A Beginner's Guide to getting a MIDI setup Started Part II By Kon Wilms Well folks, I presume that you have read part one of this article which appeared in AM/FM #7. If not, check it out. It should provide you with some good pointers pertaining to getting low cost and useable equipment. Now what I plan to do here is provide some good guidelines for any prospective MIDI equipment buyers. Be sure to take these points into GOOD consideration; as the first-time buyer is more than certain to be culled into buying a piece of equipment which is not suited for his/her use. Often this can be very off-putting to first time buyers. So don't pay attention to the very nice pics of that 'hot gear' in the newest Keyboard mag or the great-sounding specs offered... sure it might be amazing but not necessarily what you wanted, not so? Coming up then are the main categories of equipment and points worth noting. Synths / Workstations. 1. Old <> outdated. Don't be fooled into thinking that old gear isn't 'hip' or won't meet with your needs. This is a mistake often made. I'll bet you didn't bother to think where the good old analogue sounds on those hip synths come from? More than likely a golden-oldie like an OB-8. So you see old should never be compared to outdated. 2. Don't be fooled by the 'workstation' image give by new synths. A software sequencer on your Amiga outstrips any synth-sequencer by leaps and bounds. That's a fact. Of course this goes for a lot of other features too; as I'll explain further on. 3. Synths with sample-RAM? Sounds great doesn't it? Well stop jumping around in fits of excitement because its not all what it's cut out to be. You'll find that sample-RAM synths often just have this feature to add extra PCM to the synth ar a low cost. Many new buyers think that they are getting what seems to be a sampler-synth combination although granted the synth with the sample-RAM cannot always sample directly and more frequently requires PCM-disks of data instead. This is wrong. Sample-RAM <> sampler. Don't be fooled. 4. Lastly, PLEASE PLEASE don't make the mistake of buying a synth that offers rinky-dink or basic sounds for example your standard DX-rhodes or plinky marimba or cutesy orchestra hit. A sampler is your best bet if you want short samples. In this respect; when you're checking out a synth... 5. Take NOTE of the RAM onboard and PCM options. More than often low RAM (1-2mb) means little variety in sounds. ie you'll always get the same type of bass sound popping up here and there in patch-banks etc. BUT there are the exceptions to the rule. (Let's take Ensoniq's SQ-1 as a good example of that!) 6. From the abovementioned make sure you ALWAYS take out a prospective purchase on Apro and test it out thoroughly. After all you are paying for the equipment and you have a right to know what you're getting, or not so? Make sure you put it through it's paces and experiment with programming features. A good idea is to make a simple patch and run through all the basic built-in waveforms AS IS (ie without effects-processing etc). This will give you a good idea of what you'll be able to do with the synth. Which leads me to... 7. Effects. Take off the effects. Do the sounds still sound as good? If not don't waste your time with the synth if you plan to use it multitimbrally. But if you plan to use single patches in a big rack setup this makes little or no difference. 8. Expandability. Don't be fooled. A synth doesn't have to be expandable. It all depends on you. If you're happy with the gear that's what counts. On the other hand; if you are the kind of person that always searches for new sounds as a basis for ideas then you should consider a synth that is expandable as far as PCM RAM goes. Drum Machines 1. You've seen that new drum-machine with the 500 sounds. Great not so? Not really. Think of the effort required to sift through all those sounds. It almost makes you want to give up. This brings me onto my next point... 2. Factory setups on drum machines. If you've used a few you'll be aware that the factory might setup what it considers your 'hip hop bank', 'rock drumset' etc. There are many musicians happy to use these but take note: A musician should be creative; not dictated to by 'arrangements' such as this. It goes against the grain of originality. Ever tried using the 'Rock drumset' kick with the 'hip hop bank'. If I can remark here... what I've just mentioned is what hip-hop and such music was built on, not so? So you'll agree that drum-machines with their hundreds of sounds in cute little arranged banks is just not on. Of course not all drum machines are like this... BUT 3. Unfortunately whenever you buy a drum machine you'll NEVER use every one of the sounds it has (we're speaking SR-16, Procussion, etc here, guys) AND more than likely in the next month a new drum machine comes out with better and more hip sounds. So the solution? 