What to do?

[rhythm girl]

I dont know if this is the place to ask, but here it goes...
I own a gdec30 from fender and a pa system that I run it through. The midi files I play are downloaded from the internet either for free or I buy, the difference in quality I am still trying to understand as I know that midi is basically the score and the synth in the gdec gives me my "sounds".

I have been asked to perform on stage at a local bar and I am a little reluctant because I feel that my sound quality could be better. So I guess what Im asking is.. If I let the gdec go, what would be the equipment I would need to get the midi files to sound as good as they possibly can, maybe through a laptop and mix my guitar with the backing track through another channel for the best live sound I can get?

Please help me, I am so confused and frustrated. I want to do this but not if its going to sound like crap.

Thanks in advance
Rhythm Girl

 

[Richard Monroe]

It sounds like you need to ditch all this Midi stuff for live performances, give up the complexity of running through a computer, and just get a decent 88 key keyboard. Plug into PA, use onboard models, FX, and polyphony if desired. There is nothing in live performance that requires MIDI.-Richie

 

[suprstar]

I say having a laptop on stage is just asking for trouble, I'd be afraid of a crash in the middle of a song.. If I was you, I'd mix it all down to a wav or mp3, then play it via cd player, ipod, whatever.

 

[tmix]

Here goes

I am not familiar with the Fender Playback unit you have, but if I understand you, it is a MIDI playback unit with some sort of synthesizer or sampler playback to make it sound like a backing track.

Chances are the reason it sounds a little lame is a combination of how well the songs were programmed ( how rigid or natural) plus the quality of the playback sounds. (sounds like a cheapo kid's keyboard?)

How well it was programmed is a whole different story, but as far as the quality of playback, there are several sofware programs out there with some very decent "Virtual Synths" that would make the playback a lot more realistic. You could load it on your lap top and play it back from there or make a CD at home of the backing tracks and simply bring the CD.
It is simpler with just a CD but you would need some how to choose-stop-start which song you wanted.

The first software program that comes to mind is Cakewalk / Sonar, but I am sure there are a million ones that folks more in the know could suggest.

Short of getting a program with virtual synths, you can get a cheaper MIDI playback program and buy a Rackmount Sampler / Synth to play the files through. They can be found pretty cheap used.