Anderton
Try using a kazoo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zha-5SgDuto
 

Anderton
Try using a kazoo.

People say this to me after they hear me playing guitar.

jimlauI am physically unable to play an instrument or MIDI keyboard and capture the pitches. I'm just looking for a way to get the monophonic melody into my DAW. I tried forceful, punchy syllables. The timing aspect is pretty good, but the pitches can be way off, sometimes by octaves.

Even the best trained singer's can't reach notes outside their range, sopranos can't sing bass and that's an end to it. So being off by octaves isn't surprising. And the human voice actually isn't that good at sustaining a consistent pitch or producing perfect and consistently clear transients, which can throw audio to MIDI software.

You might find Jam Origin's guitar to MIDI software worth trying. It's intended for guitar (obviously) but can handle any audio source and can cope better than most with things like pitch bends and vibrato. Though shifting pitches around octaves is still likely to be needed. Or switching a synth's oscillators from e.g. 8 foot to 16 or 32 foot which will drop the pitch by one or two octaves.

You might find Sonar's step sequencer or a more advanced MIDI-capable hardware step sequencer useful as a creative tool. They have limitations, but can be a good way to create patterns and lines relatively easily and quickly without requiring the dexterity of a skilled keyboard player.

If you don't mind me asking, is your inability to play an instrument related to disability in any way? If so, it might help the collective mind to come up with useful ideas if we knew in what way.

jimlau
Thanks.

I am physically unable to play an instrument or MIDI keyboard and capture the pitches.

I know you say you are physically unable to use a midi keyboard.
What kind of controller are using for your keyboard for your computer ?
 
Your Controller that you use for your computer that is set up for you can access the onboard keyboard Sonar supply's.
If you need help setting it up / going through the steps let me know.

chuckebaby

jimlau
Thanks.

I am physically unable to play an instrument or MIDI keyboard and capture the pitches.

I know you say you are physically unable to use a midi keyboard.
What kind of controller are using for your keyboard for your computer ?
 
Your Controller that you use for your computer that is set up for you can access the onboard keyboard Sonar supply's.
If you need help setting it up / going through the steps let me know.

Not sure what you mean by what kind of controller I use.  I only use a typical wireless keyboard, but I use the mouse to input notes on the piano roll. I also cut and paste similar sets of notes and chords.
 
I don't have the dexterity and strength to use an instrument or MIDI keyboard to input the notes. So the process is rather tedious and time-consuming. The creative ideas come quickly, but the bulk of the time is clicking in each note.  So, I was hoping to try vocal audio. I can play more with Melodyne and see if I can get a bit more accurate.
 
Thanks.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

The method I described requires neither dexterity or strength, Jimlau. I know you're looking for a magic bullet, but if you can click a mouse you can use a MIDI keyboard even if you don't have one:
 
"Cakewalk Documentation: Virtual Controller Keyboard"
http://www.cakewalk.com/Documentation?product=SONAR&language=3&help=Views.51.html
 
Sooner or later you're going to have to come to terms with MIDI, now's as good a time as any.

Not knowing exactly what kind of difficulties you have using a MIDI-keyboard, but if you have one functioning finger
to tap on a key with required speed/rhythm, I think you should test dhodgsons method. Get a MIDI keyboard of any kind, just a one octave mini-size will do. They're not expensive. And as mentioned above, there are virtual keyboards.
Also, with a MIDI-keyboard you could use step-record, which gives you all the time in the world to find the next key to press.
After you have tapped the "daa-da-daa-da-da" with one single key, it's a breeze to drag those notes to the right pitch with the mouse (compared to inserting notes one by one with mouse). They are already of the

I must have missed dhodgsons previous post because that's exactly what I was referring to.
(The on screen keyboard) If you are using your fingers to type, you can use your fingers to enter the bulk of notes using the on screen keyboard.
 
I have found Melodyne to a lot of things well. Detecting whistles and hums however is not one of its strong points.
It does okay per say. and with the editor version it would probably be even better.
I guess what im saying is don't expect miracles. you would fair much better by learning to tap out some of your ideas as well. 
 
 
 

Thanks for the suggestions. Helpful. Still, looks like I will likely need help converting at least some of the audio to MIDI. What would take someone 15 minutes could take me a week or 2, as my computer time each day is limited and there are other tasks to projects I also need to work on. Getting at least the basic lead melody in would be a big help.  Any suggestions on where to post a request to hire someone to help with this?

Thanks.

dhodgson
It's not as big a pain as you might think. There's more than one way to skin this cat, but a very simple pro tip is to use your keyboard solely for entering the -rhythms- of notes, without worrying about the pitch (which you fix later.)
 
For example:
  While recording to a click, pick a few adjacent white keys - any will do - and tap out the notes' rhythm.
  Then, go back in Piano Roll View and shift-drag the individual notes to their proper pitches (by ear) while retaining their placement in time.
 
You can get very fancy with this, and nobody will know - using three fingers you can pound in triplets, with four you can hammer in sixteenths, etc. As long as you are tapping along to the melody in your head, the note rhythms are taken care of for you and no real piano dexterity is required.
 
-djh
 

Nice