I am hoping to find an accurate audio to MIDI conversion plugin for drums. I use Ableton Live and Windows PC. I write all my main (House music) drums with hardware, so I like to have MIDI files, which take me several hours each time to manually punch in using the piano roll. Can you recommend something that works well for you?

 

DamRsn - NeuralNote
https://github.com/DamRsn/NeuralNote
https://www.kvraudio.com/product/neuralnote-by-dr-audio

 

There are so many ways to do drums, and none of them should take anything close to an hour. There are so many midi packs out there, but there are tons of them in sample packs also. Making stuff without a piano roll and pencil tool has never been so easy as it is these days.

I thought Ableton has a wav->midi utility for it like this as stock. You could also use Melodyne, or Samplab, and so on. The first thing I would grab is Acon Digital Remix Drums plugin. It basically stem separates audio files in realtime. It's not the highest quality stem separation you can find; but because you are just aiming for midi to extract, it doesn't even matter what the channels sound like. Stack up as many channels of audio with the same loop and the plugin. Taking the hits from the loop are as simple as hitting solo on each individual plugin instance's mixer channel. You do not even have to wait around for a program to stem separate it. You make one channel of the loop, duplicate the channel and the audio and off you go.

But I would recommend getting a good pattern sequencer MidiFX plugin. Also, you can use a drum machine plugin as your pattern sequencer because most of them allow you to drag out a midi copy of anything you make in them. Just match up which piano roll key translates to the machine you are working with or you will have to match them after the fact in piano roll, which is still easy.

Using full drum kit midi files isn't even important, because you are still going to record each drum back into your DAW to mix the track. that way you can put effects on each channel, then setup a nice subgroup with its' own drum bus where you can add more effects and compression to glue it together.

 

Thanks for the ideas guys. Using a very basic 120bpm 4x4 kick, snare, hat, clap fill, I tried Neuralnote several times with different settings and Abletons latest audio to midi and both completely failed. Not even close. Very disappointing results I must say.

Any other plugins to try? I saw Slate has one, but that is ilok so i wont be trying that one.

I wasn't looking for sample pack midi because I am making my own drum patterns on hardware, albeit nothing groundbreaking, I don't know of any midi packs that cater specifically to classic House music?

 

My advice goes in a different direction, and it might be a hassle, but it’s totally worth the effort. I’d say download the free version of Pro Tools and get Drum Replacer from Massey https://www.masseyplugins.com/plugin/drt.
This plugin is extremely accurate, both in timing and dynamics from recorded drums. You’d need to manually learn the process, but it isn’t so hard and the payoff is really good.

Edit: This works with separate drums, so if the drums are mixed in, you’d first need to separate them with MVSEP or Acon Remix Drums.

 

reverb removing plugins do help accuracy

 

Superior Drummer 3 ---> www.toontrack.com/product/superior-drummer-3

Superior Drummer 3: How to convert audio to MIDI with Tracker

 

I too was going to suggest Superior Drummer. It is as easy as uploading the audio file inside Superior D. then 1 click and it maked the MIDI file out of it. Depending on the number of items in the audio drum track (could be an audio stereo file of a whole drum kit) the resulting MIDI file might or might not need some tweaking.

 

I think searching with the term "drum replacer" will present more focused results.
And here is a good selection from a thread not that long ago in Gearslut.
https://gearspace.com/board/music-computers/1400480-drum-replacer-trigger-plugin.html

Gearspace. I meant to say Gearspace.
But I said Gearslut.
I didn't mean to say Gearslut.
But I said Gearslut.
I often think "Gearslut", because Gearslut is how i remember it.
I didn't used to think of Gearslut very often, but since they changed the name I think of Gearslut a lot.
Gearslut Gearslut Gearslut Gearslut Gearslut Gearslut Gearslut Gearslut Gearslut Gearslut Gearslut Gearslut Gearslut Gearslut Gearslut Gearslut Gearslut Gearslut Gearslut Gearslut Gearslut Gearslut Gearslut Gearslut Gearslut Gearslut Gearslut Gearslut Gearslut Gearslut

There. I said it.

 

UVI Drum Replacer is good but you may consider it a little bit heavy cpu wise if you are going to run multiple instances of it. SPL make a good one too, called Drum Xchanger. I know more people who dislike XLN Additive Trigger than those who do. It's way easier to just separate any loop to get the midi hits.

Serato Sample 2 will also do pseudo-separation, but it's not all that great for drum loops. Better for groups. Fuse Audio Labs DrumsSSX is another that works in realtime with a mixer you can plugins to; but it is not AI based, it is more derived from frequency based separation. But it again will strip loops nicely enough to convert them to Midi.

