MIDI file revelation!!!!!!!

Scott Henderson · Post by **Scott Henderson** » 8 Mar 2011 7:43 am

I haven't been into midi files for quite sometime because frankly I didn't care for the sound. BUTTTTT!!!!!!now with Pro tools I am totally blown away. With PT and ez drummer I have been able to make old hum drum files sound like the real deal.
Like a lot of folks I play a duo and we use tracks. With PT and EZD I can rejuvenate the old files and they sound like a million bucks. I am very impressed with the acoustic guitar...If you do midi it's worth your while to check it out. I would upload a sample but not sure how to do it...

Graeme Jaye · Post by **Graeme Jaye** » 8 Mar 2011 8:10 am

Scott Henderson wrote:I haven't been into midi files for quite sometime because frankly I didn't care for the sound.

Midi files have no 'sound', they are merely a set of instructions as to how a sound generation engine (either soft or hardware) is to play the sounds it is capable of.

Ergo, if you don't like the 'sound' of a midi file, then you should look to changing your sound module, not write off midi itself - that's not the problem.

Pete Burak · Post by **Pete Burak** » 8 Mar 2011 8:18 am

If you can get the song onto your computer as an MP3, you can use "PicoSong" to get it uploaded to the internet with a link for folks to click and listen.
fwiw, On my box Windows Media has a "Rip" program that saves files as MP3's.

http://picosong.com/

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 8 Mar 2011 9:17 am

Graeme is right. MIDI is only as good as the sound modules or synthesizers you have to play back the data. Of course, you have to have a good performance when recording the MIDI file, or it could sound bad, but from a technical music standpoint, not the actual quality of the sounds themselves.

Pico Song is great. And it's real easy. They give you a "tiny url" (meaning a short one that is not a mile long) to insert anywhere you want to place the link, including the forum. Unfortunately, we can't upload audio files directly.

Ripping won't work with a MIDI file. As far as I know, it only works with audio CD's and maybe DVD's too (CDA files). To rip, you would have to record the sound you play back in PT (you could probably do it with PT as you play the MIDI file back) and write to an audio CD. I don't know if PT will do the MIDI playback and record all at the same time though. And then, you might be able to directly save the recorded file as an Mp3 file (again not familiar with PT). If not, you can take a WAV file (or many other types) and convert them to Mp3. There are many programs to convert, sometimes even in audio player software.

And then, if PT won't record at the same time the MIDI file plays, there are ways to record what's coming off your sound card if you are using software synths. It usually takes another software program, or I think there might be one built into Windows (later versions and only maybe Windows 7).

Edited to change spelling mistakes and words I left out. I just woke up and the fingers are in synch with my brain.

Dave Grafe · Post by **Dave Grafe** » 8 Mar 2011 9:24 am

One can, however, adjust the timing of the MIDI calls to minimize the mechanical feel and more accurately represent the way real folks play music.

Scott Henderson · Post by **Scott Henderson** » 8 Mar 2011 9:29 am

Sorry I didn't get out my knife and " spit hairs" I know a midi file is not music it's data. I have worked with midi since the 80's and to date I haven't seen generators that sound this good. which is why I wrote them off. THATS MY POINT!!! Are we clear???cool let's move on. I am excited because I see the potential of some good product. Thats all I'm saying. Thanks for the advice on pico...

Scott Henderson · Post by **Scott Henderson** » 8 Mar 2011 9:31 am

In PT I can load standard midid files and have them converted in about 20 minutes. No problems with alignment or nothing...

Rick Campbell · Post by **Rick Campbell** » 8 Mar 2011 9:41 am

Scott knows what a MIDI file is, no doubt about it.

What I think he is referring to is the flexibility that Pro Tools provides for him to tweak the sounds and timing of the MIDI files.......... way better than just playing a MIDI file in a player program.

I'm sure Scott is getting some great sounds and obviously is having fun, which to me is just, if not more, important.

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 8 Mar 2011 9:44 am

Sorry Scott. Your post just sounded like you blamed MIDI for the sound. I know what you mean about the quality of sounds. I too have been working with MIDI since the mid 80's. Hard to get real good sounds without really expensive synths (like the Synclavier or Fairlight). But in the last 10 years or so, with synths using sampled waveforms as the base for the sounds you can create, the sounds are almost as good as the real thing. I did some recordings using a Korg Triton Le88, and played them for a drummer friend, and he wanted to know who I had play the drums. He flipped when I told him it was me playing the parts on the keyboard. Heck, even the "cheap" Yamaha's and Casio's you find at places like Best Buy are sounding great. I had a Yamaha that I got there for like $400 that had analog sounds that were better than the expensive Korg or my Yamaha Motif sound module.

b0b · Post by **b0b** » 8 Mar 2011 10:43 am

Scott Henderson wrote:I haven't been into midi files for quite sometime because frankly I didn't care for the sound.

MIDI files are like sheet music for a computer to play. They doesn't have any sounds. Other software on the computer must supply the instrument sounds.

The default sound synthesizer in most computers is pretty crappy because most computers aren't made for musicians. For example, if you drop a MIDI file into GarageBand on a Mac you'll hear an incredible improvement in sound quality compared to the default QuickTime MIDI player.

Scott Henderson · Post by **Scott Henderson** » 8 Mar 2011 11:28 am

What I am trying to say about my disgust for midi is both the tone generators and the files... I spent hours writing drum tracks in the 80s. and yes....again...I know what a midi file is but the writing of the files in the past has been just as bad as the tone. In PT it is a very simple process to move the files into it. You import them as regions and just drop and drag into their own individual tracks. I built a template with a drum, bass, piano, guitar, etc... and it's that simple. Tempo is not an issue, key change is easy. and editing each track is way to easy. I don't use midi on stage. I convert these to a stereo mix. Up til now I have had do my own tracks which when you're doing an 8 track mix is very time consuming. Now with this situation I can knock out 4 or 5 songs (excuse me 4 or 5 data to music conversions) in an evening. The quality is good and the time saved is a biggie.
Thanks Rick

Earnest Bovine · Post by **Earnest Bovine** » 8 Mar 2011 12:26 pm

It's the editing that makes MIDI so great, unless you can play everything perfectly the first time. I still remember how thrilling it was to find Dr. T's KCS on the Commodore 64 instead of all those stupid sequencers that didn't let us get under the hood. It was a lot less thrilling by the time I figured out that it turned every film producer's brother in law into a film composer.

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 8 Mar 2011 6:02 pm

I remember having Dr.T's on my Atari 1040ST.

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 10 Mar 2011 4:49 am

The good thing about MIDI is that it's about the only thing in recorded media which will improve with age. Music that was written in MIDI when MIDI first came out will still be readable in a hundred years time, but with every advance in sound sythesis those tracks will sound better and better.

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MIDI file revelation!!!!!!!

MIDI file revelation!!!!!!!

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