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besides a real teacher, where does someone learn how to use the expressive controls in midi to achieve what mac and notes are talking about

books or video website recommendations, examples?



Almost everything I know and do about MIDI came from doing things like downloading (and sometimes *buying* from reputable sources) great sounding MIDI files and then opening them up in a sequencing software like Powertracks/Realband that is able to reveal all the little things, the CC's etc. that a Consummate MIDIOT puts in those files. The Event List as well as the MIDI Monitor is my best friend at that point.

As for learning the nomenclature, well, the world wide web is your best friend for that, websearching can bring up plenty of basic info, the MIDI Manufacturer's Association list of all commands for the MIDI standard, plus there is a website out there covering just about every single aspect of the MIDI definition, right down to the nitty-gritty.

It also depends upon what you want to do and what you have already done, too. For example, I was already fairly adept at writing arrangements for orchestra, bigband, ensemble and the like with a pencil before I even knew that MIDI existed. The ability to hear the arrangement in your head as you write it is an important part of the way I work. For doing transcriptions of existing recordings to MIDI, I put the audio file of the target recording on the first track of the sequencer and LISTEN. I find the Bass track by using the marvelous filters that live between our ears. Concentrate on hearing it. Then I concentrate on learning it. Then I concentrate on playing that on my keyboard and do practice runs playing along with the real bass player on the target recording. Finally, I TAP the tempo into the MIDI sequencer, arm a track and start trying to record the Bass line while playing along with that real recording. Fix mistakes, retake, whatever, then check your Bass track as it plays along with the real thing, if good, on to doing the exact same thing with the "next instrument up". Yes, I have found that it pays to work from the bottom up when transcribing anything at all. If you can't identify the Bass first, then you can't identify the chord properly, or any other note above the bass. "Bottom Up".

It should go without saying that before I ever did my first MIDI sequence, I had spent years developing my ears and my playing abilities. I can generally "catch" most songs as they play the first time through and start playing along with them at this point. Play the "radio game" as part of your practice regimen. Start at the left end of the dial and the first music you hear, try to play along with it. LISTEN TO THE BASS FIRST, that's the key. If you can grab the root, you are 90% there. Beginners may have to start by simply working on grabbing the Tonic. Twenty minutes a day is all it takes, but you gotta do it every day or at least every other day for about a year with serious intent to get result. Grab that first tune, then turn the dial to the right. Next station, no matter the genre, wait for the next music you hear -- and try to grab it. Repeat all the way up the dial. This includes Ads and Jingles so don't avoid the Talk Show stations at all. Use the BIAb Interval Trainer daily. Ten Minutes a Day and you will soon develop the kind of Relative Pitch needed. And Relative Pitch is indeed all that is needed. Never mind the key, what's the numbers? Country Music and Religious Music stations are great for practicing simply listening and trying to recite the numbers as the chords change, because they typically use "standard" and easy changes. Again, listen for the BASS to get the root of each chord. Great drill when highway driving alone. As the song plays, say the numbers. "One, Six-minor, Four, Five..."

PRACTICE making MIDI files and don't let anybody but yourself hear them. Keep practicing. Rinse, Repeat. YOU should know when your files are ready to be presented to others. Instant Gratification should not be the goal here at all. If it is worth doing, then the job is worth doing WELL.

Bear in mind that one can put quite a few man-hours into what eventually is only a few minutes of music as it plays back. That is just the way it is. As with anything else, you get faster at it with practice, you learn some shortcut tricks, but you should still find that it takes time to develop a stellar MIDI sequence.

Here is the biggest SECRET about building MIDI sequences I can give you:

In the MIDI domain, there are certain things that MIDI can do well. Use them and even emphasize them. For there are also certain things that MIDI can NOT do well. When you come to that situation, you have to know when to not do that. At all. Only a fool keeps complaining that the sun is too bright every summer day. The wise man gets a pair of sunglasses. So it is.


--Mac

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