Definitely how you use them.

When most people dis MIDI or GenMIDI it is not the fault of MIDI or GenMIDI, but the fault of the person who hasn't acquired the skills to use it and/or the synth to render it properly.

If a person hasn't learned to play drums, piano, or guitar well, it isn't the drums, piano, or guitar's fault. Like any other musical instrument, MIDI requires learning and practice to become proficient. And like any other musical instrument it requires a well built instrument to get a good sound from (your laptop's built in soft-synth will not do).

So many workmen blame the proverbial hammer.

Like everything else about PG Music, the RTs have gotten quite a bit better than they were when they started out. And I do find uses for them -- but I haven't found that they replaced the MIDI tracks at all, they have just added more choices for me.

Like the MIDI tracks, if a RT works for my particular song without editing, I just use it. However if either one doesn't quite fit, I can edit the MIDI tracks in many ways that are impossible for me to do in the RT domain. Therefore, both are useful.

I don't watch TV at all (no cable, no antenna, no digital converter) but I do watch a rented DVD from time to time. Often I like to watch the extra features on the disk (I call them BVDs because they are shorts) -- especially if they concern the music and aren't just the "Isn't everybody wonderful" reels.

I have seen a number of high-budget, major studio movies that had the sound track done entirely with MIDI synthesizers. I don't consider that obsolete. Others have used symphony orchestras. Thankfully they aren't obsolete either.

I still enjoy a symphony concert and will be attending two different concerts by the Russian National Orchestra later this month. Sometimes these world-famous touring orchestras bring MIDI synths along with them to play the parts of the instruments that are difficult or impossible to take on the road (like pipe organ, celeste, etc.).

My wind synthesizer didn't replace my saxophone, it just added to the sax-like tones I can produce. The Fender Rhodes did not replace the acoustic piano, it just added to the tones the pianist had access to. Audio loops did not replace MIDI, it just added one more thing we can use to make music.

Not that every tool should be used by everyone. I don't play trumpet, I tried but didn't want to invest the time and effort to develop the lip. I don't play oboe, I know the fingering but don't like the double reed embouchure. My brother-in-law, an excellent trumpet player doesn't use the computer for his professional music career, but he does occasionally play with other people's backing tracks.

My tool box included the computer (with audio and MIDI), wind synthesizer, sax, flute, guitar, keyboard synthesizer, bass, drums and voice. When I get more comfortable with all of these, or when something new comes along that catches my ears, I'll add something else. But I won't discard any of the others.

YMMV

Insights and incites by Notes

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

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