Audio to MIDI functionality has been with us since Pro Tools 2020.11. It’s an invaluable function for those times when either augmenting or replacing an audio part with samples or a part generated by a virtual instrument is necessary but it’s rarely a one-click and you’re done kind of operation. However with a reasonably clean audio track it usually takes only a little extra work to get a good result.

In this article and videos, brought to you with the support of Avid, we look at replacing a bass guitar part with a MIDI based virtual instrument. First let’s' look at how to generate MIDI from an audio performance.

Copy Audio As MIDI

In the very short video above I demonstrate using the Copy Audio As MIDI command. To use this you’ll have to have an Instrument Track from which to play back your MIDI. In this case I copy the Audio to MIDI, then create an Instrument Track and paste the MIDI to that track but if you have an empty Instrument Track already in your session you can simply drag the Audio Clip to the Instrument track and Pro Tools will ask which conversion algorithm you want to use before pasting the MIDI to the track automatically.

MIDI Real Time Properties

In this example there is an issue because Pro Tools has created MIDI which is an octave too low. This is most easily corrected using one of the most useful MIDI features of Pro Tools - MIDI Real Time Properties.

MIDI Real Time Properties allow non-destructive changes to be applied to MIDI as it plays back. For example you can experiment with timing correction using quantise or applying swing without changing the original MIDI, though you can of course do that using Event Operations under the Event menu if you want to. See how easy it is to correct this octave issue using Real Time MIDI Properties in this second video.

Tidying Up A MIDI Performance In Pro Tools

With the MIDI playing back in the right octave it’s time to deal with the false triggers and errant notes. Unless the performance is very clean indeed it’s likely that there will be some stray notes which need deleting or correcting. Luckily this is very straightforward.

It is possible to edit MIDI directly on the timeline which is useful if you need to see your MIDI in context with the audio but most of the time it is more convenient to use the dedicated MIDI editor. One of the advantages of using the MIDI editor is that you can simultaneously use different edit tools in the MIDI Editor and Edit Page. For example using the Smart Tool in the Edit Page and the Pencil Tool in the MIDI Editor.

See how to use the Pencil Tool to quickly tidy up the MIDI part in this third video.

In this Premium video Julian looks in more detail at the MIDI editors in Pro Tools. There is more that one place in which to edit MIDI in Pro Tools - Why so many and what are the advantages and limitations of each?

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