What is MIDI?

[dirkcee]

wow. that opened my eyes, fantastic work. thanks richiebee.

[rod]

really nice work, i`m dying for your next post on this...!

[izzme]

man oh man, thats some good funk,like james brown done in midi! i love it. i'm wondering how tedious midi is.how much time did it take,cause i'm basically a little lazy,but it sounds sooo good !!!

[madmikebass]

Al I can say is... WOW!
My first reaction was, being brand new to this and having no knowledge of MIDI, I would be happy to know how to create the first file. Then I listed to the 2nd file..... Again, WOW!
I hope to someday be able to create something like this. It's things like this posting that inspire us newbies to keep on working.

[Laura]

I have been struggling with MIDI files, I can doodle around but I don't know how to actually structure a song. For starters, I don't get the whole 'quantize" thing. I see that there is a grid & some notes, but I don't know how many squares in the grid equal one measure, etc. Or how to create a real loop that plays to a real rhythm & doesn't sound like crap when you loop it.

'course I had trouble with these same things before I started with MIDI. I was creating guitar riffs, and when I'd try to put some drums, the riffs were off time.

I didn't know if it was a latency issue, or if I just have a bad sense of rhythm. (I don't have any problems when playing live.)

I'm thinking I should just create tracks with no drums... just use guitar strums for rhythm.

[brandondrury]

I don't get the whole 'quantize" thing.

Basically, quantize allows you to remove all timing issues in a song and snap each note to a mathematically correct (not necessarily "musically correct") position in time.

I don't know how many squares in the grid equal one measure
I don't think of them as "squares" but beats. I focus on the "line" and not the "box" if that makes any sense. The number of beats in a measure is dependant on the time signature. I keep mine at 4/4 for almost everything I do. So, this works out to kick, snare, kick, snare in it's most simple form.

Or how to create a real loop that plays to a real rhythm & doesn't sound like crap when you loop it.

That's just an issue of setting the looping markers on the right spot. It's really not that difficult.

when I'd try to put some drums, the riffs were off time.

Was this caused by a musical problem or a technical problem?

I'm thinking I should just create tracks with no drums... just use guitar strums for rhythm.

That's one way of doing it, but I wouldn't give up yet if I was you.

Brandon

[Phlipper]

I don't really see the MIDI being 'fake' argument as valid anymore. Particularly when software now allows us to write our midi scripts in notation (which, in all honesty, is just a language choice). Composing in MIDI is no different to writing a symphony. You don't have the instruments there with you, so you tell them what you want them to do. Just so happens that VSTi's drink less tea!

[Laura]

Originally Posted by brandondrury

Basically, quantize allows you to remove all timing issues in a song and snap each note to a mathematically correct (not necessarily "musically correct") position in time.

I don't know how to make it work. Do you select a track and is there a button somewhere that "snaps" everything to a grid? Because I can't find that function in Cubase LE.

Was this caused by a musical problem or a technical problem?

I did some tracks yesterday, and when I tried to play along to my foot-tapping, the first (already recorded) track was off. I think it has to be a latency issue!!! (I have a Lexicon lambda recording interface...but when I'm using MIDI, I don't use it.... I have a USB cable.)

[Phlipper]

Hi Laura,

From what I remember of Cubase LE, if you've already written the MIDI data you'll need to choose your quantize options and then manually 'snap' the notes to the gridlines. New notes you add will automatically snap into place, but you need to jig the old ones into place.

Hope this helps

[richiebee]

Looks like some of you need a music theory 101. It's helpful to know how music is broken down into subdivisions, particularly for quantizing, but also for using the piano roll editor and drum editor and if you're tracking a live band to the DAW's click, even in the project window. Understanding it will make much more sense of what your DAW is telling you about where your notes are placed and the length of them.

Rich