Jam Origin has MIDI guitar and MIDI bass plugin demos, and they are working on MIDI violin.
 
I have heard that the plugins work well with the audio input from the instrument, without any special hardware, and can trigger a sampler.
http://www.jamorigin.com/products/
 

abacab
Jam Origin has MIDI guitar and MIDI bass plugin demos, and they are working on MIDI violin.
 
I have heard that the plugins work well with the audio input from the instrument, without any special hardware, and can trigger a sampler.
http://www.jamorigin.com/products/

THIS, abacab, THIS is EXACTLY what I meant!!! Wow!! Jam Origin's software seems to be precisely, absolutely exactly what I had envisioned. And here I was thinking I had a novel concept on my hands
I'm gonna put in a few more hours gumming around in the software to get a sense for it's abilities and limitations.

Looking forward to hearing how it all works out for you!  Was thinking about pulling my old Fender P-Bass out, and giving this a spin!

MIDIGuitar/MIDIBass are great. You're gonna love them.
 
Tip: practice to the patch
 
Some info and a great video by Chandler Guitar:
 
https://theproaudiofiles.com/jam-origins-midi-guitar-live-performance/
 
Must read! http://forum.cakewalk.com...g-SOLVED-m3648470.aspx
 

MIDIBass is still included with the purchase of MIDIGuitar. I think their plan is to start selling MIDIBass separately when they add polyphony to it (v2?).
 

Lovely piece of software!
Is it able to run as a VSTi in SONAR? I'm certain its MIDI-out capabilities can be used in tandem with some virtual MIDI ports, I'll try that.
Perhaps it's possible to run, for example, Auto-tune or some scale-correcting MIDI-FX before the signal is sent to the synth? To make it easier to hit pitches and avoid notes that fall outside of a certain scale? Not sure. I've still got to put those few extra hours in to learn the software a bit deeper.
 
I like the tip of practicing to the patch. Some patches work great - glissy synths are awesome. Things like rhodes and keys require a lot more precision and then it's easier to get good results with an instrument like trumpet, for example (which is a LOT of fun - having to play trumpet but "think" like a keyboardist and execute what a keyboardist would play ON trumpet.)
 
I also dig the pitch bend abilities and stuff - THOSE are cool. I't s a load of fun doing silly stuff like playing a bass sample-patch while using an actual physical bass, or doing the same with a brass instrument, for example. For a moment, it FEELS like it's you playing - until you take off the headphones 
 
At $100, software this novel, yet THIS functional and powerful, is fully worth it - definitely going on my list of must-haves, as it fulfils every requirement and even more beyond what I was looking for in something like this!

In Chandlers' video demo, he is using MIDI Guitar as a VST2 plugin in Sonar, then he demonstrates use of the standalone version with Overture connected via LoopMIDI virtual MIDI port.