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Introduction

Prism UI

Prism is an audio-to-MIDI analysis plugin designed to extract musical note information from recorded audio. It analyzes pitch, timing, and dynamics to generate MIDI note events that can be edited, exported, used to drive virtual instruments, notation, arrangement, sound design, or further editing within a DAW or external MIDI-compatible application.

Prism is intended for use with solo instrumental recordings and other clearly defined musical sources. It supports both monophonic and polyphonic material and is optimized for accurate detection of note onsets, durations, and velocities.

Three Steps​

There are three basic steps to using Prism.

  1. Add Prism to an audio track
  2. Analyze and convert the audio to midi
  3. Add the midi it generates to a track in your DAW.

The first step depends on if your DAW supports ARA or not.

What Is ARA?​

ARA (Audio Random Access) is a plugin extension that allows compatible plugins to access audio data directly from the DAW without requiring real-time playback to capture the audio so it can be analyzed. Instead of processing audio as it passes through the signal chain, an ARA plugin can analyze entire audio regions immediately. ARA plugins also get direct access to the DAWs tempo map, time-signatures, bars, and more allowing for much tighter integration than traditional plugins.

If Your DAW Supports ARA Plugins​

note

Prism currently supports these DAWs in ARA mode:

ARA support is complicated for both DAW and plugin developers. There is a lot of room for variation and implementation details that make it difficult for a plugin to support, so even if your DAW has support for ARA (and is not one of the above), that does not necessarily mean that Prism will work without issues.

If you are not using one of these DAWs, then you can skip this section.

Add Prism to an Audio Track (ARA-mode)​

Traditionally, you add plugins to an Insert channel of an audio track. However, most DAWs require you to add ARA plugins another way.

tip

We put together the specific details of how supported DAWs require users to insert ARA plugins here

The following video shows how this is done in Cubase. In Cubase, ARA plugins are added using the Extension drop down. Notice that when Prism is loaded, it will immediately begin processing the audio. The audio in this example is 3:40 long and it tasks Prism just a few seconds to convert it to midi.

note

Cubase has nicely integrated Prism into its UI in the place where its built-in audio and midi editors go. Not all DAWs will embed Prism this way, others, will put Prism in a stand-alone window (especially if in non-ARA mode).

Use as a Traditional "Effect" Plugin (Non-ARA Mode)​

For DAWs that do not support ARA, the only big difference is that you must first capture/record the audio into Prism before it can analyze it.

Prism is added to a track just like a normal audio effect plugin. Typically, you will add it as in Insert on the audio track.

Capturing Audio (Non-ARA)​

To get the audio into Prism, the proceess is straight forward:

  1. Position the playhead in the DAW at the start of the audio you want to convert to midi
  2. In Prism, press the Capture Audio button.
  3. In the DAW, press Play
  4. As the DAW plays the audio, Prism will capture it. When the audio that you want to convert to midi has played, stop playback in the DAW
  5. In Prism, click Stop Capture
  6. Prism will immediately convert the captured audio to midi

In the following video, we add Prism as a traditional plugin to an audio track in Ableton. We then capture the audio following the above steps.

Drag Generated Midi into DAW​

At this point, the process is the same irregardless if we are using ARA or as a traditional plugin. You can now edit the notes in Prism and when ready, drag-n-drop the midi data directly into your DAW or save it as a MIDI file.

In the following video we have previously added a virtual Instrument track and drag the midi data into that track.

That's it, converting audio to midi is that simple!​

Next Steps​

  • For details on using Prism's features, see Using Prism
  • For DAW specific details on how to use Prism in ARA mode in your particular DAW, see Using ARA in DAWs