# MIDI help



## Commiecomrade (Jan 24, 2011)

So I've been "hired" to produce the soundtrack for my group's movie...

I have no recording studio or anything, but they like my piano playing. I'm looking into getting a MIDI-to-USB cable, but would like to know a few things first:

1. Do different cables differ in speed? Would there be any cable that's popular and good enough that you would recommend?

2. Is using MIDI for recording stuff like this a good idea?

3. When I play back the MIDI sound file, does the sound of the note change with different MIDI players (like AnvilStudio and Sibelius)?

4. Can I convert MIDI into WAV?

Thanks for helping out.

If it makes any difference, I have a CASIO wk-3200 (yes, MIDI compatible) I also have a very recently built gaming computer, if that means anything.


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## Aden (Jan 24, 2011)

MIDI does not send audio, it sends data such as when a note begins, how long it is, and how much velocity it has. This data is very minimal and is easily handled with a simple standard USB cable.

Your computer takes the cues that the keyboard is sending and uses them to trigger sounds. So it would go like
1. You hit a C3 on your controller
2. The controller sends the C3 instruction to your computer
3. The computer receives the instruction and plays the C3 sound from the bank of sounds that it has been assigned to play

The sound of MIDI is completely dependent on the software in the computer. It ranges from "shit" to "awesome" depending on what samples you're using (I recommend TruePianos - sounds great and it's inexpensive). 

Unless your keyboard has built-in sounds and you rig it up to send audio data, but that's no longer MIDI.


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## Commiecomrade (Jan 24, 2011)

Yes, I am aware of what MIDI is, so thanks for answering question #3.


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## Aden (Jan 24, 2011)

Commiecomrade said:


> Yes, I am aware of what MIDI is


 
Wasn't sure because of:



Commiecomrade said:


> 4. Can I convert MIDI into WAV?


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## Commiecomrade (Jan 24, 2011)

Aden said:


> Wasn't sure because of:


 
Well, I thought it could work in the same sense of a 3d artist rendering an image from the abstract, ...non-image(?) data of his scene.

Like having playback software "render" the sound.

So, what about my other 3 questions?


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## Aden (Jan 24, 2011)

Commiecomrade said:


> Well, I thought it could work in the same sense of a 3d artist rendering an image from the abstract, ...non-image(?) data of his scene.
> 
> Like having playback software "render" the sound.


 
Depends on how you use it, I guess. You'll have either a MIDI track in your DAW and then you'll assign an instrument to the track and it'll make the right sounds on playback or render, or you'll use a plugin and send the raw sound from the plugin to the track in your DAW. The latter is harder to edit, of course, but it's more like traditional recording if that's your thing. What software will you be using?

About the other stuff...like I said, any cable should be able to handle the relatively low amount of data the MIDI transfers. Just go with something cheap. You don't even have to worry about "hi-fi" cables or anything like that because it's just digital data, not analog signals.

So you're a pianist. It's pretty obvious that playing MIDI samples will never match the excellence of a well-recorded concert piano in a great room, but it can be the next best thing - especially for someone on a budget. You won't have to deal with microphone choice and placement, interfaces, noise, reverb control, isolation, or anything like that. And depending on the method you use, you'll be able to go into the MIDI track later and edit out mistakes and move around notes. As I said above, it'll all in the quality of samples that you find (this is why some orchestral sample packages run in the thousands of dollars) - crappy samples will sound crappy, great samples could go into even a hi-fi feature film soundtrack.


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## Commiecomrade (Jan 24, 2011)

Aden said:


> What software will you be using?


 
I think I'm going to get ProTools with the TruePianos samples. Then, I just play the song on my piano while ProTools is recording, then assign those notes to the samples, maybe add in some strings or orchestral drums and such, and then render it as a WAV file or similar that I could further edit and improve upon in Audacity or something. That works, right? I may know what MIDI is, and I've done some random stuff entirely with MIDI programs like AnvilStudio, but that's about the most of my knowledge.

Unfortunately, I don't have a grand piano in a soundproof room. I just have that keyboard I described above, so I bet this way, with TruePianos samples, would actually sound better than if I attempted to use actual recording.


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## Glockypaws (Jan 25, 2011)

Pro tools is probably a bit excessive for tracking relatively simple midi tracks, in my opinion. It's used more for extensive multi-tracked audio pieces, elaborate mixing and production/engineering. Pro tools older than version 9, as far as I know, are only compatible with Digidesign and other hardware interfaces made by companies under the Pro Tools contract. 

Any program capable of inputting midi/using a piano roll view (Sonar, Reason, FL, etc) should be pretty effective as long as the DAW software is able to handle VST softsynths and midi-input. As far as "rendering" you can basically have your DAW export the midi sequence samples as audio and that should be the answer to your question. If it's just piano TruePianos should be cool, though personally I prefer the Vienna Concert Grand by Native Instruments or the Upright by the same company, both part of the Kontakt system.

