New to Midi... Help...

[timandjes]

I've been putting off doing anything w/midi until I got some good basic recording skills established. I think now I'm ready to get going with midi... I don't know much about it though.

I record with N-track software on my PC. What do I need to get to use midi? I assume a piece of hardware like the little piano keyboard devices. Where do the sounds come from? A software program that I'll load into the midi keyboard controller?

Any other advice for a midi deficient person like me would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks..........

[drstawl]

The sounds are either generated by hardware (external or internal) or synthesized in software. MIDI is used to select the sounds from a set of available sounds and then trigger them.

You route this audio to your soundcard to record it as audio just like any other input signal.

The major advantage of MIDI is control over the sound that's not related to a particular performance. Second is the easy generation of written scores from MIDI files.

[timandjes]

Thanks. That's good info. What will I need to buy to use midi? (I'm on a budget so I'll need to get pretty much entry level stuff for now)

[Stealthtech]

Find yourself a cheap or used midi keyboard. You can use the sounds within the keyboard or the soundfonts on your audio card. you can also buy samples on CD to load into a software sampler. I dont know if N-track has a sampler though.

[Sarah Green]

You can make midis without a keyboard - loads of sequencers use either a "dummy" keyboard, or there are programs that use standard musical notation - I use Mozart music processor, where you simply type in the notes, and export your file as a midi.

Sarah

[timandjes]

Thanks for the info.... I've been considering an M-Audio Oxygen 8. Musician's Friend has them on sale for $99. I'm not sure how they stack up in the world of midi though.....