Midi Newbie Using Pro Tools Free, Midi is a good thing, right? Options

[cydonia]

Hello.

Well i've been using pro tools free for audio recording, G4 450 448 MB Ram, OS 9.2. Kind of getting the hang of it.

I'm using a my old 4 track cassette recorder, apparently for its "pre-amp" capabilities. I also have an imic.

Most of the music i do is synth, techno, with some vocals.

I've been recording audio using my synth, but i recently bought a midiman midisport 2X2. I want to use midi, i've figured out how to record a track, but i can only play the sound through my keyboard. If i create an auxillary track, i can hear it through my computer speakers, but once i'm done recording and turn off the keyboard, i can't get any sound from the computer. I know there's a difference between midi files and audio, but i'm having a really hard time getting my head around this stuff. I'm reading the manuals, it just isn't clicking. It's too technical.

I'm used to plugging my synth into the 4-track, hitting record and that's it. Is this possible with midi? Can you offer some advice?

Thanx!

[kaboombahchuck]

Midi is basically a remote control signal. For instance, when you turn off your key board, there is nothing to recieve the remote controll signal. Think of it this way, a player piano has the roll of paper in it to tell the piano when to play. That is basically what a midi track is. Basically a midi track is a great way to save tracks in a small amount of space. To make it an audio recording simpaly arm the next track as an audio track, and record what the synth is doing.

[cydonia]

Thanks for the feedback. I was under the impression that the cool thing about midi was that it behaved like audio tracks, but you could use more of them, apply effects and such after the fact. But if you have to make an audio track for each midi track, doesn't that just use up all your tracks?

[bjkiwi]

as kaboombahchuck said midi is basically a set of instructions that 'tells' the instrument (your keyboard) what 2 play. It was originally designed as a communications protocol for keyboards to 'talk' with each other. Once u have a midi track u can edit it, cut copy and paste it and assign it 2 any sound u want, limited only by the 'midi receivables' u have (i.e. drum machines, keyboards, modules, virtual instruments like vst instruments etc...). The beauty about midi tracks is u can take time 2 put together a great track even if u are not a good player and then when you've 'assembled' your masterpiece u can assign it to any sound in your pallete. At any time u can go in and modify it.
Midi tracks take up far less hard drive space than audio tracks so yes u can record more of them but u'r limited as 2 how many u can hear at once by how instruments ('midi receivables') u have to read and play the instructions. You can only apply audio fx e.g. compression, eq and reverb to audio tracks and sources but not midi tracks. good luck and have fun...

[cydonia]

Thanks, i've been playing around with it all day, and i'm starting to see how the benefits can be used, but it's like learning a different language.

[kaboombahchuck]

cydonia,
Glad to see you are begining to see the light at the end of a very long tunnel. Midi is great, once you figgure out what it actually is.
Personally I love it. There are persons out there that are much better at it than I am ( the finished poduct). I like being able to lay a midi track down as one sound, then changing my mind, and poooof.....changola! It don't matter the change I have in mind. Tempo, sound, editing of notes, copy, paste, cut, humanize quantanize,,,on and on.

You can make an intire song in midi, as bjkiwi said. I have a 64 voice multitimbral synth module, so theoretically I can do 64 different track at a time. I generally use outboard effects. Midi gives me a chance to find that perfect effect, without effecting the sound. So yes I do use alot of tracks making the final product. But if you like the sounds you have using the midi sounds you have available, only 1 audio track is required.