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3 Different ways You can use MIDI Drums for songwriting

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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Can MIDI be used for education?

MIDI Education
MIDI Education

As we know MIDI can be used for fun and for composing music, but are there any educational benefits? Not surprisingly the answer is “yes”. MIDI is quickly being recognized as an excellent educational tool too.

There are two reasons why MIDI is a good educational tool. First, because the technology is becoming much more affordable, schools and institutions are able to afford the computers and MIDI instruments. Second, the power and flexibility of MIDI allows instructors and students to try new things easily.

Using MIDI to learn how to play a piece of music or an instrument.

Since each instrument in a MIDI performance is on a separate track from the rest, it is easy to listen to (or print out) just one individual instrument line and study it so that you can replicate and play that same part yourself. Plus if the piece of music is in the wrong key, it’s simple to transpose the part to the desired key and continue playing.

The educational value of isolating single voices in this manner is amazing. Imagine being able to select only the flute playing out of a complicated piece of music. Not only can you listen to that part individually, it’s very easy to print the isolated musical line onto paper in any key you desire. This is a wonderful tool for teachers as well as students.

Experimenting with various instruments.

The feature of being able to mute voices goes even further. Perhaps you are composing a new piece or experimenting with an existing piece but it just doesn’t sound right. With the power of MIDI you have the ability to change the sound of any instrument with ease and replay the piece.

Perhaps you recorded it with a flute but would like to know what an oboe would sound like. Easy. Simply use your MIDI editing software and select the voice that you wish to change. Once selected changing the instrument and save your work. Now when you replay the piece it will have the new instrument added so you can judge the effect.

Play with a band.

After practicing by yourself for a while it is always nice to try your skills playing with other instruments. Perhaps you wish to ensure that you can jam smoothly with others, that your playing of a piece is technically accurate, or just want to hear what the piece will sound like when played with a band.

The solution is easy. Select a MIDI file and mute the voice that you personally intend to play. Then replay the MIDI piece as you normally would – but instead, you play the part that’s missing. If you desire, you may be able to record yourself playing and compare it to the master recording and see how close you came to duplicating the part.

 

Record and edit your performance

A MIDI Sequencer is a great way to evaluate your own progress, or even to study how someone else plays. A person can record their efforts and email to transfer their file to you. Once you have their MIDI file you can play it back to find any problems and advise on how to correct them. This is great for music teachers.

If the piece is to be used as is, you can also edit out any imperfections! If you play a wrong note, you can just change it using your sequencer’s editing tools. And if you find you just can’t play fast enough to keep up with the tempo, you can slow it down for recording and speed it back up for playback.

Collaborative playing.

Like most musicians, you probably have a circle of friends that you used to jam with back in the day. Wouldn’t it be nice to get them all together again for old times sake? This may not be physically possible to do with people moving and such, but MIDI and the Internet provide a perfect solution

Perhaps you, as the lead player for the group, could lay down a single MIDI track. Then you email the piece to one of your friends and have them add their track to the file as they play along with you. Then they pass it along to another friend. Soon all of your friends will have added their parts to the piece and you will have a complete jam session recorded without ever having to travel.

As you have seen, and probably found out from experimenting yourself, MIDI is an excellent tool for both educational purposes and advancement of your talents. The possible uses for MIDI are only limited by your imagination.

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Latency

MIDI Latency
MIDI Latency

One of the common questions we get here at MIDIDrumFiles.com is regarding MIDI latency and how to correct it. This article explores what MIDI latency is, and what you can do about reducing its effects in your musical productions.

But before going into the remedies of the latency problem, let’s talk about what it is. Latency is the lag time between when any MIDI note is initially triggered to the time the sound actually exits the speakers. Latency is caused by the electronic processing needed to construct and send out each sound. There are many factors that contribute to the latency time in any given musical system.

Some of the devices that can affect latency time are: processor speed, RAM, sound cards, MIDI interfaces, USB interfaces, serial port interfaces, software program overhead drain, MIDI effects software, or MIDI player program. Essentially, any processing that needs to be done to the MIDI information before it sends out to the speaker will contribute to latency.

So then, what can you do about it? If you are experiencing MIDI latency problems, there are several steps you can take to combat the problem. The first and cheapest option to try is to examine the software you are using. Many software synths and MIDI sequencers actually have latency setting built into the program. This feature will allow you to set the latency time as low as you can. Setting the latency time too high will cause an annoying delay in the sound output. But too low of a setting and your computer will clip and stutter as the processor and software tries to keep up with the high demand. It’s your job to find that perfect balance for your particular setup.

