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8.1 Basics on how to use MIDI in a home studio:
MIDI is a very useful item in a serious home studio. It offers the possibility to produce more complex recordings, simplify the recording process, and offer a pallette of sounds not usually available to you. MIDI is generally sequenced or controlled by one specific device. This can be a computer, a sequencer, or a keyboard. I personally use my computer, running Cakewalk. Many different components can be added to a MIDI system, making it very flexible. A sequencer has the ability to record incomming MIDI messages, and store them for later editing or playback. Here's an example of how a typical home studio MIDI setup might work:
1. You have a computer, running some sequencing software, with some sort of a MIDI output. Soundblaster compatible cards have the ability to control MIDI through the joystick port with a special adapter. This is a Y-cord with a joystick adapter on one end, and a pair of male 5-pin circular DIN connectors on the other end. These circular DIN connectors are standard MIDI connectors. One is labelled IN, the other is labelled OUT.
2. Next you need some MIDI equipment to connect to it. For starters, you can have a keyboard to use as your main controller. This is where you will perform. Most keyboards will have 3 MIDI connectors, IN, OUT and THRU. I prefer to connect it like this:
keyboard's IN to the computer's OUT
keyboards OUT to the computer's IN
I then connect any other sound modules to the MIDI THRU on the keyboard. MIDI sometimes has problems going through too many devices, and this seems to give me the lowest error rates. You now have to determine which channel you want each device to use. MIDI has 16 channels available, and as a standard, drums are used on channel 10 (although you can still use any channel on most devices). Many polyphonic keyboards and modules can accept MIDI from several different channels simultaneously, directing each channel to do a different task.
After you have your gear configured, you can record. You set a track on your sequencer to record on a specific MIDI channel, and set the MIDI instrument to transmit on that same channel. When actually recording, every note you play will be recorded onto the sequencer. Most setups will not only record the actual note, but also how hard it was hit (velocity), or the note's volume, and any aftertouch applied to the keys. After completing your performance, you can play it back, and MIDI signals will be sent from your sequencer, and recieved by the keyboard. It will then play your performance back, like a player piano. Now, you can playback, and perform a new track, with a different instrument patch (sound) at the same time. You'll be multitracking all in MIDI. The beauty of a lot of this, is the ability to correct mistakes on the computer. You can snap a note back into time, or correct a little stumble on the keys.
Finally, a sequencer can also stripe a tape track with FSK time codes. You record the syncroniser tone generated by a sequencer onto a track of your tape deck. Every time you play the tape, the sequencer can lock to this time code, and play along exactly in time with the tape. Now it's possible to stripe a tape on track 8, and synchronize all of your MIDI gear together to your tape deck's transport functions. You can then generate some sequenced drums to follow your song, these drums can simply be temporary, like a click track. You can now perform your entire "live" performance with guitars, vocals, bass, etc. You can even use real drums, as long as the drummer stays in time with the click track. It's now possible to add any keyboard or synth sounds to your recording. The best part, is that the MIDI can all be recorded during mixing, so you can fill ALL of your tape tracks, and still add more music!
Most computer sequencers also have a virtual, automated mixer. This is a graphic representation of a real mixer, allowing you to change volume, panning, and then modulate a few parameters. If you set the mixer to record, it will memorize all of your fader movements, so that all of your actions can be duplicated during playback. Modulation is just gradually changing the value of one of your synthesizer's parameters. It can be used to change pitch, or to change a wet/dry mix on a MIDI effects units, or to adjust a digital reverb's depth.
There are also standalone hardware sequencers like the Alesis MMT-8. These are usually a little more limited than a computer sequencer, but very functional still. Many hardware sequencers also have an tape sync function to lock to your multitrack.
This is about as detailed as I'd really like to get. I only use a modest MIDI setup, and I'm by no means an expert. "The Billboard Guide to Home Recording" by Ray Baragary (Billboard, ISBN 0-8230-7531-1) is a great general purpose recording book, but has a sizeable amount of MIDI info at the end. His explanations are very thorough, and pretty easy to follow. It's a great place to start if you're interested in MIDI, but are confused by it. It also has a ton of good recording tips, too.
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