MIDI - The complete lowdown?
groucho:
Okay, I'm finally getting curious about MIDI and virtual instruments after playing around with the Native Instruments B-4 at friend's house.
So, to all you guys using MIDI: I know CEP doesn't record it, so I have an old copy of Cakewalk 9. Do I absolutely need to have a MIDI-in slot on my sound card in order to use these virtual instruments? I don't generally record into the computer, so my sound card is just a crappy little Avance card that came with the computer. It doesn't appear to have any MIDI in.
Is there anything else I need in order to connect a keyboard to the computer and control virtual instruments? Is there a decent "MIDI for dummies" tutorial anywhere? I've looked all over the net and even the basic MIDI primers assume a level of knowledge I appear not to have.
I mean, I've been devouring info about audio the last few years, but till now I've never had the slightest interest in MIDI so I know, like, absolutely nothing about it. I barely even know what it is.:)
Any assistance from some of you MIDI gurus?
thanks,
Chris
bonnder:
Chris - I have a good bit of external MIDI hardware that I am pretty proficient with (hardware sequencer, sound modules, keyboards, reverb, etc). It's good-quality stuff, so I have not ever bothered with PC-based MIDI stuff. At least until Ozpeter started talking recently about SynthEdit and soundfonts and piqued my curiousity. So I also recently have embarked on a crash course in learning PC-based MIDI. I have a few questions of my own that I need answered, and have been toying with the idea of starting a thread similar to the one you have just started. So let's try to get you up to speed, get my questions answered as well, and construct a mini-tutorial on PC-based MIDI that will be helpful to those interested in softsynths and soundfonts. This subject is pretty solidly tied to CEP / Audition in that you can play a multi-track MIDI file and record the sound output (not MIDI code output) with CEP / Audition, and then further manipulate the sound. Then burn it to CD, or make MP3 files, etc.
So, to start - a few questions:
1. What operating system do you use? Important, because Windows includes a MIDI soundset licensed from Roland that is a simple version of their Sound Canvas and it is really quite nice (compared to PC-based soundsets, not external hardware soundmodules). It is called "GM.DLS". In Win98 it is at Windows>System 32>Drivers. In my version of WinXP it is just in Windows. Don't know about Win2K, etc. You can use a program such as Awave Studio to extract the individual sounds from GM.DLS and turn them into *.SF2 soundfont files.
2. Do you have Winamp installed on your computer? On Win98, I am discovering that this is the only player that can access the GM.DLS soundset. I can't get to it with Windows Media Player up to 7.1, Calkwalk Pro 9 or through "Control Panel > Multimedia > MIDI tab. But with my version of WinXP, the GM.DLS is the default soundset used by WinXP. I haven't installed Cakewalk on the WinXP machine yet. But since it seems to default to the Windows default, I'm assuming that Cakewalk will also use the GM.DLS soundset.
3. You do not need a MIDI port on your sound card to be able to manipulate MIDI files with MIDI software or play them through Winamp, Windows Media Player, softsynths, etc. But you would need to copy MIDI files to your hard drive before you could do this. There is even software that will turn your computer keyboard into a music keyboard - with the ability to play chords and all. So you could technically "play" a song and record it with MIDI recording software, and thus create your own MIDI files. Or use Step Entry. But either of these approaches will be painfully slow compared to what you could do if you had an external music keyboard connected to your computer. But for that connection, your audio card would need to have a MIDI In Port. If you have a slot available on your MOBO (motherboard?), get a cheap Soundblaster.
4. There are loads of MIDI files available on the Internet. Later on in the thread, after I have had time to pull together a few good links, I will post them here. You can use these if you don't have the ability to create your own.
5. When training people in computer-related functions, I have had best results by outlining a project I want them to complete. That gives them a focus for their learning efforts that helps avoid the "where do I start in order to learn this stuff" syndrome. I will suggest that approach for you. What would you like to do? Think of something rather straighforward and reasonably simple. Tell us here, and we will tell you the MIDI information you need to know in order to make it happen. When you have successfully completed that project, tell us another one. We can then repeat the process. As you learn things about MIDI, your projects can get correspondingly more complex. And we will have constructed a tutorial in the process.
groucho:
thanks for the reply, bonnder:
Basically, I'm just interested in being able to connect my keyboard to the computer and control vst instruments like the Native Instruments stuff - and record it, obviously.
I don't have much interest in playing with other people's midi files, although I will of course want to be able to edit my own. I'm assuming there's some way to render MIDI files to wav files?
I had assumed this was something that would require software other than CEP/Audition. Geez, I'm such a beginner on this stuff. It's kind of intimidating. I'm still not quite clear on the difference between VST instruments, MIDI, soundfonts, etc. This is all just totally brand-new to me.
I don't necessarily expect anyone to give a whole MIDI primer in a couple of posts - I was just hoping for a nudge in the right direction.:) And from what you're saying, it looks like I'm going to have to get me a soundcard with a MIDI in.
So, if I have such a soundcard, plus a keyboard with MIDI out, plus a multitrack program like Cakewalk or Samplitude (both of which I have access to) that accepts VSTi, is there anything standing in the way of me turning my keyboard into a Hammond, via the Native Instruments B4 software? I'll then of course move the recorded files back to CEP - dang that Cakewalk interface is UUUUGLY! Samplitude's a little better, but fooling with these other programs has really reminded me how incredibly intuative-feeling (and *looking*) CEP/Audition is.
Oh, I've got Windows XP Pro.
thanks,
Chris
SteveG:
Quote from: Groucho
And from what you're saying, it looks like I'm going to have to get me a soundcard with a MIDI in.
Not necessarily... do you have a game port of any description on your PC? For most 'normal' soundcards, it's the gameport that gets repurposed as a MIDI port - all you need is the converter lead, and they don't cost much.
VoodooRadio:
Go to Guitar Center and ask for a.. Game Port to Midi Converter cable. They'll have them for about 20 bucks and your set.
:wink:
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