convert vocals only from mp3 to midi for Ultrastar import?

June 26, 2008 6:42 AM

convert vocals only from mp3 to midi for Ultrastar import?

Is there today some fairly effective program for converting only the vocals from a mp3 music file (the file contains other instrument so the vocals need to be singled out) to a midi track that can later be imported to the PC Singstar clone Ultrastar?

When searching for "mp3 to midi conversion" in general one finds many negative answers claiming either that it is impossible or that the tools available give poor results ( http://ask.metafilter.com/17312/MP3-to-MIDI ).

But I want to know if things are different when (1) only the vocal track is needed and (2) the purpose of the midi is to be imported into Ultrastar (it may not need to be as exact to work well there as for other midi purposes, I speculate).

posted by nolnar to computers & internet (5 comments total)

Wow, this sounds pretty tough. I haven't tried this before but it may be possible if you do a 2 step process of process of:

1 - Extract the Vocal as best you can from the MP3 itself so you have a standalone melody.
Try this as an example fo how to do it in Audacity

2 - Convert that newly isolated terack into an MP3 using something like this.

Actually, on fuither inspection, this program claims to do it to a song with multiple instruments so, it may just magically work but I find the claims highly suspect...

Good Luck.
posted by moocheen at 8:15 AM on June 26

This isn't going to work like you want it to (yet, Melodyne will probably do this by the end of the year, maybe, hopefully), so please don't waste your time. If you want a midi track of the vocals to a song now, you're going to have to play along to the vocals with a midi keyboard.
posted by bunnytricks at 8:25 AM on June 26

Would there maybe be a way to do it crudely by running the vocal track through an extreme Autotune, and somehow tracking the Autotune movement as MIDI?
posted by clcapps at 7:09 PM on June 26

thanks for the replies!

moocheen, smart two step strategy! But the linked instruction for the first step only does the reverse from what I want - it filters away the vocals, leaving an instrumental track. The output is pretty ok (to my non-professional ears) if it was the instrumental track that I was after. But maybe an additional step can be added?

FOLLOW UP QUESTION: is there some effective tool that compares a de-vocalized track with the original and outputs the difference, i.e. a vocals track (mainly)?

I should add:

- I've tested WIDI Recognition System ( http://www.widisoft.com/ ) on multiple instrument tracks but the output was completely unusable for my purposes. As I stated earlier, this is what many comments online suggest also. The Intelliscore program that moocheen mention seems similar. But if I can really isolate the vocals in step 1, then maybe one of these tools might be of help!

- I'm not very experienced with music/audio software (have not used Autotune but have read about it) but I'm willing to spend some time learning IF (big if) there's clear indication that this can be done. I take bunnytricks advice above seriously but still want to spend some more time investigating and testing this before deciding to wait for next gen applications.
posted by nolnar at 11:59 PM on June 26

A few months back I spent a week or so trying to find a way to use my guitar's output to control a softsynth, and although I went through four different programs none of them could track the signal with even a hint of accuracy. Autotune should be the go-to application for this kind of thing as it tracks pitch spectacularly well, but for some insane reason it doesn't output MIDI.
posted by bunnytricks at 2:58 AM on July 9