If latency settings are not available to you however, start looking into upgrading your equipment. Or at least identifying the hardware you have that could be causing the problems. A better MIDI interface and sound card could do wonders. I’ve also read that USB interfaces are far less reliable than some other types of interfaces when it comes to latency. If you would like some more in-depth information on the specs of various equipment, take a look at these two articles by Martin Walker….. “The Truth About Latency”. I found them to be very helpful and informative.

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/Sep02/articles/pcmusician0902.asp

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/Oct02/articles/pcmusician1002.asp 

As these articles point out, most of the time the latency delay time is not nearly as big of a factor in producing MIDI music as is the consistency of that delay. Some hardware and MIDI interfaces perform more consistently than others. And according to experts, this is the bigger issue.

Anytime you are dealing with computer or software generated music you will have to deal with latency. There’s no way to get around that. It is possible however, to bring that latency time down to where you cannot detect it with the human ear. A little investigation work into your individual system’s components will go a long way towards giving you the results you desire.

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MIDI Drums for use on Web sites

MIDI Drums
MIDI Drums

By now you have probably had some fun creating music on your MIDI instruments and editing or recording with or from your PC. MIDI makes the mixing and editing of music very easy, the files are basically universal and do not require much space. These benefits lead us into another possibility for MIDI pieces that you have created, playing them on your web site.

Why MIDI is great for web use.

As mentioned, there are several reasons that MIDI files are very useful for the web. The first reason is its compatibility.

Regular sound files are made by sampling the music being recorded at a very high speed. This means that all the details of the recorded piece are stored within the sound file. The clearer the music the larger the file size is.

In contrast, MIDI files do not store any music. A MIDI file only contains the details for what note should be played how long it should be played and how loud it should be played, as well as a few other note characteristics. This means the MIDI file being played is actually playing sounds that the sound card itself produces. This makes MIDI files much smaller in size.

The other important thing to consider is web page file size. The speed at which a web page is loaded depends upon your connection speed and the size of the web page. The smaller the web page the faster it will load, meaning MIDI is a great choice for embedded music.

How do I use my MIDI file on my web page?

Using your MIDI files on the web takes a little work and a little understanding of HTML programming. I will assume that you have already created both a MIDI file and a web page and wish to bring them together.

First you need to find the page you want to play the MIDI file from and open it for editing ao that you can see the source code. The nice thing about HTML is that it is a high level language meaning that it is very simple and not all that powerful. This also means that it is very easy for anyone to understand it and edit it. If you do not have an HTML editing program you can use Word or Notepad which comes automatically with the Windows OS. You must ensure that you save the file with the same extension it originally had, usually html or htm.

 Now for the programming part. To have your page play a MIDI file you first need to add a MIDI file to the same directory as the page source file. For example, let’s say the MIDI file is named web_music.mid. To use it, you must now add the following command to the code in your page.

<EMBED SRC=”web_music.mid” AUTOSTART=FALSE LOOP=FALSE WIDTH=145 HEIGHT=55 ALIGN=”CENTER”>
</EMBED>

Upload the MIDI file and your edited page to the web and then visit the page location using your web browser. Your web browser will use its default plug-in to play the file and you should hear music right away

Here’s what’s Happening:

  • EMBED tells the browser an embed sound is here — go get the plug-in. Remember, embed commands are associated with plug-ins.
    Note: If no plug-in is available, the browser will do one of three things:

    • 1. Do nothing. This is true of very early level browsers or browsers other than Netscape.
    • 2. Put up a dialogue box asking you how you want to handle the file.
    • 3. Tell you a plug-in is needed and ask you if you’d like to go get it.
  • HEIGHT/WIDTH deals with the plug-ins control panel size on the page.  If you do not want a panel, add the command HIDDEN=”yes” or set the height and width to zero.
  • SRC stands for “source.” It tells the browser where to go to get the audio file.
  • AUTOSTART deals with whether you want the sound to play by itself or by the viewer starting the file after the plug-in box pops up. “True” starts the file straight away; “false” prompts the viewer. Note I used “false” above. “True” would have started the file straightaway upon load.
  • LOOP works the same way. “True” loops the sound so it plays forever. Make the loop “false” if you only want it played once.

