The best audio-to-MIDI plugins allow producers to quickly create usable MIDI files to create new and exciting musical compositions.
It’s a process that many DJs branching out into music production are taking advantage of to speed up their workflow, creating mashups and remixes.
In this guide, we’ve broken down the features and tools these plugins offer, helping you access accurate MIDI files from your vocals and instruments.
The 10 Best Audio To MIDI Plugins For DJs In 2024
Converting audio files to MIDI format is essential for producers who want to manipulate their vocals in their digital audio workstations.
We’ve included dedicated converters for professional DAWs and standalone apps you can use when producing on the move.
Now that you know our criteria, here’s our guide to the best audio to MIDI plugins for DJs in 2024:
10. Waves Ovox
One of the core processes you’ll learn when becoming a DJ producer is how to convert audio files into MIDI format to use in your digital audio workstation.
The powerful plugin Ovox from Waves Studio is a hugely popular MIDI tool for converting audio to MIDI for voices.
While the interface can be a bit daunting for beginners, there are a wealth of impressive conversion options.
This great standalone app can fine-tune the human voice in a wide variety of ways, from vocodes to the synthesizing suite.
It also allows users to work with multiple harmonic layers simultaneously, tracking the input signal and converting it to MIDI.
Ovox features two simultaneous processors when handling audio format to MIDI, and it offers a range of master controls, effects, and modifiers.
Additional tools on this impressive MIDI plugin allow music producers to adjust harmonics based on various waveforms and oscillators.
Waves’ Ovox is the perfect audio-to-MIDI plugin for professional musicians. It allows you to highlight chromatic scales and other factors when note mapping.
9. Jam Origin MIDI Guitar 2
While most music producers use a MIDI keyboard as their primary MIDI controller, some prefer to use their guitars to control their MIDI software.
The Jam Origin MIDI Guitar 2 is a popular resource guitar players are using to achieve this goal and control their virtual instruments.
It’s available as a MIDI plugin for most digital audio workstations and as a standalone application for producers on the move.
Guitar synthesizers have been around since the early 1990s with the advent of the Roland GR-1, but Jam Origin has significantly evolved the technology.
The software delivers instantaneous input from audio files to MIDI, crucial for guitarists playing fast and complex lines.
It’s also capable of inputting tracks to MIDI polyphonically, a game-changer for producers looking for a rapid workflow.
This near-total absence of latency is matched by an intuitive user interface that displays the MIDI track and a range of patches and effects.
The result is an accurate and versatile audio-to-MIDI plugin for professional guitarists who need the right notes in the right place without fail.
8. WIDI Professional
With many of the world’s most famous DJs branching out into music production, it pays to stay on top of the latest software trends reshaping the industry.
The WIDI Professional music transcription system is fast becoming the one-stop solution for creating accurate scores of existing music recordings.
Whether you’re recording your own musical instrument or inputting other music for your MIDI output, this software is recommended by professionals.
In addition to transcribing melody and harmony elements to MIDI files, WIDI Professional is adept at drums, rhythm, and basslines.
Featuring an impressive true tone editor, users can view a visual comparison through the piano roll MIDI editor or view it as a score with Score Viewer.
Additional tools with WIDI Professional allow for manual bar arrangement, as well as full MIDI playback and recording synchronously to audio file formats.
Comprehensive batch conversion tools and high-powered transcription algorithms have helped to make WIDI Professional the go-to tool for professionals dealing with extensive workflows.
7. MiGiC
Another recommended audio-to-MIDI plugin for aspiring DJ producers who play the guitar is MiGiC from Bituosity, which is completely free to use.
This great plugin transforms your guitar into a comprehensive MIDI controller and converts your music into a new MIDI track.
While the program is CPU intensive, it handles latency well, even when playing fast lines, with accurate transcription through the MIDI software.
Provided your playing is accurate, MiGiC will deliver excellent results, particularly when used in conjunction with Apple’s Logic Pro digital audio workstation.
It’s a great tool to have for DJs who like to work with live musical instruments in their sets and create an editable record of the performance.
There are also plenty of synth patches to explore to create different tonal effects and bring additional atmosphere to your productions.
While MiGiC is purely monophonic, this limitation aside, it’s nevertheless a powerful audio-to-MIDI plugin that guitar players can get plenty of use.
6. Imitone Beta
The innovative software audio to MIDI tool Imitone Beta began life as a successful Kickstarter campaign under the development of Evan Balster.
It has since gone on to become one of the most popular tools used to record MIDI from a wide range of instruments.
Both vocalists and instrumentalists can use Imitone Beta to create an accurate MIDI output of their performance to use in their DAW.
The software accurately analyzes your voice and other real-time audio that detects basic pitch to input the right notes into the software.
Featuring a color-coded pitch wheel and MIDI window, it makes viewing and manipulating the notes incredibly intuitive to use.
Additional features of Imitone Beta include a range of expressive performance options to enhance your MIDI track.
