recoding/mixing midi to wav.

[MJL54]

Hi, I'm a newbie here. I'm a jazz nut, have been ever since I was a teenager (long time ago). I see everyone's pretty much into hip-hop, etc., and that's ok; I guess I'll be a minotiry - jazz always was like that. So my question is, since I work with a notation program (Finale NotePad+), I export my work to midi and the first thing I have to do is bring up the voume on all my tracks because the notation program assigns a uniform velocity of 64 to every note . (Remember, I input everything by hand right now because I'm not even using a music keyboard. Sounds pretty crazy, right? But it's been working fine till now.) I'm wondering, now, how to establish levels that are going to be good for the ultimate mastering once the midi recording is done. If the arrangement I'm working on consists of a tenor sax, piano, bass & drums, let's say, I need to keep the piano in the background, comping, to support the sax soloist. Then the piano will have a solo and I need to bring that up. Should I tinker with the levels in midi before I go to wave, or should I do as much as I can in midi? The thing is that when I raise the levels of all the instruments an equal amount to get the best-to-peak velocity, I find the piano goes a little squirrely - the sounds's distorted and, of course, is too strong for the sax solo. If I left things that way (say I did, as an experiment), could I "fix it in post," ie tinker with the velocity settings once the song has been recorded to a wave file, or should I try to get the right ratio of piano to sax in the midi phase? I'm wondering, what would be the proper ratio of soloist to backup, lets' put it that way? If anyone has any suggestions, please give me a shout. Thanks a million.
mjl54

 

[tdukex]

You need a MIDI sequencer/audio program like Cakewalk Home Studio. And it's best to scrore each track right inside the sequencer. Save Finale for producing sheet music. It will slow you down for actually sequencing MIDI tracks.

It works like this:

Cakewalk will give you as many MIDI and audio tracks as you need.

Each MIDI instrument is scored onto its own track (guitar, bass, horns, drums, etc.)

You work to make each MIDI track (instrument) sound as real as you can, because once it is recorded to audio, you can't change it.

When you are satisfied with all of your MIDI tracks you record them one at a time to audio files right inside the same Cakewalk project you are working on. Always record at the highest volume level you can without distortion (you can adjust volume levels later). So, if you have eight MIDI tracks you will now also have eight audio tracks.

Now you mix your eight audio tracks by adjusting the panning and volume of each track until you are satisfied.

Finally you mix down to a stereo file that can be burned to CD.

 

[MJL54]

Thanks, that's helpful. I guess I took it for granted and thus failed to mention that I export my Finale work to a midi sequencing program I already have, though I hesitate to mention its name because I've only discussed the product's features on that company's web site. I guess I personally feel that Power Tracks (the unmentionable sequencer-I'm about to explain ) is not quite up to scratch. It's not what I expected, having tested Cakewalk. I've only heard good things about Power Tracks from the people on the PT forum, which stands to reason I guess, so I'm really not sure what the audio community in general thinks. (Naturally I don't want to say anything bad about the product - it has its limitations like any other.) I like PT in some ways - it has excellent sound and for the "performing" musician - ie if you are recording direct from a keyboard in real time - it is very good - tho in (IMHO) it does not offer nearly enough editing possibilities. Since I do all of my composing/arranging in Finale with just the computer mouse, I need a program where you can really go to town with feaures such as Cakewalk has. I've tried a Cakewalk demo and I'll tell you I really like the program a lot. The envelope feature alone is worth its weight in gold. Power Tracks has no envelope editing of any kind and this sort of drives me nuts, but then it isn't a very expensive program. Made by PG Music, which also puts out the Band-in-a-Box program, which is supposed to be really excellent.
I guess my original question revolves around the question of peak limits in midi, to be really specific. Now, the vu meters in Power Track 7 (8 has it, I believe) does not have the colors - yellow, red - but it does have the number scale, up to a max of 0 of course. I guess you did answer my question, partly. I need to mix the best possible in the sequencer and then record to output with the highest possible volume. Are you actually talking about the master volume (all of the tracks together in other words)?
The question sounds a bit simplistic, but I'm pretty new to this - besides I've heard so much about how midi is additive in terms of velocity, etc., so that complicates matters for me as well. I'm doing some research into this topic, but I guess I still have a lot to learn about the basics. I find this part harder than the creative!
MJL54

 

[tdukex]

I'm not familiar with PT. Does it allow you to record each MIDI track individually to its own audio track? Or are you just trying to mix your MIDI sequence down to a stereo audio file?

 

[lumbago]

Go to www.noteworthysoftware.com and download Noteworthy Composer.

You can import your existing midi tracks, lift /adjust the volume of each track, then save as midi again.

 

[MJL54]

PT,

Hi. Took me a while to get back. I've tried Noteworthy, but I'm not crazy about the audio qaulity. PT, on the other hand has great audio quality. Of course, there's always Pro-Tools Free, which has really great audio. I think I'm going to try that. Then there's Garriton, which I've listened to and I can't believe it's a computer! If anyone hasn't tried it, do a search under GARRITON OCHESTRAL LIBRARIES. I don't know much about this software, and they are pretty mum about its workings and interface, etc., but if it takes off it will raise the bar for all sequencers.

MJL54

PS Thanks for your input.

 

[lumbago]

MJL54,

Noteworthy is a pure midi sequencer - it has no audio quality.

Each midi note event is represented in a midi file as a "note on" instruction, and "note off" instructions are just a second "note on" instruction with zero volume.

The note on instruction has velocity and volume data associated with it.

By editing your file with Noteworthy Composer (even the free trial), it will fix your problem at the source - inside the midi file.

All you need to do is open the package and click -File-Import and then nominate your midi file.

Once it is loaded, highlight each staff in turn, and hit F2 to reveal the part volume - a number from 0 to 127 - which you can then edit.

You also have the option of introducing further dynamics into your part by pressing the D key at the point in the score where you want the volume alterations.

Then save as a midi file.

 

[MJL54]

Thanks, Lumbago. (I hope your back isn't giving your trouble!) I'm aware of how midi works - more or less - but I still can "hear" the difference between one sequencer and another. I wonder what the difference is?
Your advice about using Noteworthy, however, will be useful. I've never really delved into it that much. Apreciate the help.

MJL54

 

[MJL54]

I still can "hear" the difference between one sequencer and another. I wonder what the difference is?

Now that I think of it, that's kind of silly. I guess I was listening to the midi when it was at full velocity (127). In other sequencers I'd always seen a lower default setting at the outset. Now that I've had a chance to try some of the dynamic settings I can see how useful this program is, and what I particularly like about it is that it's so lightweight, which means there's less potential for trouble with the computer. Since I've been toying with the idea of a dual-boot system (win98 & XP), so as to run a more intensive program such as Pro-Tools, this may be my answer instead. My system is running ok as it right now and, like they say, why rock the boat?

MJL54