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Welcome
to Larrie Dee's MIDI
page. See his BIO!
But,
let's first clear up some misconceptions about the MIDI process. MIDI, which is the
acronym for "Musical Instrument Digital Interface" was not primarily
invented to play music on personal computers! In fact the small
personal computer as we know it had not yet been invented.
Some
of the earlier Commodores, TI's and Apples
could be used, it was discovered in the late 70's, to manipulate files
created on some early sequencers using some very primitive software,
but the task was extremely labor intensive and many other problems
including limited disk storage and the various system
incompatibilities mandated further improvements.
The
MIDI system was
conceived by musicians to connect
various controllers (keyboards for example) to many different sound
modules including other keyboards to produce
multi-instrument recordings from limited or even singly operated
controllers. The concept of playing multiple instruments from a single
controller (keyboard) has most likely been around for over 100 years.
The old theater pipe organs had real acoustic pianos, marimbas,
xylophones, drums and other instruments wired through "stop" tabs
("interfaced") so that they could play at the same time that the pipes
were speaking, or even solo if desired. Many other hard wired musical
instrument interfaces going back to the late 60's and early 70's were
somewhat less than completely "digital" in nature but
the concept was alive and well. As microprocessors did improve over
time, more and more functions could be added to achieve a true digital
interface. Among the most noteable of
these functions would be pitch bend, after-touch, (pushing through the
note) the ability to add "breath control" which makes our saxophones
sound so real and many others. (Just picture a keyboard artist with the
breath controller in his mouth as he plays the sax (or trumpet, flute,
oboe or any wind instrument or reed or brass). The mouth pieces
actually have controllers built in to simulate "reed" functions
("straining" for example) and other types of simulations not available
on the keyboard for realism. Unfortunately, most of this information is
not available for internet MIDI.
A
MIDI keyboard is
actually three separate
devices. Firstly, it is a controller"
which is the actual keyboard part and
can also be used to play additional sound modules (with or without the
internal "host" module sounding)
when connected to those modules using the MIDI "out" port.
Secondly, it contains an internal sound module (the "host" module) which
can be easily disconnected from the keyboard section and which can also
be played from a different or third party "controller" using the MIDI "in" port.
Thirdly, it contains an audio amplification section for the output of the various
tones produced by the sound module section. This output section may
contain a pre-amplifier only with no internal speakers and audio output
jacks which can be connected to any sound system.
MIDI
was, and still is, the most viable system for music recording
production using the minimum involvement of personnel. Almost all CD's,
cassettes, DAT's and live performances,
concerts, and most television commercials are produced
using MIDI to some extent. It is comical to see postings either in the
newsgroups or chat areas decrying MIDI as not sounding
as good as the "original" CD when most certainly that same CD was a MIDI product.
If the exact sequence as used
on a CD was available with the same sound modules that originally
produced it, there would be no question as to the superiority of the MIDI file playback over the
"second (or third) generation" CD audio playback. Of course, this also
assumes that the playback amplification is of equal value to the
original audio system used to master the recording. Most
sound cards sound like a cat mugging a canary in Central Park.
It is important
to note here also that there are two distinct types
of "professional" MIDI file producers.
Most of the files designed to play on computer sound cards and the
Internet are manufactured by companies who specialize in recording in
the "General
MIDI" type "0" or type
"1" format. These include most karioke
files and the various software proprietary file producers. Most of them
are excellently done and the musicianship is extraordinary.
Commercial
recordings, on the other hand, are not always produced in General MIDI because of some
limitations imposed by that system. The common file extension of .mid
is also a computer type file as opposed to the file extensions produced
on a "sequencer". (In the early days of MIDI, a "sequencer" always
referred to a machine--not a person! The person who operated the
sequencer was called a "sequencer
composer" or in some shops just an operator) The first
sequencers were very complicated and rarely could the keyboard player
operate both the keyboard and the recording device at the same
time. Thankfully, Roland (and others) introduced more
sophisticated machines that were far easier to operate and additionally
greatly simplified the process allowing MIDI to also become a
very important "live" performance tool.
The
.mid ( or dot-mid) extension is relatively
new also and created to help satisfy the General MIDI system. (When I
say "relatively new" keep in mind that I have been performing since
1947 and have seen a multitude of changes in the music and recording
industry!) General MIDI was an excellent
answer to the problem of the various sound modules and keyboards not
having instruments in defined locations for easy access on
playback.
Between
songs during the recordings and sometimes even during "live"
performances, we had one person (called a "mapper")
who would go from module to module in the MIDI chain reassigning
channels and patches by hand. This was of course, prior to the advent
of the sys-ex commands. The MIDI process really
has been an ever evolving process to
bring it to where it is today---and it still is improving!. For
our use however, we find that there are some serious drawbacks and limitations in the General MIDI format.
The various sound
modules and keyboards used at Lari/Tan
Studios for example, allow for "layering" various
instruments within a single track using the same channel. A piano
could sound followed by a slow-string within the same layer.
Simultaneously, a vibraharp, two choir
voices (in harmony if desired) and a horn could be programmed to also
respond on the same channel and be activated by a single note. Further,
with "after touch" or pushing through the key, another voice (a bell
possibly) could be added using the same channel. The module is
programmed to respond to the transmitted key information such as
velocity, touch sensitivity which can activate many MIDI parameters
including vibrato, pitch bend and many. many
others.
General MIDI does not allow
for some of the advanced versatility required by the professional music
producer. A considerable effort has to be undertaken to allow the files
on this site to be converted to files acceptable for computers.
Remember, many were created over 20 years ago and in an entirely
different format. The proper term to change a MIDI file is "re-work" (not remix as a MIDI file is not an
audio file and truly cannot be
"remixed.")
Generally,
the term "mixing" in the studio environment was used to refer to the
actual audio mixing and balancing done just prior to final mastering.
Once the audio is mastered, it cannot be "mixed" again unless you
intend to re-master the music. Take for example an orchestra setting.
It is possible to move the violins around to a different location and
tell the horns on the left to play louder (panning) and the ones on the
right to play softer as you can do when reworking a MIDI file. But, until
the audio is run through the mixing console and the recording engineer
selects the final "mix" is the product ready for recording. Unlike a MIDI file, once the
song is recorded it is not subject to such changes regarding
instrumentation or little else without a new recording being made.
Also, the recipient of the audio version can not now make any major
changes to the product regarding the instrumentation. Once a recording
is mastered to a CD or tape (with proper audio equalization and
balances), it cannot be changed like a
MIDI file. That is a
"key" difference in "reworking" and "remixing". The term,
like so many others, has been "borrowed" to suit other criteria related
to some of the computer software programs. (A small point and only a
few of us old timers even remember the terminology anymore. I even
remember "steel cut" masters from the old 78 RPM days and still have a
few here at the studio.)
All of the Larrie
Dee files here have been "re-worked" at great length to make them
somewhat acceptable for computer playback. As they were not originally
mastered for sound card use however, some problems in playback might
occur. Most high quality sound modules have extra patches (instruments)
not found in General MIDI. The files were
reworked to approximate what those extra patches would convey
musically, but all sound cards do not have the same default patches for
those extra voices. An example would be that we use about 128 separate jazz
brush drum kits and none are available in
General MIDI. Even after
reworking to the closest General MIDI default
configuration, some computer sound cards will produce "barking" dogs to
replace a "sweep". If this does occur, it is suggested that the file be
opened in a program similar to Cakewalk and that the note assignments
for channel 10 be raised (or lowered) a few steps until the dogs cease
barking.
Thanks for
visiting. Your comments are welcome via Email
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