supply: 9V PP3 battery. Average current consumption < 10mA. (Typically more than 70 hours operating time.)

Tuner notes: E2, A2, D3, G3, B3, E4 (Standard 6-string guitar tuning)

Tuner accuracy: <1 cent when pulsing at <1Hz

Note detection range: E2 to E6

MIDI latency: 16ms to 30ms depending on note and characteristics of input signal

MIDI power: 5V (via 200 ohm resistor as per the MIDI specification)

Size: 83mm x 58mm x 34mm

Weight: 80g (without battery)

Inputs: 6.35mm mono jack (switches unit on when jack is inserted)

Outputs: 6.35mm mono jack connected directly to input jack. Standard 5-pin MIDI socket

Switches: Boost switch to select between low- and high-output guitars

For support or warranty questions, please contact the manufacturer:

Reviewers gave this product an overall rating of 1.5 out of 5 stars. (3 ratings)
Submitted June 28, 2011 by a customer from yahoo.com

"Sing a Sonuus of Blackbirds Baked in a Pie"

Overall: 1.5 out of 5 stars
(see rating details)
Verified Customer zZounds has verified that this reviewer made a purchase from us.
Another one hit wonder device. One track, on one song, once upon a time.

Sound
This product requires quite a lot of balancing the volume control on the guitar. Set to high, the device becomes confused and strange sounds come out of synth. Set too low and it misses the note you are playing. It therefore requires that you relearn your picking technique in order to get all the strings of the guitar to trigger the Sonuus g2m correctly. This would be a nightmare to use as a midi feed for notation software, if you didn't know music. However, if you knew music you wouldn't need the g2m.

Features
Any features I wish it had? Maybe, an automatic gain control (aka compression) circuit would resolve some of the problems mentioned above. I thought it was a good secondary effect for using the strange patches found on synth modules that no one could ever figure out what they were used for, other than doing "B" rated Sci-Fi movies.

Ease of Use
Not too easy to get the right sound. Even, when just using a plain piano sound, missed notes was quite common. And of course, it is not intended to be used for capturing more than one note at a time. Forget those accidental striking the adjecent string; it either cancels the note or there is more strangeness.

Quality
Small enough to put in your cigarette pocket.

Value
Street price for a Roland Gk2 is read more about $170. The G2m was about $100, which one would you use? If guitar players never messed with volume pots while playing then maybe it would not be such a pain to keep operational, but we all twist the knobs to come out ahead of the front man.

Manufacturer Support
I never was much into using forums. It takes to long to find a similar post. And how many musicians really want to spend the time looking stuff up, that are beyond the common problems.

The Wow Factor
Does not apply

Musical Background:
Active Musician

Musical Style:
'B' rated Sci-Fi film audio FX.
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No longer available at zZounds

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