Sorry to be out of the loop for a day or so -- gigs and family -- I've been delightfully busy!

Seems I'm behind the times. The chip is gone and we have a software synth in modern computers. I guess I have to get out more.

If my computers are any example, software or hardware, the built in MIDI software sounds in my PCs and Mac are still cheesy.

I never said the MIDI sounds are better than the Real Tracks sounds. In fact, I have repeatedly say that MIDI has no sounds, but MIDI synthesizers play the sounds in the way that the MIDI data instructions tell them to. A good MIDI synthesizer can come close to the RT sounds. If you spend enough money the MIDI sounds would be even better than the acoustic instrument sounds, at least according to all the synth players who play on major recordings and in major concerts.


What I say is:
  1. If you have a good sound card, the MIDI sounds are definitely 'good enough' and coupled with the ability to edit the MIDI data, you can create something that is impossible to create with audio loops. Like the example where I changed the 3 notes in the bass line to match the horns that I added. With RTs that turn around would be impossible. I also changed the bass to a walking bass in the solo section when a walking bass was not in the style. Another impossibility with audio loops without changing the sound of the bass.
  2. We musicians have trained ears and care a lot about tone. The general public does not, they care more about expression, and that is where MIDI has it's advantage -- you can play with the tracks to get more expression. If the public cared about tone, Stevie Nicks, Rod Stewart, Doctor John, Bob Dylan, Blossom Dearie, Leon Redbone, John Lennon, Louis Armstrong, John Coltrane, Maynard Ferguson, and thousands of others would have never reached stardom. I know somebody is going to say, "I like Coltrane's tone" and that's just the point. Tone is in the ear of the listener. I think Luciano Pavarotti had a much better voice than either José Carreras or Plácido Domingo, but others would disagree. I think Stan Getz has much better tone than John Coltrane. Others disagree. The majority of the general public could care less, they just like or dislike the music that they make -- their personal expression is what moves the audience.
  3. Playing for a recording and playing live are two different ways of playing. With MIDI tracks you can optimize your song for live performance
  4. Pr-recorded tracks are mixed and mastered for a recording, MIDI tracks have more separation, the result is the loops can sound like karaoke while the MIDI tracks do not.

They both have their uses. If I was sending a songwriting demo off to Nashville, I'd use Real Tracks as I know many of the people are opposed to MIDI demos. If I was making a backing track to play live over I'd use MIDI tracks.

I think what Peter Gannon and the crew have done with the Real Tracks is simply amazing. But like any looping software, you can only go so far with it. Your own personal creativity is limited. You cannot change or edit any of the notes in the pre-recorded audio.

I've been working with MIDI since the 1980s. When loops became popular I bought some looping software and some loops from the big companies that advertise in Keyboard and Electronic Musician magazines. At first I was impressed by the tone. But in a while the honeymoon was over when I found that I couldn't do what I wanted to do with them. I couldn't change anything about the loops, just rearrange them. It was like making a collage out of a finite set of clippings. What I wanted to do simple things like change a few bass notes? Set the high note in the horn part up an octave? What if I wanted to delete a few notes? What if I wanted to do something more complex? Can't do it. I bought music software to PLAY it and PLAY WITH it. I suppose not everybody is like me. I also like to play other people's music, and that is what I have a CD/DVD player for. But when I'm making music, I want my own personal ideas and my own personal expression to come through. I want to play with it. That's why they call it playing music.

The title of this thread is "Unhappy with MIDI sounds". I say that

  • MIDI can be almost as good as real sounds played in a good synthesizer
  • The public cares more about expression than they do about the finer points of tone
  • MIDI can represent your own personal musical expression more than pre-recorded loops can

Summary: I like MIDI better as (a) I know the public cares more about expression than tone and (b) I think the ability to put my own personal expression into the music far outweighs any difference in the tone between my moderately priced MIDI synths and the pre-recorded loops, YMMV

Insights and incites by Notes ♫

Bob "Notes" Norton smile Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com

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