what's the benefits of midi?

[jmhink]

hello all.

i just received a casio ctk-630 (i know. i know. it was free.) I'm using opcode vision dsp on an imac 266. what are the benefits of midi, and how do I hook it up to my 'puter. the casio is midi compatable, i've already checked.

thanks,
joel

[drstawl]

MIDI stores performance data and is highly editable. The same MIDI file that triggers a guitar performance could be easily redone via a simple patch change to sound like a piano playing the exact same notes the exact same way. And the files are easily 1000 times more compact than digital audio. You need a MIDI port on your computer. As to the sounds available on that Casio, I don't know if they're worth triggering via computer. I've never heard them. If this Casio is a keyboard controller as well, then you have a way to get performances recorded on your computer by simply playing them, as opposed to writing each note into a MIDI file with Opcode.

[jmhink]

Thanks for your response.

I have another question. You stated that the sounds are editable with a patch (which I really don't know anything about), is this a piece of software or hardware?

So basicly, I would play the keyboard, the info would be stored on the computer, and then I could manipulate what I played and how it sounds?

[cwillu]

yes, you can do pretty much whatever you like with it once it's recorded.

A patch is the sound that is played: I could record a piece of music with a piano patch, and then tell the computer to play it back with a string patch.

[drstawl]

The edits don't just stop at the patch selection. You can change the properties of individual notes, add more notes or delete
those you don't want. The properties of each note you can change are the pitch, the velocity and the timing relative to the start of the piece. In addition MIDI can be used to send synth specific control commands to work toys like the arpeggiator etc. The patch is just a number that corresponds to an instument sound playable by your synth.

[hixmix]

with midi you can build your composition note by note, bass to alto; alto to bass, beat to beat...or you can play the whole thing as a performance on your midi keyboard.
The good thing about midi is if there's even only one event (e.g. a note or drum hit you don't like)you can go back and change that without re-recording the whole composition.

[gibs]

Ok, stupid question of all time...can analog recorded sound be transformed into midi..wait, one more stupid question..can audio in general be somehow transferred into midi information....in other words, is there such a thing as a converter type thing..I am Sooooooo ignorant about midi, please forgive me...gibs