4. A cheap sampler is the purchase you should definitely consider in place of an expensive drum machine. Bear in mind that you are buying the sampler to be used as a 'dedicated drum-machine'. But how to go about doing this? 5. Build yourself a library. Use a variety of sources. You should aim at a concise library of say 10 disks. This should give you a wide range of sounds you (a) think are good and (b) will find a use for. So you see a cheap sampler outstrips any drum machine. 6. Basically in this context of use you can use ANY sampler. Complexity is not essential here and the features are not that important. You're looking for replay and sampling and that's about as far as you need to go in this area. Samplers 1. Memory. You should ALWAYS consider memory if purchasing a sampler. It's the thing you'll most often run out of. So here expandibility plays a part. 2. Editing. Graphic is ALWAYS better. On the other hand you might have a editing sample tool on your Amiga (sample-wrench, anyone?) but most of the time a sampler which can dump through MIDI has a LCD anyhow. 3. Polyphony. If you've dont Amiga music you'll know that you can sample nice chords and such but lets think about this. You're planning to invest some cash in the sampler and if you're not a techno nut or disco freak you'll want to do something CONSTRUCTIVE (not that techno or disco is not constructive!) :-) with your equipment. So in this case polyphony of at least 16 is recommended. (But you're bound to cheat with chords at one time or another anyhow!) 4. Budget. If you want to use a sampler instead of a synth but cant afford a good one rather go for a synth. 5. Use. Samplers are good for quick short and easily looped sounds. So... when you take out a synth you like and test it out see what kind of sounds it offers. ALWAYS see if the sounds you like can be sampled. Most often they can be. In this way you can rather invest in a sampler; giving you the sounds from the synth that you want an a lot more. 6. Samplers offer the most variety. You're not fixed to any specific sound or the ROM-constraints of a synth. This must always be kept in mind. Effects units 1. These don't come cheap. I reccomend that if your synth produces adequate effects for your use you need not invest in a effects unit. 2. A bit of reverb adds a lot of spice. You don't really need '5 simultaneous effects'. If you're stuck for cash a small reverb unit will do. You'll find that it will help to bring your sources more together in a mix; especially if you're using various effects on your synth(s), drum machine etc. 3. Samplers without built in effects often benefit from simple effects. If you are on a tight budget a simple unit will help bring uniformity to your samples (as they will naturally be from different sources) and it can also disguise noisy samples. (Not very 'ethical' is it? But then again sampling is usually not at all ethical... and that's what makes it fun, hmm?) :-) 4. Ofcourse the last thing that need be mentioned here is that effects units will breathe new life into your mixes. If you have the synth equipment you'd be pretty silly not to invest in a good effects unit. Mixers 1. You WILL need a mixer (and good quality speakers). If you're serious about your music Hi-Fi speakers will not do. Professional monitor speakers are an essential purchase. They will show you your errors rather than disguise them like Hi-fi speakers often do! 2. OUTPUTS on your synth/sampler/etc play an important part here. Don't go an buy a host of synths and samplers with multiple outputs and then discover you don't have the money for a 20-channel mixer. 3. Other options like Midi-control, noise levels and effects sends should also be investigated according to what your needs are. Out-tro :-) Well hopefully I've succeeded by now in giving you some useful tips about the categories listed above, as well as some pros and cons of interest. I've gone into as much depth as I found necessary here; and it should be born in mind that everyone has different tastes. Well hopefully I've succeeded in listing global tips which won't put me at anyone's mercy. But if you beg to differ feel free to write us a letter with additional tips. I ended off the last part of this series saying that part two would have listings of good budget setups. Well I decided that It's pointless doing that as each of us prefers something different to the other most of the time. Anyhow these points should put you on the right track to getting your modest Midi setup up-and-running in no time!