Now that you have added the commands and uploaded the page, you’re ready to go. This really makes for a nice personal touch and a great way to show off your musical talents. Have fun.

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How to make a bass line using MIDI drum files

Bass Guitar
Bass Guitar

I received an email recently from Jembailey in the U.K. where he suggests using the following method to create a bass line by using multiple drum files together. This idea is great if you don’t play bass and are stuck for ideas.

—- —- —- —- —- —–

– Bass Lines

“What I do is take two drum beats from the same genre. I use one of the beats for the background drums and the other beat I route through a different midi channel set up with a good sounding bass instrument. The result will obviously be a cacophony. However you can usually pick out an interesting pattern, often it’s from what would have been the kick drum, snare and hi-hats.”

“If you begin to prune the pattern, starting with the events higher up the key edit screen (I use Cubase) you can quite easily find yourself with the beginnings of a serviceable bass line.

“Obviously it’s necessary to lengthen a lot of the events, and often vary the velocity a bit, but once you’ve got eight bars or so you can loop it and then introduce variations. A tom tom roll makes a good descending run, or you can reverse the order of the notes and have it ascend. If you already have other parts written some transposition may be in order, you don’t want everything in the same key that the kick drum is assigned to.

“Rob – Thanks for the files, I’ve got a studio project coming up and will be looking to your MIDI Drum Files for the specific files I need.”

—– —– —— ——

Thanks Jembailey for your excellent suggestions.

If you also have any suggestions that might be helpful for other MIDI file users, please let us know. If it’s helpful, we may use your suggestions in one of our posts.

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FAQ

All of our midi files follow this format:
sect. A – fill 1 – sect. A – fill 2 – sect. B – fill 3 – sect. B – fill 4
Edit and loop to your hearts content !

How do I access these files?

There are two ways.  

 

Play them from your browser

    If you simply click on any of the file names located on our download page your browser will automatically download the file and begin playing the MIDI file.  This action does not save the file to your hard drive.  Most web browsers now days are equipped with a MIDI “plug-in” which recognizes the file(s) as MIDI and automatically begins to play them through your computer’s sound card and speakers. 
    The problem with this is that, in most cases, people have the stock sound card (which sounds horrible) that came with the computer.  So unless you have purchased a great after market sound card for your PC, these files probably sound a little weak.

    There are a couple of ways around this though.  

   ***  One is to get a software based MIDI synth. there are a bunch of them that you can buy, but there are also some really good ones for free. These software synths convert the MIDI data into ‘high quality’ musical sound (unlike most sound cards) and then pushes the music out your sound card. These are a great alternative to buying expensive MIDI equipment.

Here’s a list of some good software MIDI players
       http://aitech.ac.jp/~ckelly/midi/help/midi-players.html

Loopy – Great software!  and it’s FREE.

    Here are some others you might want to try out. (I have little or no experience with these.)     

 

    **** Another way is to buy an external MIDI sound unit. This is the route I go because the units are so much more editable and don’t take up precious computer RAM and CPU speed. Plus you can use them for other things if the need arises. 
    The MIDI data goes to this unit instead of through your sound card. That means you have to hook it up to your computer and have an external speaker source. (minor problems)
    I use a Korg NX5R unit: (click here for more information)

  This unit costs around $400 – $500 and is well worth it. It’s like having a studio Keyboard in a little box. 

    There are many different kinds of these modules that can be used with your computer.  Virtually every major keyboard has a rack mount, and module version that you can buy. 
    You can also use any MIDI compatible keyboard as your sound source. You don’t have to use a “little box”.

Download the files

    The reason I have these MIDI files available to download is not so much so that you can play them from your browser, but rather to download them into your computer for editing. This way you can use them as backing tracks for your songs or piece them together just for fun, or do what ever you want with them.

    You can download the files by clicking the RIGHT mouse button on whichever file you want to download. When you do this, a drop-down menu will appear. Simply select “Save File As….” and tell the computer where, on your hard drive, to save it.  Once it is saved you can import the file into any MIDI editing device or software where you can then use the file(s) however you want to.

    If you don’t have a software MIDI sequencer, here are some I can suggest. (There are MANY others)

    Cakewalk  –  EmagicOpcode

Q: Why do these MIDI files sound so bad?

A: The files don’t sound bad…..  Your sound card does!

