MIDI pickup/controller question

[OriginalCrash]

Not sure if this belongs here or in Effects, but here goes... As far as using MIDI to control an external synth, what is needed? Just a MIDI pickup? A pickup and separate controller? Will any pickup worth with any controller or any synth? I'm just trying to learn (just the very surface, I'm sure) the ins and outs of MIDI... Thanks.

Brian

[Unison]

You'll need both a midi pickup and a controller. The Axon is the best on the market at the moment, because it detects notes with the pick transient, which (provided you are using a pick) is a lot quicker than the Roland units. It also has a software editor and a lot more options when it comes to zones, splits and layers of midi data.

There's always going to be some latency with midi bass (especially when using the lower strings) but you can simply play an octave higher on the bass, and then set your synth an octave lower to solve this. All of the midi pickups are basically the same design, and will work with any guitar to midi controller. There's also custom piezos that you can install into the bridge which are even better than the external pickups.

[OriginalCrash]

So just to clarify... To control an external synth that has a MIDI input, I will need both a pickup and controller. But you also mentioned piezo... Can all piezo bridges work in this context or just some?

Brian

[chicago_mike]

We have had issues with tracking with the axon. Any bass with moderatley low action wouldnt track right and you had to have some crazy settings and tunings for each string.
One thing that bugged me, was there was no global style control...you had to go into each preset and change it to get the tracking better. Sorry, set the tracking to the bass, and then the presets should alter. OR the tracking should not even be part of the preset.

The new roland is a little bit better but notice that all demo basses with midi pickups have stupid high action...theres a reason..the technology is not quite there yet.

[Unison]

Originally Posted by OriginalCrash

So just to clarify... To control an external synth that has a MIDI input, I will need both a pickup and controller. But you also mentioned piezo... Can all piezo bridges work in this context or just some?

Brian

It will need to be something like a Graphtech Ghost system.

http://www.graphtech.com/products.html?CategoryID=2

[Unison]

Originally Posted by chicago_mike

We have had issues with tracking with the axon. Any bass with moderatley low action wouldnt track right and you had to have some crazy settings and tunings for each string.
One thing that bugged me, was there was no global style control...you had to go into each preset and change it to get the tracking better. Sorry, set the tracking to the bass, and then the presets should alter. OR the tracking should not even be part of the preset.

The new roland is a little bit better but notice that all demo basses with midi pickups have stupid high action...theres a reason..the technology is not quite there yet.

That's incorrect. The action should be low because the pickup needs to be about 3 mm away the strings for it to work. It sounds like you didn't set your bass up properly, because I haven't had any tracking problems with the Axon at all.

Have you tried the latest firmware and editor versions? They have recently added a lot more features, such as the option to apply a change to all presets etc.

http://www.axon-technologies.net/ind...=24&menu=10105

[Erik B]

the pick-up doesn't make midi, it's the contoler that does.
An Axon or Roland