Why MIDI is Better Than Audio Loops

Posted by on November 10, 2010 No comments

Why MIDI is Better Than Audio Loops…

Here are a few good reasons.  And if you see any I’ve missed, let me know in the comments below.

MIDI
AUDIO LOOPS
User Editable
Yes
No
Pitch Transpose
Unlimited
Very Limited Range
Tempo Variation
Unlimited
Very Limited Range
Edit a single note in the pattern
Yes
No
Ability to change instrumentation
Yes
No
File Size
Tiny
Large
Device Compatibility
Wide Range
No
Software Compatibility
Wide Range
Somewhat Limited

To be fair though, there are some advantages to using sound loops though.  The primary benefit is that they are essentially ready ‘out of the box’. If you have software that can accept them, you simply plug them in and away you go. You don’t have to set up a sound source first.

But having said that, I will always love MIDI above all other forms of recording because of its HUGE flexibility.

MIDI ROCKS!

Axis 64 Midi Controller

Posted by on October 1, 2010 No comments

OK, I’m all for innovation and changing the way we do things for the better. So in the spirit of experimentation I thought I would post this cool MIDI controller I found online.

This guy, Peter Davies, redesigned the musical keyboard arranging the keys based on harmonic table.

Take a look. It’s pretty cool looking.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7OeRkXWTtQ

My initial thoughts are… what about velocity sensitivity and after touch. But these are issues that I’m sure could be addressed easily enough.

Let me know what you think of this device.
Do you like it?
Have you used it?
What are the drawbacks or benefits?

MIDI Crossword Puzzle

Posted by on September 23, 2010 2 comments

MIDI Crossword Puzzle

MIDI Crossword Puzzle

Download Here:
(PDF) MIDI Crossword Puzzle Download

Here’s a challenge for all you MIDI fans out there.   Download this crossword puzzle and give it a shot.  If you are able to actually complete it, comment below and let me know that you did it.  I’ll be interested to see if you think it is difficult or easy. Certainly some of the clues are easier than others. But some are pretty hard.

If you guys like it, I’ll try to come up with more fun stuff like this in the future.

I’ll post the answer sheet once I’ve heard from some of you about it. Perhaps in a week or so. Or maybe sooner if there’s a demand for it.

So don’t wait! Comment below once you’ve tried it.

Happy Crosswording!

P.S. Go ahead and post this to your Facebook or Twitter.  Or email it to friends who might be interested.  Test their knowledge and see if they can finish it without your help.

Two Keyboards is like Four Keyboards

Posted by on September 13, 2010 No comments
peavey dpm3

peavey dpm3

I remember in college when I bought my first two-tier keyboard stand. It was great. I was so excited. Now all I needed was the second keyboard. Of course being a penniless, starving student didn’t allow for the extravagance of purchasing excess gear. So I went for what seemed like a really long time with just one keyboard.

At the time I had a Peavey DPM3, which was actually way more keyboard than I knew what to do with. I was completely overwhelmed by the thought of oscillators and envelopes and filters and modulators. But one thing I did know was that I had 16 MIDI channels to work with and only one set of keys. And this was a limitation that I was determined to overcome.

Although I only owned one keyboard, I knew that if I could get my hands on another one I could “MIDI them together” to access way more sounds (using different MIDI channels) than I could play with just the one keyboard. For example, in performance mode I could layer 5 sounds using MIDI Channels 1-5 and play those all with the main keyboard. Then using a second keyboard as a controller I could access another bank of 5 sounds on channels 6-10 without ever needing to change patches. So even though I was playing the two sets of keys, I would only trigger the sounds from the main keyboard.

It gets better. Using this logic, I determined that I could also do the same for the second keyboard, and at the same time. I could make my ‘main’ keyboard access the ‘secondary’ keyboard’s sounds as well.

Kawai k1

Kawai k1

So, with much begging, threatening, and bribing, I convinced my brother to loan me his Kawai K1 for the weekend and I tried it.

Not only did my experiment work…. I looked SO COOL doing it! In fact, I think my wife married me because of this. (Ahhh… But that’s a story for another day)

By hooking the two keyboards together with MIDI, I was essentially using two sets of sounds from one and two sets of sounds from the other, at the same time. That’s why having two keyboards is actually like four keyboards.

SIDE NOTE: Using this logic… Three keyboards would be like having nine. I have yet to try that one.

What do you think? Do you have any interesting ‘MIDI Chaining” stories to tell?

3 Different ways You can use MIDI Drums for songwriting

Posted by on July 20, 2010 No comments
MIDI Songwriting

MIDI Songwriting

Here are three quick ways.
1. In the beginning – It can start out as simple as just looping one of the drum tracks and singing a couple of lines of your newest song over and over again. The drums give you a great sense of rhythm and if you use your imagination, you can actually hear other musical parts being played along with you.

I use this technique a-lot in my songwriting. I am able to come up with a more ‘pure’ melody that way. Playing the piano while I sing is great, but it limits where I can go melodically especially during the ‘birth’ of a song. Also, later on when I’m stuck on a song and can’t seem to come up with any interesting background parts, I’ll strip it back down to just the drum track and melody line. For some reason, this really helps in creating interesting features to the music, like horn hits, or harmonic runs, or creative musical breaks. I would suggest that every songwriter try this. It’s so easy, and it will give you a new perspective on your music.

2. The middle – When I have a song that is basically done musically, I like to go in and replace the drum track with a different rhythm style. In fact I often try the song with 10 or 15 different alternate beats. This is a great practice…. but one that can’t easily be done if you used a live drummer for your recordings (unless they’re good with a metronome). When you do this, the songs take on a whole different feel. After listening to several rhythm tracks, I’ll choose the one that I think is the best and the song now has a new groove.

3. The end – I have several songs that are headed for the recording studio shortly. When I go in to record the songs, my piano tracks are already finished. I record them via MIDI on my home computer while playing to one of these looped drum tracks. The drums keep me exactly on tempo and give me a great sense of rhythm to play off of. So when I go into the studio, I hand the engineer my floppy disk (That’s right ‘floppy’ – why waste a whole CD on files that are so small?) and he pulls them up on his system. He’s got a ton of sampled grand pianos that he can route my MIDI tracks through. So now instead of paying him $130.00US for 2 hours of recording time, I have a prefect piano track that took about 3 minutes of studio time. And the tracks are in perfect time sync. because I played them to a looped midi drum track that is rhythmically perfect

I hope you will try some of these techniques on your own. And let me know if you have success with them. Also, any other suggestions that you might have, please send them to me.

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