Midi user?

[Kevin]

If you have experience in using midi within a score writing platform or as a standalone then why not share your experience with others here.

[adrianallan]

Before using Sibelius I did all my composing in Notation Composer which is a scoring program with an emphasis on midi. Unlike Sibelius, which changes the midi information on the basis of symbols like crescendo hairpins, you have to map out all the midi yourself. For example there are graphs for loudness and tempo. Individual notes can have their midi information changed. So basically you have more control of the midi commands than in Sibelius, but there's more work involved.

I still often export to Cubase from Sibelius to make use of Cubase's midi editor and plot the velocities for notes. Certain effects like cresecendo can be triggered by using the x-fade patches in East West. You then draw in the expression control as a graph to get the crescendo.

A great midi editor can make a computerised piece of music sound really expressive. It takes a lot of work and know-how and I can't pretend that I'm any more than a low-intermediate student when it comes to midi editing. Those in the "know" say that the degree of editing is far more important than the quality of samples you are working with, and I believe them.

I would also say that it is impossible to get a convincing recording using scoring programs only; you must import into a sequencer and edit your midi there. A score-triggered recording is very crude in comparison.

However, if your recording is only a guide for a performer, and not the end product (as it is for those making production music), then it's less of an issue.

[whataguy]

The majority of my work is in MIDI, and I often write directly into my sequencing program. If I need a score, I'll make a MIDI file of the parts and import them into Finale and tweak them until they make sense enough for a musician to play. I still do some sketch work with score pad and pencil, but writing directly to MIDI on a laptop has made me lazy because I can physically hear everything right away instead of hearing it in my head like "real" musicians do.

There is no doubt that live musicians often sound better. However, ad and video production clients just don't want to pay for musicians and studio time like they used to. Most of the time, they fall in love with a good MIDI mock up and that shoots down your chances of using live musicians.

In commercial music circles here, I'm known for making convincing mock ups rather quickly. I'll un-sync section parts to where you'll hear a very slightly staggered articulation or adjust the drums to where they play just slightly behind or ahead of the beat, tweak the sound quality of the samples, use both solo and section samples to round out a section sound, etc. It takes time to do all of that (and more) and, for the most part, the music still can't stand alone because you can still hear the computer in the music.

Producer David Foster once told a graduating class of Berklee that to produce a tune in the old days, they wrote the music on paper, hired a studio and musicians, and recorded, mixed and mastered in about three to eight hours. Now, with modern technology, to produce a tune might take from three to eight days with most of the time spent to make the MIDI tracks sound like the real musicians they used to use.

Another point of view was expressed by one of the top jazz musicians in Asia, Boy Katindig when he wrote in his liner notes of his 1996 album: "Thank you Roland, eMu, Akai, Sony, and Yamaha. for always showing up on time, not grumbling about pay, not showing up drunk or stoned, and always being ready to play consistently."

Hmmm....

[Kevin]

It sounds mighty technical all this midi stuff! What would you reccomend as a starter programme to get one's head around it?

[adrianallan]

Cubase Studio 5.

Cubase Studio 5 is the scaled down version of the full Cubase 5. Once you use a sequencer too you will start to produce better mock-ups, and there are a few books out there which introduce musicians to midi.

[whataguy]

It depends on what kind of platform you have, I would think. If you're in PC World, then Cubase or Ableton may be better for you. If you're in Mac World, then it's Logic. It also depends on how you sequence. If you step sequence one note at a time, then Logic has a good matrix editor called "Piano Roll" which is said to be extremely easy to use. If you play a controller keyboard straight into the sequencing program, then any of the above are fine and it's a matter of price and availability. All sequencing programs have good and bad points and they all take time to learn to use. It's also a matter of support availability. If people around you, for example, use Cubase, then get Cubase. If they use Ableton, then get Ableton, etc. That way you can help each other if you run into problems. That support can save you a lot of time and anguish.

[steve]

From my very limited experience (with Logic Express) I can say that it is a BIG commitment to truly learn how to use these applications. They can do so much, but the knowledge necessary to extract the magic from them is enormous. Nothing like entering notes and pressing play!

[Kevin]

Jun 16, 2010 14:16:51 GMT adrianallan said:

Cubase Studio 5.

Cubase Studio 5 is the scaled down version of the full Cubase 5. Once you use a sequencer too you will start to produce better mock-ups, and there are a few books out there which introduce musicians to midi.

Right here is a start.(Mum always told me to start at the beginning). I am sure that even these programs are not for early learners so what is the easiest midi/sequencer to begin with? I am talking really easy! ;D Don't forget you guys are experienced and as Steve said it requires a commitment to learn.

[adrianallan]

There is also Cubase Essentials 5 which is much cheaper and you might want to have a go at.

There is the risk that if it's too simple you lose out on features that you might later need. Maybe essentials gives you most of what you need.

www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/product/42043-steinberg-cubase-essential-5.html

It is reviewed here
www.expertreviews.co.uk/software/272698/steinberg-cubase-essential-5



I recommend Cubase as it is very intuitive and very stable and hardly ever crashes. There are lots of sequencers avaliable but I think that they all do a similar job.

I would recommend calling in at your nearest Dawsons as they have good sales advice on electronic music.

But as far as I know Cubase Essentials is as basic as it gets

[Kevin]

Okay, can we go back even further. I mean a really no frills set-up, preferably a free one!!

[adrianallan]

Do you want to use it as a sequencer to better control your sound output from East West instruments ?

[adrianallan]

This new sequencer software has received good reviews and is an alternative to Cubase etc.

You can get a 30 day free trial here, but I don't know how to use it and it's often better to buy a product with a strong user-base (like Cubase)

www.presonus.com/demo-studioone/

[Kevin]

Aug 12, 2010 18:40:55 GMT adrianallan said:

Do you want to use it as a sequencer to better control your sound output from East West instruments ?

Not really. I just feel that it would be good to understand the absolute basics about midi.

[adrianallan]

Then my advice would be export a file as midi in Sibelius, take the plunge and import it into your (potential) sequencer, like Cubase.

Most people learn programs "experientially" to a large extent (who reads the whole manual before having a go at a new piece of software ?)

There a books available like A Beginner's Guide to Midi etc, but nothing can replace hands on experience.

It's not too hard to get started, but you will quickly realise that you can add so much more realism to your VST performances than you would through sibelius alone.

It's all about tweaking every note - shifting a fraction to the left or right (so you emulate playing before or after the beat) for example. The more you tweak, the more you add realism, but you can only do this on Cubase, Logic etc.

I don't want to sound an expert (I'm not), but I just know enough to get by in midi.

[adrianallan]

free trial download of cubase

free-loops.com/cubase-free-download.php

[Kevin]

Right I have downloaded the cubase trial. Mow let lesson 1 begin!! (Come on teach!)

Oops! It would not install(I am using Vista)

[adrianallan]

ok, here is the official link to the trial of Cubase 5

www.steinberg.net/en/products/cubase/cubase5_trialversion.html

[Kevin]

Still no good! I need a usb thingy to open it, oh well.

[Kevin]

I have Cubase SE loaded and have managed to copy a wave file and got it to play but when I do the same with a midi file I cannot get any sound, can anyone help?

[Kevin]

I have just managed to get some sound! Now how do I use Goliath?