Tag: MIDI

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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.

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MIDI Drum Map

General Midi
Drum Map

Keyboard NoteMidi NoteInstrument
B235Acoustic Bass Drum
C336Bass Drum
C#337Side Stick
D338Acoustic Snare
D#339Hand Clap
E340Electric Snare
F341Low Floor Tom
F#342Closed Hi Hat
G343High Floor Tom
G#344Pedal Hi Hat
A345Low Tom
A#346Open hi Hat
B347Low Mid Tom
C448Hi Mid Tom
C#449Crash Cymbal 1
D450High Tom
D#451Ride Cymbal 1
E452Chinese Cymbal
F453Ride Bell
F#454Tambourine
G455Splash Cymbal
G#456Cowbell
A457Crash Cymbal 2
A#458Vibra slap
B459Ride Cymbal 2
C560Hi Bongo
C#561Low Bongo
D562Mute Hi Conga
D#563Open Hi Conga
E564Low Conga
F565High Timbale
F#566Low Timbale
G567High Agogo
G#568Low Agogo
A569Cabasa
A#570Maracas
B571Short Whistle
C672Long Whistle
C#673Short Guiro
D674Long Guiro
D#675Claves
E676Hi Wood Block
F677Low Wood Block
F#678Mute Cuica
G679Open Cuica
G#680Mute Triangle
A681Open Triangle

 

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Converting MIDI files into Wav. Files (or .mp3, etc.)

MIDI Cables
MIDI Cables

Converting MIDI into any other audio format is not a “one click and you’re done” type of procedure. We discussed in the last email installment that MIDI is not audio data, it’s a language that allows musical instruments to talk with each other. That being the case, in order to get MIDI onto an audio CD or .MP3, you will need to record the midi data in ‘real time’. This can be done in a couple of different ways.

  • Get a MIDI to .wav converter program. One I would suggest to you is made by “MIDI converter”. This program works with many file types including .wav and .mp3 files. Click Here to download this great program: http://www.widisoft.com/
  • Assuming you want some control of how the end product sounds… you can record it manually. You will need to record the sounds you hear (created by the midi files) onto a recording device (probably your computer). These are the steps you will need to take to do that.
    • Once you select the midi file(s) you are wanting to record, select the sound source (This is what actually plays the MIDI file). In most cases this will be your computers sound card, however often a musician will want to use the sounds from a higher quality source, like a keyboard, drum machine, or external keyboard sound module. In the latter case, you will need to attach the external sound source to the computer via a MIDI connection. (depending on the model, you may be able to play the MIDI files from a floppy disk inserted directly into the unit, bypassing the need for a MIDI connection.)
    • Make sure that the midi file actually plays when you hit the play button.
    • Set up the sound source so that the music can be recorded as an audio signal.
      • In the case of an external sound source, simply connect the audio outputs to the “line in” of your computer.
      • If you are using a computer sound card, you will need to connect a short cable from the sound card’s “speaker output” to the sound card’s “line in” input. (Warning: if you don’t turn off the “line-in monitoring” in your sound card’s software settings, you will get massive feedback, so do that first.)

        There are some differences between “Line” and “Mic” inputs that you should keep in mind. The line level input functions in stereo whereas the mic input is usually only mono. The line input requires a louder, slightly ‘amplified’ signal (known as “pre-amp”). Weaker signals have trouble being picked up by a line input. The mic input however, is set to automatically amplify the incoming signal and therefore requires a weaker input signal that comes from a microphone. So don’t plug any line level signals into the mic input of your computer. In most cases, the audio signal coming from a ‘pre-amp’ sound source is too loud for the mic input to handle and you will get distortion (or worse… damage can be done). So be sure you hook it up right.

  • Press record on your computer’s software and then play the MIDI file.
  • Save the audio recording in whatever file format you want. You’re done.

As far as converting .Wav or .MP3 files into MIDI, there are solutions for this as well. You will need a “pitch analyzer”. There are many of these converter programs on the market. One I would suggest is the intelliscore converter program. That can be found here: http://www.intelliscore.net/

Some of these converter programs boast even being able to notate multiple pitches at the same time. For example, strumming a guitar and have the software recognize all six of the notes being played, or notating all the notes played on the radio. In the early days of Wav to MIDI detection this was nearly impossible and even getting one line to notate correctly was difficult. But with the advancement of technology comes better programming. Give it a shot and see for yourself.

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What is MIDI?

MIDI Connections Chart
MIDI In/Out through a sound card or direct via USB connection

M.I.D.I. – Musical Instrument Digital Interface

Basically, MIDI is a computer language used in networking two or more devices together. The specific devices we are most often referring to when discussing MIDI are musical computers, like synthesizers or signal processors. Essentially this means that you can hook up two musical devices and have them “communicate” with each other.

Some Basic Concepts
You don’t need to understand nuclear fusion to get a grasp on this MIDI stuff, there are just a few basic concepts you have to grasp.

  1. MIDI information IS NOT audio information. This is a hang up for many people who are just starting out in the music and audio arena. MIDI is merely a set of numerical instructions that are sent and received between the devices. The musical devices then translate this data into meaningful commands. So when a MIDI command is sent from one device to another, the signal is telling the second device which notes to play, how long to hold them, which sounds to use… etc.
  2. You need to understand how the flow of MIDI information works. MIDI data is sent out of the “OUT” port, MIDI data is received at the “IN” port. So for example if you want to send a MIDI data from a sequencer to a synthesizer the cables would connect on the OUT of the sequencer (because info is coming out) to the IN of the synthesizer (because the synth is receiving info). This can be confusing at first because the temptation is to plug the IN of one machine directly into the IN of another. But if you do that, you are not going to get any sound…. Ever.
  3. Channels – MIDI data transmits on 16 different channels. This allows for 16 different sets of MIDI data to be sent at once, which means a sequencer could control up to 16 different instruments at one time. Typically each instrument would be sent separately on a different channel. For example, drum track information is usually sent on channel 10 and so would play back on channel 10, Bass guitar sounds are usually on channel 2, synth on 4 and so on. You just have to make sure that the synthesizer that is receiving the channels has the correct sound selected for that channel.

Because MIDI does not carry with it the actual audio sound data, but just the note commands, midi files are extremely light and compact. A large number of songs can take up a relatively small amount of space on a disk or hard drive. This reason, along with it’s versatility makes MIDI an ideal language for almost any musician, and especially those who are on the road for performances or deal in large volumes of music.