Modern MIDI

Sequencing and Performing Using Traditional and Mobile Tools

Sam McGuire

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2019
• eBook ISBN: 9781351263825
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Music Theory & Appreciation

Modern MIDI equips you with everything you need to use MIDI in your music productions. With a particular focus on practical application and step-by-step explanations, this book does far more than tell you about how MIDI works. Simple explanations and real-world scenarios encourage you to test out the techniques for yourself.

The second edition of Modern MIDI builds on the first, making sequencing approachable for absolute beginners, reinforcing the fundamentals of MIDI and expanding the coverage into new mobile technology and vintage gear.

Modern MIDI is essential reading for beginners from all backgrounds, including students and professionals, as well as experienced users looking to develop their existing setups.

1

Introduction To MIDI

Chapter co-authored by Adam Olson, Shenandoah Conservatory

MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) has been around for over 30 years and shows no signs of slowing down or being replaced. MIDI is a control protocol that sends performance data between multiple musical instruments and sequencers. Instead of starting with the history of MIDI in this chapter, let’s get right into what it is and how you are going to be using it. One significant advantage of this book on the subject of MIDI is that we are going to take a very practical approach to using this tool and focus a lot less on much of the underlying data.

Ten Things You Need to Know about MIDI:

1.MIDI is everywhere.

2.MIDI is incapable of making sound by itself.

3.It is possible to successfully use MIDI without knowing anything about it.

4.Famous people use MIDI.

5.MIDI isn’t just for music.

6.MIDI’s “magic” number is 128.

7.The key to using MIDI is being a skilled musician.

8.MIDI is a huge time saver/waster.

9.The differences between digital audio and MIDI are fewer and fewer.

10.MIDI has changed very little in the past 30 years.

Figure 1.1Notation in Symphony Pro

1. MIDI Is Everywhere

Chances are that you have held a MIDI device in the past 20 minutes, heard a MIDI performance in the last 12 hours, and possibly even used MIDI without knowing it. From cell phones to computers and from television to the movie theater to the stage, MIDI is used in nearly every situation. It is so pervasive because it is cheap, reliable, and universal. The most exciting chapter of this book covers the mobile uses of MIDI and looks at what the future is bringing.

There has been a really healthy resurgence of television music being performed by live musicians. A few years ago only a handful of shows used an actual orchestra, with the Simpsons and Lost heading the pack. The majority of shows use a MIDI-based soundtrack and the viewing audience is none the wiser. The 30-year-old MIDI protocol can sound so good because of the programmer in charge and the sounds she controls, and not because of MIDI itself. Even when a feature film uses a full orchestra, there is still the likelihood that MIDI was used to layer additional instruments and sounds into the mix.

Figure 1.2FL Studio for iOS

If you turn on the radio (not taking into account the oldies or classical stations), there is an overwhelming chance that you’ll hear the effects of MIDI multiple times each hour. It might be the on-air talent triggering a sound effect or the latest mega hit that was crafted by producers in the studio, but you can’t escape MIDI. The next time you play a musical app on your iPhone or Galaxy you might be using some iteration of MIDI. If you go out to a club there is an excellent chance that the DJ will be using Ableton or FL Studio, which means he is using MIDI. It is literally all around us.

The sheer number of implementations of MIDI means that it is a format that is here to stay. The expense involved with a move away from MIDI is prohibitive to say the least, and it works well enough for nearly all situations. This is discussed further in the history chapter, and the ramifications of competing formats are explored when we look at the future.

2. MIDI Is Incapable of Making Sound by Itself

A common analogy for MIDI is the player piano, which thanks to HBO’s Westworld has come back into the public eye. The paper roll is covered in holes that indicate where the piano should play notes. While a player piano often conjures thoughts of the Wild West and smoky saloons, there are some extremely elegant player pianos. Ampico created a concert grand piano that is controlled by a roll of paper. These pianos were in circulation in the early twentieth century and were used by the likes of Rachmaninoff and Debussy. You can still find piano rolls of actual performances of Rachmaninoff, which when played through a grand piano are just like having him in the room. The paper is just a roll of paper until you attach it to a beautiful piano, in the very same way that MIDI is only as good as the sounds you attach it to. If you use the default sounds in FL Studio then it will sound like FL Studio. If you attach it to a MPC, then you have the access to the same sounds as hundreds of hit records.

Figure 1.3Ampico Piano and Rolls

MIDI data include a number of pieces of information. When you press a key on a MIDI keyboard, the velocity is tracked along with the note being pressed and any continuing pressure caused by your finger on the key. Once you release the key there is a message transmitted that forces the instrument to stop playing. All of this information is transmitted in the MIDI stream and controls the destination instrument. Not only can MIDI not make a sound by itself, but the quality of any sound triggered by MIDI is completely dependent on the quality of the instrument. In a related discussion, a poorly programmed MIDI track cannot possibly make an excellent virtual instrument sound good; both pieces need to be excellent in their level of quality.

Figure 1.4Editing MIDI in Logic Pro X

3. It Is Possible to Successfully Use MIDI without Knowing Anything about It

Let’s look at a user group who needs to know very little, if anything at all, about MIDI in relation to daily usage. For a number of years, GarageBand was released bundled with every new Mac computer. Instead of using much of the traditional recording studio terminology, GarageBand simplified things and barely even used the word MIDI. A musician could hook up her musical keyboard and things would just...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• 1 Introduction To MIDI: Chapter co-authored by Adam Olson, Shenandoah Conservatory
• 2 MIDI Hardware
• 3 Mobile MIDI
• 4 Recording MIDI
• 5 Editing MIDI
• 6 Mixing
• 7 Using MIDI Live
• 8 Music Theory Primer: by Paul Musso, Professor of Music at the University of Colorado Denver
• 9 History of MIDI
• 10 Exploring the Future of MIDI: A Reflection on the Future of MIDI by Nathan van der Rest, Masters Student at the University of Colorado Denver
• 11 Interviews
• 12 Appendix
• Index