Floppyshop 2/Floppyshop - 2.zip/Floppyshop - 2.iso/diskmags/0022-3.564/dmg-0107/midilsn3.txt

Text File | 1997-04-16 | 6KB | 110 lines

NOTICE: This article originally appeared in the February issue of Atari
Interface Magazine and may be freely distributed or reprinted in non-profit
User Group publications as long as the article's author and Atari Interface
Magazine are credited AND this notice is reprinted with the article.  All
other publications must obtain written permission from Unicorn Publications,
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this article.

Mini MIDI Lessons #3 by Morris G. Miller (El Paso)

What does MIDI Cost?

Like watches, MIDI can cost as little or as much as you want to put into it.
I can give you some price ranges, but they are arbitrary.  I can give you
some
recommendations, but they are generalities.  You will still have to evaluate
for your application and make the final decisions.

The three basic components, aside from the computer, are the sequencer
(software), keyboard and synthesizers, and the music sound system.  The first
two are most urgent to this discussion.

A starter sequencer is available from the public domain for most popular
computers.  I recommend starting with one, even though I did not.  This
allows
you to find and settle on a keyboard first.  Most vendors provide low-end
versions of their sequencers starting in the $30 to $60 range.  The high-end
versions of the same programs will be from $300 to $700.  Accessories can
cost
up to an additional $500, costing $20 to $100 for each added utility.

Software is expensive, but good programs are worth it.  The low-end versions
will not have all the features of the expensive versions, naturally, but will
possibly have everything you need or want.  Again, try them first.

Keyboard selection is more difficult, and should come first.  As in a
previous
discussion, decide whether you need your emphasis on the keyboard or the
synthesizer.  Don't be carried away by the "local" features, such as rhythms,
chords and fancy noises the keyboard can make while you play it.  Most of
these things will not be recorded on the MIDI.  However, if your daughter
will
enjoy playing it live, then consider it.  New keyboards start about $130 and
go to $3000 or more.  Keep an eye on swap meets, yard sales, classified ads
and pawn shops.  Someone gets a good bargain every day, somewhere.

Not all keyboards give the same amount of information.  If touch sensitivity
(how fast and hard the key is pressed and released) is important, then keep
it
in mind.  The difference?  If the keyboard does not record how loud the note
is performed, then it must be added in the editor.  If the keyboard does not
respond to touch sensitivity, it is very probable the synthesizer in it also
does not.  That could be more important.  Does it have input for foot pedals,
modulation control, pitch bend (glide pitch while playing), or pan (stereo
balance).  Many keyboards and their synthesizers are only monophonic (one
output, not stereo).  Examine it carefully.  Seek advice and help if
necessary.

You can add the sound system and cassette recorder as anything from a simple
AM/FM radio and cassette recorder to a grand home music system.  It should be
stereo.  The rest I leave to your imagination.

Why Should I Do MIDI?
Maybe you shouldn't.  MIDI is not for everyone any more than is rhubarb pie.
Ugh!

Why would I want to hear Fredrick Chopin's Polonaise played on a synthesizer
when I have a compact disk of Philippe Entremont in performance?  Because
1) You had fun entering the music; 2) You gained a lot of understanding of
both the music and Chopin by doing so; 3) It was edited until you had the
performance interpretation you felt Chopin himself would give it; 4) You feel
it is YOUR performance -- as though you are playing it -- doing it YOUR way.
It can be performed on any of a dozen and a half different pianos -- your
choice -- or played by a trumpet and bass or whatever interpretation you want
to put on it.

Besides, who says you have to play Chopin?  Try your hand at "Moonstruck."
I'll bet you don't have that on CD.  Put your own weird interpretations of
sounds into it.  It can sound "spaced out," tin-pan, heavy-metal, or
whatever.  Or, very smooth.

Did you ever want to sing with your own orchestra or combo?  You got it!
Record it and amaze your friends.  It's a great way to find out just who your
friends really are!

Sheet music is in abundance.  A lot of it is not on CD.  Some of it was out
of
production before the record player was invented.  You have a way of playing
it anyway.

And talk about inventing -- that is my main interest in MIDI.  I write songs,
mostly a cappella (vocal).  I try my songs on MIDI with instruments having
the
range of voices which will do the final performance.  I can hear my songs
without having to sing and record all the parts myself (which I often do).
MIDI allows me to edit until I have my song just the way I want it.

The sequencer I use also has tape sync and SEMPTE (another subject).  I have
an an 8-channel recorder which allows me to record eight times with all
recordings in sync -- playing to the same conductor, if you please.  I record
the strings on one track, the woodwinds on another, the brass, percussion,
reeds and bass on other tracks.  When I play it back, the entire orchestra
plays.  This is accomplished with two synthesizers, playing no more than six
to eight instruments at a time.

Maybe you should not do MIDI.  But, if you like to have fun with music, there
is no other way you can have this much fun with a full orchestra from the
confines of your own music room at home.  So, do it!