Still unsure about the MIDI thing...

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songdog

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Bear with me, I'm a stark newbie!

I've been recording on my home computer for a while now, but I don't have a bass or drums and that severely limits my capabilities. I've been considering buying a bass, but I'm wondering if I'd be better off to explore the world of MIDI. Could I buy a MIDI keyboard or something and use it to generate decent bass AND drum sounds, or does the MIDI unit simply take the sounds generated by another device and translate them for the computer? If that's the case, what all would I have to buy to start using MIDI and get the instrument voices I need to add some variety to my digital demos? Would I be any farther ahead by getting into MIDI?

Thanks in advance for the help! I've been reading through a lot of the material on this site, but I'm still obviously a bit unsure of it all...

songdog
 
I think you partially understood teh concept of midi, midi is not audio, it is a bunch of data that is helpful in triggering audio samples. It helps in triggering different sounds from synths through different controllers. In the case of a (regular yamaha)keyboard with midi, it has both the synth (sounds) and the controller (Keys) in one unit. So If you buy a keyboard, you can connect it to your computer through midi cable and input the midi information(not sound) into the software. Then you can play (or edit) the midi in the computer and send it back to the keyboard and trigger the synth inside the keyboard for the sound, now you connect stereo cables from line out into your soundcard in (this is the real audio) if you dont like the keyboard sound, you can trigger soundfonts (which will be in the computer) or you could buy more sound modules or different keyboards to get the sound.
So the basic thing is you are creating a data in midi and it can trigger any instrument including drums, piano, bass, violin etc..... Midi is pretty easy and efficient, so it is advisable to get a keyboard first. Hope you understood what I explained. Good Luck!
 
ok...so...

How do the sounds from the different instrument voices get into the song when I mix down to hard drive? Does the computer remember and reproduce those sounds, or does it 'play' them on the keyboard during mixdown? I guess it's safe to say if I don't like the voices available on a given keyboard, I won't like the results I get using MIDI, right?

Smoke clearing...
 
I guess it's safe to say if I don't like the voices available on a given keyboard, I won't like the results I get using MIDI, right?
Click to expand...
Not if you audition a real keyboard (not just a controller) My keyboard has 2 midi outs and ins as well as 2 audio outs. I can blend both audio and my soundcards midi patches together at the same time. In other words I can play a standup bass with the audio out on my keyboard, and with my midi out to my soundcard use a fretless bass which blends the 2 together at the same time. The audio portion would be a wave file and the midi portion a midi file. You can playback the midi to make a wave file but its not necessary.
There are also Soundfonts. Check Jeyans post. Also do a search on soundfonts here.

How do the sounds from the different instrument voices get into the song when I mix down to hard drive?
Click to expand...
Software programs like Sonar record both audio and Midi Data so its already there for mixdown.
:cool:
 
A simpler answer for your question is....... You can pick any sound you like from any keyboard or soundmodule and record that rack alone in the software, then you pick another instrument you like in a different keyboard record it in different track, so like this you can add on different tracks and mix them all down with vocals in the end.
 
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