Who knows Midi??

[Bonafide]

Ok, I have come out the dark ages a little here. I notice that a huge number of users on this board are computer based DAW user's. I use 24 bit digital and have a bunch of great modern gear, but I have been recording very successfully in the track-by-track method for so long that it is what I am comfortable with. I bought my first Sequencer yesterday. WOO HOO!!, of course I don't know shit about Sequencers but I went with my research. I bought a Yamaha RMX1, which is a dance type of 'beat box'sequencer though I already have my drum/synth sounds covered elswhere.

 

Here is my big question. Where do I start? I mean I already spent 5-6 hours diggin' in to it last night and I can get some things happening but I really don't know anything about Midi. Craig's book 'Home Recording for Musicians'Got pulled out last night (Funny how his books pop up all over this place) and gave me a solid start.

 

I am a competent musician and engineer, so I have a very solid background and understand exactly what midi is, why it was created and what can be done with it. But, I simply have never used it.In the 80's I left it up to the 'tech geek' in the band and now I am the 'tech geek'. Almost every piece of gear in my studio has midi capabilities of some sort and I fear I am not getting near out of it what I can.

 

Any help would very very appreciated. Basically, what should I attempt to do first? Any good reference books? web reading?

 

Thank you,

 

Cheers.

[-]

My advice would be to simply treat the sequencer like you treat your DAW: as a multitrack recorder. The big difference, of course, is the ability to manipulate your performance to a greater degree than what you can do with a DAW.

 

If you're into doing a techno kind of thing, you can always try programming your performance from scratch. However, if you can play keyboards, it's a lot quicker IMO to just play the part in in and fix it up later if necessary.

 

Try laying down track after track like you would with a DAW, and then try learning the sequencer's functions from there, like quantizing and looping. You'll probably discover what features you need to learn when you find a need for them. ("I played that part a little too softly on the keyboard... I wonder how I can do a 'Change Velocity'...?")

 

 

This message has been edited by popmusic on 07-16-2001 at 12:35 PM

[DC]

You mentioned that most every piece of gear in your studio has midi. One thing you can do is use the sequencer to call up patches on all of your midi outboard for each given song. I used to do a live show where the sequencer (in my case, computer) played keyboard bits, operated the light show and called up the proper effects patches for vocals, guitar and snare drum. It let me wear a bunch of producer hats while I was busy singing and playing guitar.

[Curve Dominant]

Bonafide,

 

Learning MIDI is like learning to ride a bike. You can read about it, sure, but at a certain point you gotta get on that thing and just ride it. It all makes sense after that.

 

I started my foray into the world of MIDI by simply connecting a serial cable from a drum machine into a keyboard. Hit the drum pads, and the keyboard plays! Cool! By going into the "midi setup" page of the drum machine...Oh! That's why that pad triggers that key note, and if I change the note designation for that pad...and the lightbulb goes on over your head. MIDI is that simple - it's just matching numbers over channels. All of those formidable MIDI Implementation charts are just references, like maps if you get lost.

 

DAW software sequencers are simply sophisticated versions of beatbox sequencers. You match the MIDI channel of the part you want to play on the computer to the MIDI channel of the sound patch on your keyboard that you want to play that part. If your keyboard has 16 "parts," you can send 16 different melodies or beats or chord changes to the 16 different MIDI channels on the keyboard, assign the proper sound patch to each one of those channels, and you have an ensemble. It does get more complicated than that, but that's where it starts, and once you get started with MIDI the rest is easy.

 

I hope this helps (I hope it makes sense!), and don't hesitate to ask for further clarification.

 

E

[Dylan]

Most MIDI books are great for reference and for when you want to dig deep however, they are generally not good starting points for learning a sequencer. One thing you might try is downloading some MIDI files from the net and playing with them. Experiment changing keys, duration, etc and also look as controller data as well to see how all of this comes together. The book "MIDI for the Professional" is a great reference guide.

 

-Dylan

[Anderton]

Thanks for presenting the opportunity to plug my book "MIDI For Musicians," which is designed for those at ground zero in the MIDI world. It, as well as "MIDI for the Professional," are published by AMSCO, a division of Music Sales.

[Bonafide]

Originally posted by Anderton:

Thanks for presenting the opportunity to plug my book "MIDI For Musicians," which is designed for those at ground zero in the MIDI world. It, as well as "MIDI for the Professional," are published by AMSCO, a division of Music Sales.

 

Hey Craig.. Forum Discount? http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/tongue.gif just kidding, I absolutley love your stuff. I finished my own first 250 tech manual this year for a major guitar electronics company. Very interesting and opened some doors, allowed me to work at home for the past year. http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/smile.gif

 

Cheers.

[Senator]

Check out the Sound On Sound book:

 

MIDI for the Technophobe by Paul White.

 

Gives you all the geek you need while being musician friendly. http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/cool.gif

 

------------------

Ed

[Pete Caigan]

Great link- tons of helpful info;

 

http://www.speakeasy.org/~ars/midi.html

 

-Pete

[Curve Dominant]

PeteCaigan - thanks for that link, I just added it to my "favorites" menu.

 

"MIDI is my mistress, and she plays second-fiddle to nobody." - Duke Swellington

 

Eric Vincent

Curve Dominant Sound&Vision

[Anderton]

<

MIDI for the Technophobe by Paul White.>>

 

...and this gives me a good opportunity to plug anything by Paul White. He's the editor for Sound on Sound magazine over in the UK, but he also writes a lot and I think his work is first-rate.