To Midi or Not To Midi

[Aviey6aol.com]

I read the January issuse of Keyboard and a certin artist says he doesn't use midi because of its timing problems. I have had a problem using midi and it does suck and why do we still use this technology from th 80's? Are there any other ways of using a seqeuncer to record without using midi? The Chemical Brothers don't use midi and Prodigy doesn't use it. What can I do??

[teemudeepone.org]

Hmm, the Chems use an MPC which is a midi sequencer and Liam Howlett uses Cubase and his W30's.

 

There is no alternative yet, unless you count in using old analogue sequencers or playing everything by hand one channel at a time, recording it as audio, not midi. Kinda like real musicians do it. http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/wink.gif

 

Maybe the Firewire technology will replace midi, only time will tell.

[dansouth]

This issues invites polarized responses. Lots of people complain that MIDI timing is intolerable, yet MIDI is used to make music every day, live and in the studio. The article in question dealt with doing techno music live. Maybe your projects won't require the same MIDI bandwidth as this artist's show does. We all desire the next bigger, faster technology, but the bottom line is that MIDI is still quite useful.

 

You can optimize the MIDI stream by filtering out unneeded controller data, like aftertouch. If your setup alows, you can use the sequencer in your synth workstation and/or drum machine to control internal sound sources and use MIDI cables for sync only. Sometimes the delay is in the sound module, not MIDI itself. Use modules that respond quickly, or at least those that work together well.

 

Structure your arrangements as optimally as possible. Use one unit for drums, and another for percussion to balance the load and avoid sending too much data to a single CPU. Record tracks one at a time to tape or a hard disk recorder.

 

And, finally, make sure that your playing isn't the culprit. Analyze the timing of the parts. Create groove by editing the start times of notes as well at their relative amplitudes. Get the most out of the old technology, and you'll be ready to get the most out of the new technology once it arrives.

[marino]

I think there is little chance to avoid MIDI at some stage or another of any music production, unless you're doing an all-acoustic project. But I know quite a few people, including me, who like to record just a few MIDI tracks at a time to tape/hard disk, while all the remaining tracks are muted. This is especially important for drums/percussion tracks, and for parts that have a lot of controller data.

 

marino

[Jim Aikin]

If you're having problems with MIDI timing, there can be several sources. The commonest may be synths that simply can't respond quickly enough, especially in dense passages. Soloing a MIDI track and recording the output of the synth as audio will almost always solve this problem, assuming you've got plenty of audio tracks.

 

MIDI is also slow when you're trying to play a software synth from a keyboard. There are no easy solutions, but buying a faster computer will probably help.

 

Yamaha's new MLAN protocol, which is going to send MIDI data down a much faster cable, will probably help in certain situations, but won't become widely available for a few years yet.

 

Faster versions of MIDI have been proposed over the years (anybody remember Lone Wolf?). The problem they all face is that MIDI has a huge installed base, and is perceived as "good enough" for most purposes, especially when market forces conspire to keep the price of new synths low.

 

Ya know what I'd like to see? A 21st Century MIDI Spec with a (fast) sys-ex-like packet attached to each note-on, allowing the user to specify any number of note parameters with arbitrary precision. Ya know why? Because Csound supports long lists of note parameters, which can be used for amazing expressive purposes -- but you can't sequence Csound scores in a MIDI sequencer, which means you have to use much slower, more cumbersome methods of note entry. Dang.

 

--Jim Aikin