In Logic, going from audio stem to Midi notes is about 5 mouse clicks. Ableton should have a similar feature:

4/4 is 4/4. You are the caterer. All you need to get started are some simple ingredients, and there are tons of them. You can transform any Midi data with a rhythm.

Every drum machine have patterns, both software and hardware. With hardware drum machines that have midi in/out or usb, I like to start with any pattern in the machine, and then record it into the DAW as midi data. Label each key in the piano roll for that drum machine and save it as a little template project. That way every row of the grid in the piano roll always triggers the same drum. They are not all standardized, it was hard enough for the manufacturers to all agree to using channel 10 for Midi and then General Midi mapping. That makes a transposer plugin very convenient for drums.

 

I just downloaded and installed Superior Drummer (latest VR "update"), but upon launch says it needs a sound library to run. I need to install 32 GB of sounds I wont be using, just to use the audio to MIDI function? Or is the 2.15 GB / 2.47 GB "core library update" sufficient enough for this purpose? Confused

edit: "core library update" error says it wont install without a previous library already installed to "update" over, so I guess it requires the 32 GB library

 

Last edited: Sep 16, 2025 at 11:47 AM

No, it does not need the big 32 GB factory library to run. But it needs at least ONE complete toontrack library installed to run (any smaller ezx ezdrummer library will do. Just pick one you find could be useful for your needs. Some are less than 1/2 GB).

PS: just don't remember if the latest vr update is just an update that you need a previous more complete release, or if you can use it without any previous install.

 

Last edited: Sep 16, 2025 at 12:33 PM

Quick question, I downloaded the 32 GB library, but then saw your message and downloaded the 2 EXZ "Electronic" libraries I could find which are very small in comparison. I also have the Core Library Update v1.3.0. All ready, but I am wondering what order to install all of this to avoid running into errors?

1. ToonTrack.Superior.Drummer.v3.4.1 update
2. MIDI packs bundle (Included in the v3.4.1 update archive)
3. Electronic Edge EZX
4. Electronic EZX 1.5.2
*5. SDX Core Basic Sound Library - install only if all else fails)
*6. Core Library Update v1.3.0 - install only if install full core library)

Is this right?

BTW I put all of the libraries into one folder on a separate drive from my main C/drive, where I keep large libraries, Kontakt and such. Just want to be sure it will find those ok.

This is a f**kload of GB's to be throwing around just to test 1 feature audio to MIDI hope it actually works!?

I'm impatient so went ahead with it. Working with only the 2 EZX libraries installed.

Now to watch the video and FINALLY test the audio to MIDI feature

 

Last edited: Sep 16, 2025 at 2:36 PM

I had an hd failure last month and had to install everything from start. This is what I had:

1. Superior 3.1.4 CE (the complete software with no library)
2. Superior 3.4.1 update (vr update for the software, no library)
3. Midi packs bundle (bundled in the 3.4.1 update)
4. Any ezdrummer library you need (as I said, just one will do, even the smallest one)

Everything working here. No superior libraries installed. Just some ezx.

Hope that helps.

 

Ok I am back. What a miserable fail. On individual drum parts, yes, it works ok after fiddling around a bit, but not using a full kit audio file. Even just my basic test kick snare hat clap fill, no matter what settings I tried, and yes I watched that video 3 times, the midi was always either missing or picking up other drums, like even trying to get just the 4x4 kick from the audio it wouldn't do it correctly. So that was a fail. And to be honest, the EDX libraries sounded horrible. Maybe good for doing some support or effects roles, but thats it for me. Deleted everything. It was worth a try I guess. Now I know.

 

@Bob??, I saw your comment, but its gone now. Anyway i will try that next

 

Drumagog works well for individual drum parts, but with my test loop it picked up and replaced all of the drum hits with whatever sample I selected ie kick, so its like 16th notes of kicks, replacing hat snare and clap with kicks in the result, instead of only the 4x4 kick that is in the original test audio. For individual parts, I could see this being very useful, in fact better than superior drummer im my opinion, but unless I am doing it wrong, it doesn't work at all for a mix down drumkits audio to MIDI.

Now what?

 

Set up three tracks, route your drum loop into those, use very steep (96db) and/or very resonant bandpasses to isolate kick (~60-80hz), snare (~130-190hz, also try overtones) and hats respectively (depends on sample).

Put a gate plugin that can emit MIDI-on-gate-open after, adjust threshold and note to emit, route MIDI back into your drum plugin of choice.