Converting pitch to MIDI data

Exploring Flex Pitch and MIDI Data Conversion

And then one last thing I might do with Flex Pitch, which tends to be quite interesting as a result, is to take this information, essentially, what's in this region, and turn it into MIDI data.

Triggering Sounds

By converting the data, I could trigger maybe a synth line or something like that, which has the melody contained in this vocal line. Here's how to do it:

1. Go to the Edit menu.
2. Select Create MIDI Track from Flex Pitch Data.

Once you do that, you'll notice an instrument comes up. Since Flex Pitch first analyzed the vocal data, it's somewhat treating it as MIDI. It knows what it needs to do.

Editing the MIDI Data

Now, this is not perfect by any stretch of the imagination because the singer might be singing longer notes and stuff like that. You'll probably have to go in and edit some of that MIDI data.

• Rough Outline: This should provide the rough outline of what the singer is singing.
• Adjust Notes: For example, if a note's definitely wrong, just change that.

You might notice that some notes are triggered a few times, and you could interpret that as an expression from the singer. You could take that note and bring it back to find the right start for it.

Enhancing with Synth Sounds

You can see it would take a little bit of working with, but if you were to change that sound to, say, a synth lead sound, it could enhance the song.

• Sound Selection: If I were doing this on a song like this, I might opt for something that isn't too harsh.

What about something like this? While that might sound quite hard, you'd probably want something a bit softer and more supportive of the melody.

Conclusion

This can be a really nice way to support the melody of a song. If you have a microphone and you want to sing a melody rather than play it, you actually have the functionality to do that with something like Flex Pitch.

Key Takeaways

• Flex Pitch is a wonderful feature that goes beyond just tuning vocals; you can extract MIDI data too.
• There are many creative possibilities, including utilizing the formant shifter.

So, it's definitely worth exploring. It can help you out with challenging vocal performances, not that I've ever had to deal with one!, and also serve as a tool for creativity.