more trouble with mixdown

[Rock Star 87]

i found out earlier that MIDI can't be mixed down to WAV. but now i have the task or recording it. i muted everything but the syth on my soundcard and selected record<mixed output, i turned the synth down to 2 1/2 bars on the soundcard mixer. Then i went back into Pro Audio 9 and hit record for track 2, and it recorded onto track 2 as audio, but there is still a problem. After many volume adjustments on track 1, my only track whick is MIDI, the piano part is loud (which is easily fixed), but there is also incessant hissing in the background. if i turn it down any further, it'll practically be muted. pleeeeze help! thanks.

[AlChuck]

I'm a little unclear what you're saying. Are you talking about noise in your audio track recorded from the synth, or in the original MIDI track?

If the former, it makes sense. That much noise usually indicates that you recorded your track at too low of a signal level, and the difference between the loudest sound and the noise floor of the soundcard is not that great (this is called the signal-to-noise ratio). When you crank the track up so that it's audible, you of course crank up the noise too.

[mixsit]

Originally Posted by Rock Star 87

... i turned the synth down to 2 1/2 bars on the soundcard mixer.

Did you turn it down because it was it too hot?

[Rock Star 87]

i turned it down because of the static hissing that it was producing, and the MIDI track is fine, but the audio track is recorded to isn't that good.

[moskus]

What soundcard are you using?

[dachay2tnr]

What is the Input set to in your sound card's mixer?

Just a guess, but if it is set to What U Hear, or Stereo Mix, or something similar, it could very well be that you are picking up your computer mic along with the midi track. The hissing is very likely from the crappy pre-amps in the sound card.

If that is the case, try setting the input to Midi In. That should solve the problem. You shouldn't get any hissing from Midi.

Of course, if you upgraded to Sonar, you could use DXi's instead of your sound card, which would make your life a lot easier.

[AlChuck]

the MIDI track is fine, but the audio track is recorded to isn't that good.

OK, that's what I thought was going on, though you said originally that "after many volume adjustments on track 1, my only track whick is MIDI, the piano part is loud (which is easily fixed), but there is also incessant hissing in the background," which sounded like your MIDI synth itself was noisy...

i turned the synth down to 2 1/2 bars on the soundcard mixer.

Ah, I missed that earlier. That's probably way too low, and so your problem is exactly what I said. And if dachay is also correct and your input is set to "What U Hear," any noise in the mic channel is also being amplified, making it even worse.

Turn the synth up until it starts to hit the red in the audio track when you hit notes as hard as possible, then take it back a bit to give yourself a littel headroom, and check that the recording input is set to MIDI, not "What U Hear," and that its fader is up too...

You shouldn't get any hissing from Midi.

That depends. There is always some noise there, so if you record an audio track from it with the levels set poorly, you then have to raise the volume of the audio track to hear it, and the nearly inaudible hiss now is quite audible indeed along with the nearly inaudible MIDI instrument.

[guttadaj]

I would think that you should also be able to mute the mic input so it's not a factor. (I don't know your soundcard, but I can do it with my Santa Cruz and would think it's a common function.)

[Rock Star 87]

i muted everything but the Synth on my SBPCi, and i don't have "what you hear" settings, i'm just really confused. i'll fiddle around a bit more. I got the melody mixed down alright, but now i want to mixdown the harmonization and score, the score having 16 MIDI tracks and the harmanization have 4 (SATB). also i find it very odd that my MIDI doesn't have Baritone Treble Clef or Bass Clef instruments, but maybe that's just me. the only two things that could affect the mixdown volume are the various MIDI track volume or the record volume, which i tried many decibel settings with, or my soundcard volume. i think i'll mess around some more and get to you guys on how it goes. thank you all for helping (and continuing to help) me through this issue. i love you all (even the guys!!)

[AlChuck]

...also i find it very odd that my MIDI doesn't have Baritone Treble Clef or Bass Clef instruments, but maybe that's just me.

There certainly are instruments in those ranges. The range of MIDI notes more than covers the ranges of any real instruments.

Are you talking about the staff in the notation window? I think it will be a single treble staff by default, but I believe you should be able to show a treble/bass pair for piano, a single bass clef for bass parts, etc. But it doesn't "know" the range of the instrument assigned to the MIDI track and adjust the default display of the staff accordingly; you have to select the appropriate one yourself.

[Rock Star 87]

i know all of that (nothing personal), but the Baritone instrument that runs in both clefs is what the MIDI lacks, like in the actual instrument. i did a part for it in theory class and i couldn't put a nonexistent (MIDI-wise anyways) into the score, which kinda sucks, but oh well. By the way i got most of the hissing out using audio cleaning lab and i also got the kind of sound i want, which is obviously a plus. thanks everybody for your help.

[AlChuck]

What is "the Baritone instrument that runs in both clefs?"

If the instrument you mean is not one of the 128 GM patches, I guess you are hosed with the SBPCI, unless it supports Sound Fonts.

By the way i got most of the hissing out using audio cleaning lab

It's really silly to use noise reduction to improve the track when what's really wrong with it is a levels problem. Maybe it worked acceptably this time, but as a way of working, it's... silly.

[Rock Star 87]

silly maybe, but i f-ed around for a long time with PA9 and nothing else seems to work, so i take the practical way. It works just as well, and something tells me its not a level problem, but anyways it sounds pretty good nonetheless.

[AlChuck]

If you have your synth at 2 1/2 and the noise floor is that high, it is a level problem.