Midi Recording Studio

MIDI has received a lot of hype, but more and more people are finding out, a new and fantastic world coming true. The MIDI sequencer (also now as DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) nowadays) has now made it possible to create an entirely different kind of recording studio for electronic music. As you play a melodic line on a MIDI keyboard, the computer-based sequencer "records" what you play and assigns this data to a track in the sequencer. Much like you would do in a professional multi-track tape recorder. You can build up multiple tracks, and on playback, send this musical data to multiple MIDI slave keyboards thus producing the same effect as if you had multitracked the keyboards with a conventional multi-track tape recorder. This sequenced composition can then be mixed and recorded onto a conventional 2-track analog recorder, or (for maximum fidelity) PCM adapter / VCR combination to produce a master tape. Let's consider some of the advantages of this approach.

• Top sound quality from first generation. What you hear is the sound of the MIDI instruments, with no intervening tape processes to degrade their clarity. With MIDI, the multitrack tape recorder is an option, not a necessity.
• No rewind time when working out compositions. Until the final mixdown everything is stored in computer memory for virtually instant access.
• Superb fidelity with zero loss when bouncing, no matter how many times you bounce. After all, you're bouncing computer data instead of sound.
• The ability to edit whatever you like from whole sections to sixty-fourth notes of one instrument on one track. Forget about the nuisances of such techniques as the "window splice" (where, with tape, you splice a tiny window out of a multitrack tape to eliminate one bad note).
• Lower tape and maintenance costs. You don't have to align the bias or azimuth of a MIDI sequencer, or oil the motor, or worry about temperatures and humidity extremes. (Well, this last two are not enterely true but they are certainly more easy on a MIDI sequencer or DAW than on a tape machine).
• Instantly change the sound of a track. Would that violin sound better as a trumpet? Punch a few buttons and find out, there's no need for re-recording.
• The MIDI recording studio or DAW, is the most exciting development since inexpensive multitrack tape decks became available in the mid-70s. Don't selI your faithful multitrack recorder (yet); but if you were considering upgrading to 16 or 24 tracks you might want to reconsider. MIDI can help you upgrade your studio to a lot more tracks for a lot less bucks, so let's see exactly what the MIDI studio is alI about.

Elements needed

Picture yourself setting up a recording studio. The first question that comes to mind is what do i need to build one? Well, it's no hard to realize that first and foremost you need an instrument and some media to record your performances. Depending on your personal preferences, style and proficiency degree you can go from fairly affordable instruments to flagship instruments with all the bells and whistles for professional use. So lets review what do you need to make that recording studio come true.

MIDI Instruments

As mentioned in the instruments section, there are any king of instruments which have a corresponding electronic midi version available. Choose your favourite instrument based in the features and characteristics of the device more appealing to you in the price range you can afford. Remember your are setting up a MIDI Recording Studio so any instrument you choose has to have a MIDI interface in some form: DIN conector or USB.

The most important point to remember for any MIDI instrument is that to be most effective in the MIDI studio, the instrument should have as complete a MIDI implementation as possible. You should at least be able to receive, and preferably transmit, on all sixteen channeIs. Being able to transmit a keyboard's velocity (dynamics)information over MIDI is also very important, because it lets you do your own "mix" as you play (velocity keyboards are algo great for programming those MIDI drum units that accept dynamic information).

In recent years a new king of "instrument" has been around. It's know as MIDI controller. Though a not real instrument (it doesn't make any sound per se), these device (a keyboard in its most common form) allows to play any virtual instrument from your computer recording program (DAW). So if you have a DAW program with plenty of these virtual instruments it might be better to buy one of these controllers.

You'll also need a MIDI drum machine, hopefully one which responds to velocity information and song data (i. e. the drurn unit automatically switches to the desired song upon command). Fortunately, though, many older non-MIDI drum machines will work with MIDI sequencers that can send out a drum-compatible clock pulse signal.

Again these drum machine can be a virtual drum machine included in your DAW so the MIDI controller will be a more advisable solution after all.

Once you're set with the instrument of your choice, it's time to add the heart of the MIDI studio: a MIDI sequencer.

The MIDI Sequencer or DAW

First let me explain the difference between a MIDI sequencer and a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation). