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You’ve
been DJing for years and now you want to take the next step
and make your own music. Over my next few articles, I’ll
introduce you to the equipment that you’ll need to start
on your path to the Grammy Awards. There are many pieces
to this puzzle, but if you know the function of each piece,
you will be able to buy your equipment accordingly and not
waste time or money. For now, we’ll talk about the basics
of MIDI and what you’ll need to set up a MIDI studio. In
part two of this series we will discuss how to use MIDI
software to create a song.
What
is MIDI?
In August of 1983, musical instrument manufacturers introduced
a protocol that, by providing a link capable of transmitting
and receiving digital data, would allow instruments from
different manufacturers to communicate with each other.
This is MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface), and
it changed the recording industry. This equipment could
include samplers, keyboards, computer sequencers, and sound
modules, but it may also include effects units, mixers and
recorders.
Don’t
confuse MIDI data with audio data. MIDI transmits commands,
not an audio signal. Audio files, which can be very large
depending on the size and quality of the audio, are used
to store digitally recorded information, usually in the
.wav format. Audio files recorded at CD quality usually
take up about 10 megabytes per minute. MIDI files, however,
because they contain instructions not recorded in audio,
are very small, taking up about 10 kilobytes per minute.
The
instructions contained in a MIDI file are called MIDI messages,
and there are two types: System and Channel. System messages
are received and understood by all the devices connected
to the MIDI setup, thereby insuring synchronization between
them.
Channel
messages, however, are more important. Think of a channel
message like a channel on a TV. As each TV channel has a
different program on it, so too is each piece of your equipment
set to an individual channel.
This is so your sequencer can speak to each device separately.
There are two main messages: note-on and note-off. When
you press a key on a keyboard, that information is sent
out as a note-on command. Also included in that data is
how hard you hit the key (velocity), and what key it is.
When you take your finger off the key, a new message goes
to the sequencer. That message is the note-off message.
Other channel messages include all of the controller movements,
the knobs, wheels, and sliders. These controllers can be
set to edit volume, pitch bend, and filters, just to name
a few.
The
most important part of a MIDI system is the sequencer. There
are two types of sequencers: one is a computer-based program;
the other is a stand-alone box. Many of the new keyboards
have sequencers built into them. If you buy a keyboard with
this feature, it may be all you need to start. In this article,
though, we will talk about the computer program.
A
sequencer is basically a recorder. It uses a graphical display
to represent all the information used in the MIDI messages.
When you click the record button the messages that we just
talked about are saved into the computer—remember, not as
audio files but as data files. When you click the play button
on the sequencer, it sends the data back to the devices
and sound comes out of the devices’ audio outputs. In the
next article we will delve deeper into the sequencer and
take you through the steps of composing a song using Steinberg’s
Cubase VST 5.0.
But
for now, what do you need to get the data into the computer?
Well, you need a port. There are internal ports and external
ports. The internal ports work with a MIDI synthesizer on
your computer soundcard—called “Wavetable” or “sound font”
devices. You can check your soundcard by going to the Windows
control panel, then Multimedia, then MIDI tab. This is where
you will find the internal and external ports. An external
port will connect to your computer by printer port or the
new USB port. Many MIDI interfaces are available on the
market, with prices ranging from $30 to $200. The differences
are mainly in the amount of MIDI ports available (two to
eight). These 5-pin ports are found on every MIDI-compatible
device. There are three ports: IN, OUT, and THRU. On the
interface you will see IN and OUT. On the devices you will
see IN, OUT and sometimes THRU.
The
IN port accepts data coming “in” to the device from an external
source. This is the information that controls the devices
(the above MIDI messages). The OUT port sends these messages
to the other devices in the MIDI setup. The THRU port also
sends messages to the setup, but is used mainly as a method
to chain more devices into the setup without the need for
more ports on the MIDI interface.
In other words, you have a computer, which has a USB port.
Now you buy a MIDI interface with, let’s say, two ports
IN and two ports OUT. You also have one keyboard and three
sound modules. You connect the computer to the interface
by way of the USB port. Then you connect the No. 1 IN and
OUT of the interface to the IN and OUT of the keyboard.
IN
goes to OUT and vice versa. The keyboard will now be called
the controller, which will send MIDI messages. (There are
keyboards available called MIDI controllers; this is because
they contain no sounds and their only purpose is to send
messages).
Now
we take the No. 2 OUT port of the interface and connect
it to the IN of the first sound module, then from the first
module’s THRU to the IN port of the second module. Then,
from the second module’s THRU to the third module’s IN port.
Now from the third module’s THRU to the interface No. 2
IN. (See diagram 1). This setup is sometimes called a daisy
chain.
As
stated above, the MIDI cable has a 5-pin connector. Of the
five pins only three are used. Pin 1 and 3 move data, pin
2 is the ground, and 4 and 5 are unused. When you set up
a MIDI system make sure you use MIDI cables—whose length,
though unlimited, shouldn’t stretch longer than 50 feet—because
they are shielded and it is very important that the data
is never corrupted.
We
have talked about the port setup, but what are we really
setting up? Sound modules. Over the past seven years, as
my client list grows so does my equipment list. To be competitive
you need current sounds, but be careful to avoid a case
of the “Joneses”—when you think you always need the latest
sound module. I know a remixer who spends more time buying
the newest modules and telling people about his new purchase
that he never works. He thinks that his career will really
take off as soon as he gets the new “blablabla.” My recommendation
is that you get one, maybe two sound modules and learn how
to make them sing. You can make a record with one good module,
just learn everything about it.
If
you have ever shopped for modules, I’m sure you have seen
words like multitimbral, general MIDI, and polyphony. If
you’re brave enough to ask the salesperson, and aren’t afraid
to seem stupid, you will discover that nine times out of
10 they don’t know, either, or they make something up. So
here’s the real deal: A sound module is a device that plays
back sampled sounds and/or analog sounds. Some modules are
very specific in the sounds they play back. An example would
be the Roland R8 drum machine. This module plays only drum
sounds, nothing else. Whereas the E-Mu Proteus 2000 can
play back drums, bass, leads, sound effects and more.
Polyphony
means that the module can play more than one voice at a
time. For example, if you had a sampler that was polyphonic
you would be able to play five keys or samples at the same
time and you would hear all of the samples. By contrast,
in the early days all keyboards and modules were monophonic.
This means that if you played five keys you heard only one
voice. So look to make sure of what you have.
If
you see a module that is multitimbral, that means it can
play two or more different sounds at the same time. The
different sounds that a module can produce are sometimes
called “programs,” “timbres,” or “patches.” So if you look
at the display of your module you may see that patch 26
is a sound called “discodrop” and patch 34 is “bassfret.”
The association of all patch numbers to all sounds is called
a patch map. This map can be downloaded into some sequencers.
You will be able to access the patches from the front panel
of the module or by using MIDI message changes.
Have
you ever wondered how when you go to a website it sometimes
plays music? Well, that’s General MIDI. General MIDI or
GM is a standard used by the music industry to unify all
keyboards, modules and computer soundcards. This allows
a musician to compose a MIDI file and play it back on any
GM device. How is this done? GM consists of 128 sounds that
always have the same patch numbers. Piano is always No.
1, picked bass is No. 34, and drums will always be No. 10.
You can find a chart of all the GM patches on the Internet.
Stay
tuned, as next month we’ll dive into songwriting with Cubase
VST 5.0.
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