home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
Floppyshop 2
/
Floppyshop - 2.zip
/
Floppyshop - 2.iso
/
diskmags
/
4671-5.790
/
dmg-4690
/
midi.asc
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1989-12-31
|
7KB
|
174 lines
=================
GETTING INTO MIDI
=================
Being on Grade seven piano, I thought I had to get a MIDI
keyboard and sequencer! Well, I have, and this article will
firstly review the software I use, then the MIDI keyboard,
and finally tell you all about going into the big world of
MIDI - it's not that bad you know! MIDI is a way of getting
information from an electronic keyboard or sound module to
your computer using 5 pin DIN cables. It stands for Musical
Instrument Digital Interface and when you have a keyboard
and two cables, you begin to enter a whole new world....
--------------------------------------
Review: Concertmate 1000 MIDI keyboard
--------------------------------------
Not a very well known make of keyboard, but almost exactly
the same as a certain Yamaha, but £200 less! The keyboard
works on the mains using a power-pack as well as from
battery, although the mains option is the most useful. As
well as the mains input socket on the back, there are four
other sockets; headphone input, sustain pedal input, MIDI In
and MIDI Out. They're all obvious, but the MIDI In and MIDI
Out are the most important ones! The keyboard is black in
colour and has a LED display which displays numbers only.
There is a DEMO button for you to listen to a demonstration
as well as 100 instruments and 100 rhythms. The keyboard
also has VARIABLE TOUCH RESPONSE which means the harder you
hit the keys, the louder they get, and the softer you hit
them, the softer they get. The keys are quite nicely sized;
they're not too small. In fact, they're bigger than my
piano's keys!
On turning on the keyboard and connecting it to my computer,
I loaded up CONCERTO which I'd previously bought. After
having a fiddle with the keyboard I found out you could do
several things which I will now list.
RECORD: Using the record button you can record quite a
lengthy song. Absolutely everything you do is recorded on
the keyboard from changing the instrument to changing the
mode.
PLAY: Guess what this does? It plays back the song you
recorded and you can alter the tempo as well!!
ACCOMPANIMENT: Choose a rhythm from one of the 100, go into
single fingered mode and your tune is accompanied by the
rhythm and the bass.
TEMPO: Using the control panel you can turn the tempo right
up or right down.
There are ten styles of instrument which I'll list, and ten
styles of rhythm which I'll also list. Piano, Harpsichord,
Guitar, Solo I, Solo II, Organ, Bass/Split, Synth-Sound and
Ensemble make up the instrument styles while Rock, Pops I,
Pops II, Jazz, Funk, Disco, Classic, Latin, Various I and
Various II make up the rhythms. There's certainly a lot to
choose from. Unfortunately, the keyboard isn't multi-timbral
which means you can't have it playing the piano, trumpet and
flute (for example) at the same time. That's about it
really. Oh, and it comes with a nice little music stand.
From: Tandy UK
Contact: your local dealer
Price: £199
The Uppers....
--------------
* Loads of instruments and rhythms
* Keys aren't too small like on most keyboards
* MIDI compatible, of course!
* Stereo sound
* Easy to use with lots of features
and the Downers
---------------
* Not multi-timbral
* Doesn't come with mains adaptor.
Overall: 85% * Bronze Star Award *
~~~~~~~~~
-----------------------
Concerto MIDI sequencer
-----------------------
Once you've got a keyboard, you have to have a sequencer.
What a sequencer does is allows you to type in notes on the
computer and write your own song and have your keyboard play
it back, or play a song on your keyboard, record it on the
computer and edit it. Unfortunately, using the latter method
never sounds as good. Once you've edited your song and are
happy with it, you can then put it on disk and maybe sell it
or place it in the PD market.
Concerto is a MIDI Sequencer from HiSoft, priced very
competitively at around £40. Although not as friendly to use
as some of the other sequencers I know, it does have quite a
lot of features for its price. On opening the package you
find a manual, two disks and a registration card. The manual
is fairly well written, although doesn't explain some of the
stuff that everybody needs to know.
It is compatible with all keyboards, if your keyboard
"driver" isn't there, you just type in all the details of
your keyboard and save it to disk for next time. Concerto
has several editors; the score editor which is my favourite,
the grid editor, the step-time editor and the event editor.
The grid editor is the most un-user friendly, score is much
better - providing you can write and understand music!
Unfortunately, the score isn't as good as other editors I've
used on other sequencers, but the other sequencers were
dearer!
Concerto can also import sound samples, and comes with a
little converter program to convert them. This allows you to
use drums and speech in your songs if you don't have them on
your keyboard (and not many keyboards have speech!).
Overall, a nice but un-user friendly, sequencer.
From: HiSoft
Contact: 0525 718181
Price: £39.95
The Uppers....
--------------
* Quite a few features
* Can import sound samples
* Compatible with all keyboards
* Has a score editor
and the Downers
---------------
* Un-user friendly
* Manual not written too well
Overall: 70%
~~~~~~~
--------------------
Getting on with MIDI
--------------------
OK, so you've read two reviews. Now you've got to decided
what stuff you want to get. First you'll need two MIDI
cables, available from most good computer stores and a
synth/a keyboard and sound module/sound module. The choice
between these three set-ups is hard. A synth is like the
Concertmate 1000 - it has all the sounds built into it as
well as being a keyboard. A sound module is a little box
containing up to 1000 sounds which just plugs into the
computer. You can use it quite happily without a keyboard. A
stand alone keyboard has to be connected to a sound module
or it will be rendered useless. The cheapest option is the
MIDI synth one, it will cost you anything between £100 and
£300. The sound module and keyboard is the best option, but
the dearest; it will cost you about £400 altogether. Buying
a sound module alone can cost you £300.
Once you've decided on the hardware, you come to face
another problem - the software. I've found one of the
cheapest and one of the best to be MidiStudio Master. It
costs just £9.95 from Ladbroke and is packed to the brim
with features and boasts user-friendliness. The other
options are the really expensive, but brilliant, sequencers
like Notator or Cubase. These are the Calamus's of the music
market and although they are priced at £200 they are well
worth it. Alternatively, there is the PD market. Check out
our MUSIC section under the PD menu to see if there are any
sequencers there. Good luck! Oh, and if you write any music,
send it in to us for review and inclusion into our PDL!