Is MIDI-less ever desirable?

G

G. Simon

New member
I am a guitarist, bassist, singer, and 'drum machinist'. I have enough keyboard skills to eke out some decent parts as well. I am planning a PC-based multitrack home studio which will incorporate an 8x4x2 mixer and mostly me recording each track by myself.

Now my question: If I plan to program a drum machine, including all click tracks and drum/percussion parts, for the initial track, how important is it that MIDI be a part of my setup? I have never used a MIDI cable in all my musical life of 25 years, and I'm not sure I'm convinced that I need to start now in order to make really solid recordings.

I am certainly open to being convinced - it just hasn't happened yet.

Thanks,
Glenn
 
MIDI will just give you more control over your drum machine beats. What you'll be able to do (assuming this is a hardware drum machine) is import the MIDI notes into a software program and manipulate them if you want. Doing this will allow you to move notes, add notes, add rhythms that might not be possible on the drum machine, utilize different sounds than just the ones in your machine's bank, etc.

it all comes down to how much you want to do. MIDI can get kind of complicated, but if you like what you're getting with your drum machine right now, then there is no need to change. just keep makin' music :cool:
 
Last edited:
I agree. MIDI is a handy compositional/arrangement/editing tool, but it's certainly not necessary. Plenty of great music has been made without midi.
 
Ok - another infantile question:

bennychico11 said:
MIDI will just give you more control over your drum machine beats. What you'll be able to do (assuming this is a hardware drum machine)
Click to expand...

Would my Alesis SR-16 be an example of a "hardware drum machine"?

-- Glenn
 
G. Simon said:
Ok - another infantile question:



Would my Alesis SR-16 be an example of a "hardware drum machine"?

-- Glenn
Click to expand...

like Mad said...yes. There are also software drum machines that do the same thing your hardware version does....but they don't require MIDI cables or MIDI interfaces, you can route them inside your computer to play back sounds.

The great thing about MIDI is that you can do a TON of things with it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top