For other instruments, especially orchestra stuff... there's little out there that is better or more comprehensive than the VSL (Vienna Symphonic Library) system and samples. It is expensive, so depending on how much you're getting paid or the budget of the piece you could get away with stuff like Kontakt samples (some of which are from the VSL collection). IIRC the entire VSL is about 1.2 terabytes and 14,000USD.

I think that should answer the remaining questions. Though I would recommend (just as a musician and from my personal opinion) being a bit more humble when requesting /free/ advice and assistance from a public forum. Congrats on knowing what midi is, but we're the ones trying to help /you/, not the other way around.

Let me know if you need any additional questions answered or if I wasn't clear enough in my descriptions.


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## Aden (Jan 25, 2011)

I would agree with ProTools being excessive, unless you already have it or are getting it for free. Since you're probably on a budget, I think REAPER would be perfect for your needs. 

http://www.reaper.fm/


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## ~secret~ (Jan 25, 2011)

Aden said:


> I would agree with ProTools being excessive, unless you already have it or are getting it for free. Since you're probably on a budget, I think REAPER would be perfect for your needs.
> 
> http://www.reaper.fm/


 
I was just about to start a thread about REAPER. Do you know how to export WAVs that still have VSTs in them? All I'm getting is a clean guitar :/


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## Aden (Jan 25, 2011)

~secret~ said:


> I was just about to start a thread about REAPER. Do you know how to export WAVs that still have VSTs in them? All I'm getting is a clean guitar :/


 
Don't have it installed :c
Have you tried putting the track into a folder and bouncing/rendering the folder?


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## ~secret~ (Jan 25, 2011)

Aden said:


> Don't have it installed :c
> Have you tried putting the track into a folder and bouncing/rendering the folder?


 
I'm new to all of this, so as soon as I figure out what that means I'll try it. Before, I had my Line 6 so Audacity was pretty much all I needed.

WHY IS MUSIC SO DAMN COMPLICATED


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## Commiecomrade (Jan 25, 2011)

Glockypaws said:


> I think that should answer the remaining questions. Though I would recommend (just as a musician and from my personal opinion) being a bit more humble when requesting /free/ advice and assistance from a public forum. Congrats on knowing what midi is, but we're the ones trying to help /you/, not the other way around.


 
I think you were responding to this:



Commiecomrade said:


> Yes, I am aware of what MIDI is, so thanks for answering question #3.


 
I didn't mean that to be anything other than indicative, so I think you misread what I meant. All I was saying is that I do know what MIDI is, so I'm good on that part, and I just didn't want to waste anyone's time by having them explain it to me.

Thanks, also, for the others for suggesting REAPER for me, as I agree with what you all said.

I don't think I could get any samples more than $200. I'm not being paid at all for this. In fact, along with two other people, I am actually the leader in the production. We have a collective budget of nothing, so people just use as much of their personal money/resources as they want.


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## Commiecomrade (Jan 29, 2011)

Ugh, sorry, status update:

I can't afford both the DAW and the samples. Does anyone know of any good free piano samples, and possibly drum and orchestra ones, too?

Thanks so much for helping out so far.


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## Volkodav (Jan 29, 2011)

omg lmao i thought this said
MDMA help
disappointment
thanks for that


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## Commiecomrade (Jan 30, 2011)

Clayton said:


> omg lmao i thought this said
> MDMA help
> disappointment
> thanks for that


 
omg lmao i thought the latest post would be helpful. :V


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## ThisisGabe (Feb 13, 2011)

1. Use the printer cable + install drivers of the keyboard via GOOGLE.
2. Sure
3. Naw, and it doesn't matter. Once you've converted the midi via itunes, you're set to go.
4. Easily, use itunes to do it.


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## Luchs (Mar 8, 2011)

Commiecomrade said:


> Ugh, sorry, status update:
> 
> I can't afford both the DAW and the samples. Does anyone know of any good free piano samples, and possibly drum and orchestra ones, too?
> 
> Thanks so much for helping out so far.



"Good" and "Free" don't go well together for samples, unfortunately. There are some "rather good" free soundfonts out there (just ask Google for Libraries like HammerSound); I used a free Steinway Soundfont sampled from an Akai III for a long time. It's about 25mb in size, so I could easily upload it.

I'm not sure if and how Reaper can deal with SoundFonts, though; I'm working with FL Studio, which can do it with a $35 plugin. So, unless you've already spent the money on reaper, it wouldn't hurt checking out if maybe the "Fruity Edition" fits your needs. From what I could understand from this thread, it just might.


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