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Within 5 years all computers will be touch screen, tablet shaped or folded up, have wireless multiple ways, AND Band in a Box will run on a new revamped touch interface. And midi will be a memory. <...>



John you have a lot of good points, but here is where I respectfully disagree. MIDI will not disappear until another way for synthesizers to talk to each other gets invented. Before MIDI synth players had to be fenced in by a dozen or more keyboards piled on top of each other and in a U shape. MIDI not only became the solution for that so a synth player needs only one or two keyboards and lots of synth modules, but it also has become the communications system internally in most synthesizers.

MIDI came about with a rare cooperation between competing brands of synthesizers back in the adolescent phase of the synth market. I don't see Yamaha, Roland, Kurzweill, Casio, Moog, Hammond, Korg, M-Audio, Ensoinq, Novation, Technics, Akai, Buchla, and the other companies getting together again for a new standard any time soon. Especially since MIDI still works well and has room for more growth.

Saying MIDI will be a memory is like saying synths will be a memory. I could be wrong, but I don't see synths or MIDI disappearing in my lifetime.

I do see it disappearing in the amateur/hobbyist market because it's easier to play loops than to create the music yourself.

Another point I disagree with is the audience does give a hoot about signature licks. They may think your rendition of whatever is good enough, but if someone else comes along and does it better, they will know the difference. When I play the signature lick on the intro to "Don't Be Cruel" the audience responds before I sing the first note. Same for the intro to "Old Time Rock And Roll", "New York NY", "Electric Boogie", "Memory" (from Cats), "Sea Cruise", "At Last", "Key Largo", "Come Monday", "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine", "California Dreaming", "Build Me Up Buttercup", "Margaritaville", "Crocodile Rock", "Proud Mary", "Sweet Caroline", "Smooth" (Santana), "Conga", "Volcano", "Turn The Beat Around", "Dancing Queen", "Dreams" (Fleetwood Mac),"Hot Hot Hot", "Jumpin' Jack Flash", "Just The Way You Are", "Pretty Woman", "Satin Doll", "That's Amore", "Time In A Bottle" and dozens of other songs. They hit the dance floor before the first note is sung, because they know those hooks.

You even hear the "1,001 Strings" and other Muzak versions of pop songs doing the signature licks, because in many songs, these licks are important to the song. When I learn a song I determine which songs I think must have those signature licks in them and I include them. On other songs I may completely re-arrange the tune. It's my choice, it's my personal artistic taste (for what that's worth) and MIDI allows me to make that choice - pre-recorded loops do not.

But I also agree without the vocals and/or other lead instruments on top of the background, the best backing track in the world is pretty worthless. I also think that the solos in Peter's excellent example are a bit part of the reason why his sounds better. When I play that sequence, I sing and play guitar licks live on top of it and Leilani plays rhythm guitar and does fill-in vocals. By then you hardly know that the brass sounds only sound 'almost' like real horns and the drums are cigital samples of real drums instead of digital recordings of the drums themselves.

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Bob your points are certainly valid, to a degree. Where i disagree is where you make a finite statement. The net is full of karaoke midi files. Van Basco and many other sites, to name at least one.



I've visited those sites and most of the MIDIs I found there are not well done. Many of them are step entered or played by a hobbyist who doesn't play to pro standards. It's rare to find the gem in all that schlock. But it's like YouTube videos, people want to show off their stuff, although IMO some people should work on their skills more before they do.

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Your song is a perfect example, the piano chops chink chink chink are in absolute perfect timing, not capable of the variables that Peter RT had



I played those piano parts live into a sequencer before I imported the snippets into the BiaB styles. I play all the parts of my styles live into a sequencer that has a resolution of up to 960ppq. Any quantization done would be by PG Music's archaic 120ppq resolution in BiaB. It takes the 960ppq and resolves the timing 8 times coarser. 240 to well over 900ppq is the standard of the industry and people have been asking for at least 240 on the wish list for over a decade. It's not the fault of MIDI, it's the fault of the resolution. It is one of the reasons why we MIDI folks want PG Music to improve the core MIDI functions alongside the RT improvements. We don't mind the RTs as long as PG doesn't abandon the improvements to the MIDI functions (there is a long list but that's another thread on the wish list).

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I just think it is a bit narrow viewed to say one is better than the other, and kind of like saying a hammer is better than a saw. That might be true until you need to cut the board.



I agree, which is why I try to give all due respect for the RTs, and never claimed that MIDI is better for everyone, but it is definitely better for me.

I've stated that if I was using a songwriting demo, I'd use RTs, but if I wanted to play live I'd use MIDIs. And I gave my personal reasons and included YMMV. One tool for each job.

And I have quite a few customers, mostly professionals who agree with me.

Again this thread started as "unhappy with MIDI sounds" and I'm simply trying to explain why the user is unhappy with the sounds in his/her synthesizer and what the actual pros to MIDI are. Sacrificing a little sound quality for greater personal expression is the way I choose to go. Again YMMV.

There are Rap stars who have had hit records without playing a single instrument - 100% loops of other people playing -- and without any singing. On the other end of the spectrum there are people who want nothing but acoustic instruments recorded in an analog format. Neither method is right or wrong, and most of us make our music somewhere between the two extremes.

The thing to know is what the pros and cons of all the available methods are and choose the one or the combination that is right for you. I choose MIDI because it allows me to personalize all my parts. And I choose to play a MIDI wind controller, natural singing voice, acoustic sax, acoustic flute, and electric guitar over the tops of those tracks. It works for me. Leilani and I have been making our living in the same duo since 1985. What works for another will be slightly different. YMMV.

Insights and incites by Notes

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

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