Quantizing audio from midi track

Hi gang,
I'm having so much trouble quantizing my finger style guitar parts. I've spent many hours with Melodyne, read the manual, viewed every video I can find and while it does fine with my vocals (in between crashes), I just can't get it to work properly on some intricate guitar parts. It just moves notes to where they're not supposed to be.

I'm odd in that I take a backwards approach to learning a new finger style guitar piece. I start by typing in notation and then work back and forth between playing and midi editing to arrive at a finished notation. I then play from that until it's memorized. A perk is that I end up with an exact 'transcription' of what I play.

So I'm wondering if I can use that notation midi info to perfectly align my exact recorded version. I've never tried the loops and groove features of sonar but I'm thinking of using a vsti to bounce the midi to an audio track and then somehow using that as a quantizing 'groove'. Would that mold my recorded audio to the vsti audio?
 Anyone have thoughts on this?
Thanks,
Joe
 
In other words, use not just the midi beat info, but the actual midi note (rhythm) info.

Thanks, dwardzala
 
I have Editor not essential.
I don't want to convert audio to midi. I already have the midi (perfectly quantized), so I want to somehow use it (backwards, I guess) as a 'mold' to form the quantized rhythm of my recorded audio. I'm guessing it can't be done, but I was hoping to find someone that has tried it. Editor does a fine job on 80% of what I play but there's always those trouble spots.

Yes, it can be done with Audiosnap. Basically, you would first need to enable AS on the audio clip and massage all the transient markers to be sure there are no extra, missing or misplaced markers - you want one for every note/chord in the MIDI track. Then copy the MIDI into the clipboard (a.k.a. paste buffer), and Groove Quantize the audio to the clipboard contents (the default).
 
 

I am glad Brundlefly chimed in, I was on a phone before and could not type a good description for you.
 
If you have not used audio snap, here is a thread from a couple weeks ago worth reading. FastBikerBoy's video (post #2) gives a nice overview of setting markers (in that thread the point is to extract tempo, you want the same thing I think, but apply the tempo instead). I added a "setup" comment to that video in post #6, but that was also advice from FBB, just another video.
 
In addition to the info in that thread, here are a couple quick videos:
Getting started with AudioSnap
Using AudioSnap for Drum Replacement
 
I think what you are looking to do is similar to "drum replacement" but instead of extracting the timing as MIDI, you want to align your audio markers and used your quantized MIDI file to apply the timing as Brundlefly said above.
 
The quickest way for you to learn this is to create a new project, set the bpm, and import the audio and MIDI tracks so you can visually stack them (and while setting markers can easily see the MIDI reference). Turning on Aim Assist (X) will give you a vertical marker to help guide you if you have not used it before.
 
AudioSnap is a nice toolbox, but can be confusing at first, so do not hesitate to ask more questions.
 

If the MIDI is perfectly quantized then, yes, conventional quantizing of the audio will work just as well.  But it sounds like you're saying the results are equally bad in both cases as opposed to good. If so, there are likely still some issues with the transient markers that need to be fixed. Hard to say exactly where the issue lies without seeing the material first hand, but basically you want to have one and only one transient marker for every event in the MIDI clip, the markers need to be exactly on the actual audio transients, and they need to be within half the resolution setting of the correct time, or they'll get quantized in the wrong direction.
 
But, no, the Velocity strength setting has no effect on audio files; that part of Groove Quantizing applies only to MIDI clips.
 
Re-reading your description, though, I see you're referring to "Extract Groove and "Apply Groove" which are Audiosnap functions for applying one audio clip's transient pool timing to another audio clip. In the case of applying MIDI timing to an audio clip, once you have the transient markers set up properly, you should be using a simple Copy to get the MIDI events in the clipboard, then right-click the audio clip, and choose Groove Quantize
 
 

You must have a lot of patience to want to get perfectly quantized audio recordings. I gave up on trying that ages ago, and now am just using midi tracks and synths to get everything sounding correct.

Yea I have no clue what you mean by finger style. My only experience with a guitar was a friend trying to teach me how to play twinkle twinkle little star on one ... And I was hopeless and everyone laughed. Like the time I couldn't figure out how to turn a mac on, everyone laughed too.

But when I was like 4 years old I was playing all those kiddie songs effortlessly on the piano, and was playing every scale by ear by age 7. I am piano wizard, I am not guitar or music production wizard :(

My next step to learn is how to create as accurate sounding guitar chords as possible in acoustic strum session. The backing track to my first song is about 80% complete, minus strummy guitar chords as the main melody on it is guitar based with just quiet fluttery piano chords as a background accompaniment, and another one of my ideas needs big overdriven guitar power chords.

And I also want squeaky finger string slide sounds too but have no idea how to make those. But for now I got strum session sounding perfect.

With my piano and addictive keys and other midi instruments, I can mostly play anything by ear, but I'm a slowpoke at getting it right.

Oh I see. No squeaky strings without an actual guitarist then :(