This includes a tone stabilizer, pitch glide and bend, and vibrato control for fine-tuning the overall expression of your music.
Imitone Beta works with everything from Logic Pro and Reason to other popular workstations, such as Ableton Live, for all your music production requirements.
5. Ableton’s Audio to MIDI Converter
Many DJ producers have turned to Ableton Live for their production requirements, whether learning how to make mashups or creating original songs.
Ableton Live users can potentially save hundreds of dollars by using the native tools in the software to cover their audio-to-MIDI file conversion needs.
There are several tools inherent in the software designed specifically for this task, such as the convert drums to a new MIDI track feature.
Ableton also features an impressive tool for converting melody to a new MIDI track using various file formats.
The simplicity of Ableton’s tools is key to its popularity, and you don’t have to train the software to quickly create a MIDI output from various sources.
Its algorithm-based tools automatically detect elements such as low-impact sounds from kicks and hissy high-frequency sounds before tabulating the MIDI output.
Throw in the ability to quantize the MIDI output based on your project’s established beats per minute, and it’s a comprehensive tool Ableton Live users can use for free.
4. Vochlea Dubler 2
Vochlea’s range of products reached new heights following the release of Dubler 2, which no longer required their bespoke dynamic microphones.
Capable of being used with any dynamic microphone, the Dubler 2 audio-to-MIDI plugin quickly became the go-to conversion tool for professional producers.
In addition to delivering rapid and accurate MIDi note generation, it is notable for its ability to identify vowel sounds as MIDI CC messages.
This opens up incredible potential for using modulated effects for vocalizations and creating a range of unique and innovative sounds.
It features an impressive pitch wheel and auto key detect function, which ensures your vocals remain in key when transcribed to MIDI output.
Divided into 12 chromatic segments, the pitch wheel can also be set to illuminate whenever a note is hit to help track your vocal range.
With Vocchlea continuing to introduce new and powerful features to Dubler 2, it shows a great deal of promise moving into the future.
3. The Mouth
As the name implies, The Mouth is a MIDI-controlled FX plugin that allows users to create and manipulate impressive vocal tracks in their digital audio workstations.
Anyone with a passing familiarity with DJ sound effects can use The Mouth to bring their vocals into a production suite and apply a broad range of effects.
Sporting an intuitive and self-explanatory workflow, The Mouth allows users to users to convert to MIDI by using the Reaktor FX plugin featured in Ableton Live.
From here, the file is displayed as a waveform, with the option to set MIDI and vocals and choose the output channel.
Simply record the audio file through the program, and the MIDI conversion is automatically completed on the fly.
Featuring an auto-tuning system to help speed up your workflow, it’s arguably the simplest conversion tool on the market.
If you’re new to production and don’t want to get bogged down with overly complicated tools, The Mouth is a great place to start your journey.
2. Dodo MIDI 2
If The Mouth represents one of the best audio-to-MIDI plugins for beginners, Dodo MIDI 2 delivers a broader range of features for experienced producers.
This real-time audio-to-MIDI tool features a modulation threshold for minimum and maximum values, allowing you to create long and evolving notes for your pads.
A perfect tool for ambient musicians, it pairs well with the quick mode selector tool, which is designed for a more melodic approach to compositions.
There’s also an additional module that can be created after the MIDI track, which allows users to modulate the final volume of the track.
This allows for more creative options, such as using vocals to create soundscapes that synths and other instruments can adapt.
You don’t have to use the Dodo MIDI plugin exclusively with vocals since it also supports other audio sources, such as guitar and bass.
Best of all, Dodo MIDI is completely free, delivers impressive results, and is comparable to expensive paid software such as Melodyne.
1. Samplab 2
Samplelab 2 is another outstanding plugin that allows you to convert your audio files to MIDI format and create new and exciting compositions.
Predominantly designed for vocals, Samplelab 2 is packed with impressive features that help you unlock your creative potential.
Able to convert a single channel instantly into MIDI to play through your other synths, it’s incredibly easy to use with minimal production experience.
Users simply drag and drop the file into the program, which then analyzes the content and presents it as a MIDI file for editing.
It’s a good example of just how artificial intelligence in music is shaping the future of DJing and production and creating time-saving fixes for once-laborious tasks.
While some users have reported issues with Samplelab 2 not working with certain samples, this is rare and typically applies to instruments with dense timbres.
Perhaps best of all, the software allows you to edit notes in your samples directly, which is rare in a freemium app of this nature.
With plenty of video guides available to help you master Samplelab 2, it’s a compelling plugin to convert your musical instrument into MIDI for your next project.
Summary
We hope you’ve found this article exploring the best audio-to-MIDI tools for DJs an informative resource to help you become a notable DJ producer.
These great tools can be used to transcribe the vocals and other instruments from your live sets to MIDI for later use in your production capacity.
While some require an outlay to get up and running, for those on a budget, there are free options you can use to familiarize yourself with the process.
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