Recording Vocals with Midi

  • Thread starter Thread starter Eddie N
  • Start date Start date
Eddie N

Eddie N

10 Inch Member
i recently decided that i wanted to start recording my own songs at home by using a midi keyboard and sequencer... but before i plunk down a couple hundred bucks for equipment....i wanna be sure i know what im doing... firstly...im goin to be using a shareware program sequencer to start ( any suggestions ? )and im gonna spend around 300 for a keyboard ( any suggestions ? )...but my question is...should i upgrade my stock soundcard ? ( if yes , any suggestions ? :o))is it that important that i spend the money now rather than get stuck with poor sound ? ...and if this matters ,im going to be creating hip hop music...so... how would i go about recording the vocals and intergrating them in with midi ?... and lastly...how do i convert midi to wav to burn on to a cd ? well...im very anxious to get started and hopefully someone can help me before i spend all my money..hehe... thank you...
 
Recording vocals with MIDI is pretty much one of those "out there" methodologies, but it can be done with a decent converter. You have to know the format limitations of the MIDI system and work around them. Since voice often changes frequencies without leaving a particular ADSR envelope you have to have some way of telling your S/W how you want the S/W to deal with this situation.
Or am I all wet and what you really want to do is mix MIDI controlled synth with vocals?
 
can someone explain to me what he said in english ? im new at this...a " newbie " if you will... and with all the terminology you just threw at me im think that maybe im jumping in too deep too soon... i learn fast .. ill pick up on this eventually... but i have to crawl before i walk...thank you...
- eddie -
 
By ADSR envelope
(Attack, Decay, Sustain and Release)
I meant that MIDI commands simply:
1) trigger a note with a particular pitch at a particular start time
2) with a certain Attack velocity (how hard the note was hit)
3) for a certain length of time (when did the keyboard player let his finger off of the note)
4) the decay, sustain and release are parameters that control the playback characteristics of a synthesized sound. They are usually preset in the synthesizer but can be changed (on some synths) during the performance through what are known as SYSEX
commands which instruct the synthesizer to change parameters other than timing, pitch and velocity.
 
Welcome Eddie,

I think Drstawl was using his "dr." a bit on ya...what I think you want to do is just mix MIDI beats/music with your vocals, yes? Not a problem. I'm going to be soon (ha!) reviewing n-track, though I'm not sure if it does sequencing or is just a multitrack recorder. I do know that I've found Power Tracks Pro to be a very good start and will do what you're looking for; basically you lay down the MIDI music first (which you can do as multiple tracks) and then add vocals or whatever audio you want. See the https://homerecording.com/digital.html page for more info.

You'll have to use the search here for some of the millions of discussions we've had about sound cards. As far as getting MIDI to WAV, it's simpler than you might think...you just play your final MIDI mix and record it as WAV at the same time!
 
Dragon, you said...

"As far as getting MIDI to WAV, it's simpler than you might think...you just play your final MIDI mix and record it as WAV at the same time!"

When you say "record it (MIDI mix) as WAV at the same time" can you explain exactly how this is done? Thanks.
 
Eddie

You're doing what I'm doing. My experience so far.

1) Buy a good sequencer that combines audio and MIDI. I use Cakewalk HomeStudio 8. It was cheap but I'm already regretting not buying Pro 8. Lots more effects. More audio tracks.

2) Get a good soundcard. I've learned the hard way that my AWE64 (a gaming/audio hyrid card) is not up to scratch. It's great for recording one audio track, lousy for monitoring and recording a second audio track (duplex function.)

Playback function is only 8 bits. Recording function is 16 bits. This means the playback quality while recording simultaneously is half as good as the recording quality. This creates lots of cross over distortion. Don't know why. This is what I have been told. I suggest getting a card that records and plays back using a bit rate of at least 16 or higher.

3) Nail down your MIDI composition first then slave audio to it.

4) Make lots of mistakes then pick the brains of the pros here at Dragon's great site.

5) Read. The books below are the best I've come across so far.

MIDI FOR THE TECNOPHOBE
by Paul White
(great book; even better set-up schematics)

MAKING MUSIC WITH DIGITAL AUDIO: Direct to Disk Recording on the PC
by Ian Waugh

SEQUENCER SECRETS
150 Power Tips for MIDI users
by Ian Waugh

Good luck
jackdaw




[This message has been edited by jackdaw (edited 07-14-1999).]
 
Poor fellow! Let the blind lead the blind. You can record anything from midi to wav like so (once you've got the .mid file saved on the computer, you understand):

1) Start the .wav recording (click the button)
2) Start the midi playing
3) Stop both when you're done.


Voila! I don't know how that works (or doesn't) with tracks, but it works for me. Maybe there's software to do this for you...

Here's a fun trick for whoever cares: if you have a .wav program that lets you "preview" sounds as you scroll down the list, you can start a dance beat thing recording from midi to an outside device (like a tape player), and then click and preview your wavs. Don't always let one finish before you single-click the next, and click one several times. See? You're like a DJ of the 80's, scratching his turntable! Isn't that cute??

I created a hilarious project for an English class that way once... on Oscar Wilde's "The Importance of Being Earnest" and I used sound clips of Earnest P. Worrell, played by Jim Varney. Supreme classic dancable cheese. My teacher laughed and let me get away with it... mostly because of my BS introduction tying it in with themes from the play.
 
It is really hard to get through all of the advice some good some bad. Certainly one musical solution is another persons worst scenario. I still have an 8-Track Tascam 38 and a whole lotta tapes. I need to decide between recording through the PC or getting something like one of the new digital hard drive all in one jobs. We do a lot of acoustic stuff so I don't know if going full digital is the answer. We'd like to keep the 8-Track recorder in the loop. We have been looking at the Roland VS880. Suggestions for a multitrack solution would be most welcome.
 
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