July 1, 2008

TMUP 136: It’s all about MIDI with David Sparks

Filed under: Podcasts — Victor Cajiao @ 8:04 pm
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Tonight’s show is brought to you by:

Ambrosia Software

This show is a member of Friends In Tech

Show Notes:

MacSparky.com

MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface)

Player Piano

M-Audio Keystation 61es

FATAR

Apple Logic Studio

Propellerhead Reason

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  • http://mirandafam.ath.cx Claudio Miranda

    Hi Victor. Been a while since I've commented here. Loved the episode on MIDI, and I especially loved the music geektalk. :-D

    A few things. You mentioned that certain sounds were “accepted” to be in certain MIDI channels (even though they don't really have to be). This is sort of true. The only one that I've ever known MIDI to standardize a channel to are the drums/percussion, and that's in channel 16. Channel 1 is not for piano….as a matter of fact, channel 1 is considered the “omni” or global MIDI channel by default. Sending MIDI messages through channel 1 will trigger all of your MIDI devices within that MIDI “bank” of channels (which is 1-16).

    You seem to be confusing the MIDI channels with the General MIDI sound (or “patch”) numbers. It is patch number 1 that is considered on all General MIDI (or GM for short) to be a piano patch, regardless of what MIDI channel it is on. In GM, each sound is set by default to conform to a specified patch number. So if you've created a Standard MIDI File (or SMF) which contains a sequenced song played on a GM device and send that SMF to someone else, they will hear the song exactly as it was meant to sound if they are playing it back on a GM-compatible sound device (be that the software synth in QuickTime, a PC sound card, or another MIDI synth keyboard or rackmount tone module).

    Also, there is a difference in the type of weighted keyboard controllers or synths. One is the synth-weighted keyboard (which are typically 61-keys or less) and have a light yet responsive touch. Not quite like a piano, but still somewhat responsive (my trusty old Kawai K4 has this feel). The other is the piano-weighted keyboard, which you find in some 76-key or 88 key controllers/synths. These actually have a hammer-like weighted feel just like you would find on a piano (my Yamaha S08 has this feel).

    All in all, it really was a great episode. Loved the talks about the various types of synth devices and brand names. Brings back lots of memories from the 90s. :-) Hope to hear more of these type of episodes in the future!

    BTW, I still have my old Macintosh Quadra 650 that I use sometimes for MIDI sequencing using Master Tracks Pro. Still works like a charm! :-)

    -Claudio

  • http://mirandafam.ath.cx Claudio Miranda

    One more thing….

    As great as GarageBand is, it doesn't allow for MIDI out (unless that's changed recently). There are third party plug-ins that can give GB the ability to do this such as midiO. You can find it at the following link:
    http://mysite.verizon.net/retroware/

    I've had so-so luck with this, but it's an option if you want to enable MIDI out on GB.

  • http://typicalmacuser.com typicalmacuser

    Ah Claudio that is awesome advice. As you could tell MIDI is not part of my daily life anymore but I'm sure glad you chimed it. Why don't you send me an audio piece 3 to 5 minutes correcting these points and adding a few of your own :)

  • Tom

    Anyone interested in MIDI or learning to play piano should look no further than Synthesia. I believe they are plugging it as a game, but it seems like it would be a great way to springboard piano playing. It takes all the fun of games like Guitar Hero and the like but you actually use a midi piano. You can play for score or just watch it play any piano midi file (i think it will play any midi file but piano is the helpful ones) Its really neat. And free!. Check them out at http://www.synthesiagame.com/

    Tom

  • http://mirandafam.ath.cx Claudio Miranda

    This particular post was in error….sorry…

  • http://mirandafam.ath.cx Claudio Miranda

    Sounds like a great idea. I'll probably just paraphrase what I've said here and include some other information I just thought of that might come in handy for an audio piece for the show. Now with a nice 5-day vacation ahead of me, I'll definitely have the time before the next episode. :-)

  • Kate

    Hi Victor, was fascinated to listen to this podcast. I've never heard much about Midi before. My son has a Roland EP-760 digital piano and I notice it has Midi in/out sockets on the back. How can we can connect this to a G4 iBook? He's been playing around with GarageBand and was excited at the idea of connecting up his piano.

  • http://mirandafam.ath.cx Claudio Miranda

    If the Roland doesn't have a USB port, then you can purchase what's called a USB-to-MIDI interface that acts as a “bridge” between the two interfaces. I have one from M-AUDIO called the MIDIsport 2×2 which comes with 2 MIDI INs and OUTs. While you can possible get by with a MIDI interface that only has one IN and OUT, the more devices that get daisy chained in the same MIDI chain, the more chance there is for the last device in the MIDI chain to experience what's called “MIDI delay”. But since you only have one MIDI device that you're using, this shouldn't pose a problem.

  • mattbeckwith

    Victor and David – great show this week. I totally loved geeking out on the music tech talk!

  • http://typicalmacuser.com typicalmacuser

    I enjoyed to it as well. Makes me want to write more music.

  • gersonrose

    Hi Victor ! I enjoyed this show as a musician, computer enthusiast, and music store owner. You guys did a great job bringing some basic concepts to people's attention.

    Towards the end of the show you and David talked about the MIDI spec and the fact that he has remained relatively unchanged for decades. I happen to have some insight regarding that subject, and would be more than happy to discuss it with you if you'd like to drop me a line.

    Thanks!

  • http://mirandafam.ath.cx Claudio Miranda

    Correction: MIDI channel 10, not 16, is often used for drums/percussion. Sorry for the error.

  • http://typicalmacuser.com typicalmacuser

    Thanks for the clarification.

 

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