And before you say “How Dare They….”, please read why we can say this with certainty. Click here! and read… “Play them from your browser”

 

     If you have other questions about downloading these files please let us know: Contact Us

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Using MIDI files with an external sound source

How to Connect MIDI Devices
Connect MIDI Devices

How to use these kinds of files in your keyboard and/or standalone midi sequencers.

What is a MIDI file?
MIDI is a means of communicating music information among synthesizers, keyboards, computers and other electronic sound equipment through digital messages. Unlike wave files, MIDI files do not contain any sound. Instead they contain commands that tell the receiving unit exactly what note to play, what sound it should be played with, how loud it is, and how long to hold the note on.

What this means is that when you get a MIDI file, you are getting a file that contains what the composer did on his keyboard. The file is fairly small because it contains no actual sounds or voice information. To play back this file you need either a keyboard with both a MIDI interface and a floppy drive or a computer with MIDI capable sound card.

Playing back a MIDI file.
Playing back a MIDI file is fairly simple to do. In most cases it is a matter of putting a disk that contains a MIDI file into the floppy drive of your keyboard, selecting the file to be played and playing it. Since MIDI is such a common standard, it truly is this easy.

Playing MIDI files is extremely simple, but getting the most out of the play back can take a little more work. Consider, for example, playing your MIDI file back on a PC with a standard sound card. You will quickly find that the sounds coming from your computer may be a little flat or lifeless compared when the same piece is played on a keyboard.

The reason for this is found in how sound cards work. Sound cards have a wave table IC that contains the sampled sound of many instruments. Due to the expense and work involved in sampling these sounds few standard sound cards contain sampled sounds that are even close to the quality found in most keyboards or sound modules.

A keyboard has been designed to reproduce high quality sounds. A sound card has been designed to produce sound, not necessarily “high quality”. So what can you do about this? The answer is simple, connect the MIDI output of your sound card, to the MIDI input on your keyboard, and set your computer to play the MIDI file out to the keyboard. Now when you play back the same musical piece, the keyboard will play it with its full sound compliment instead of using your low quality sound card sounds.

Also worth noting… there are available now, high quality sound cards with “synth” engines built into them. These cards are typically much more expensive than your average generic sound card though. Consult your local music store for more information about this.

How do I connect MIDI devices?
Connecting MIDI devices is a fairly simple task. The standard cable for MIDI is a 5-pin cable with a small round connector. This cable carries the digital commands from one unit to another.

To connect the MIDI devices start with the master unit. All MIDI units will have jacks labeled as IN, OUT and most have a THROUGH. Take a suitably sized MIDI cable and go from the OUT of the main unit to the IN on the slave unit. Then take a second MIDI cable and go from the IN of the first unit to the OUT on the slave unit. (Note: the Out from one unit cannot connect to the OUT of the other. This will not work. An OUT must always connect to an IN).

Now that the digital command links have been established you can begin to establish the audio connections. Start with the slave device and run a patch cable from the audio out to the audio input on your mixer or amp.

These simple connections are all that are required. Now you can use the main unit to cause any of the other unit(s) to play music as you see fit. Remember the shorter the cable run the better the signal quality will be. And it is not recommend to run more than 4 or 5 units in a MIDI chain as the signal can become weak and unstable.

Further details.
The exact details for playing back MIDI files on your keyboard, sequencer or drum machine will vary with different models. While the basic steps are usually the same, the best source of instruction is yours owners manual.

If your instrument has a disk drive, normally you would start by saving a MIDI file on a standard DOS formatted disk. After the file is saved, you insert the disk into the floppy drive on your digital instrument. Use the built in floppy drive controls to select the MIDI file on the disk and then select play.

Playing back a MIDI file on your PC may be slightly more complicated but still is very simple. The first step is to ensure that the MIDI drivers for your sound card or MIDI ports are installed and enabled. The information that came with your sound card will tell you how to this properly.

On a PC it is very common to use some sort of music editing software to play back or modify a MIDI file. Follow the manufacturer’s directions to install your music editing software and ensure that it works with your sound card.

Once the software and hardware are ready you can begin having fun. Insert the disk with the MIDI file into your PC’s floppy drive and open the file with your music editing software. The software will allow you to play or change the file as needed.

As you can see, thanks to industry standards, using MIDI files is fairly simple to do. You will be amazed with the possibilities that are opened up once you begin working with MIDI files.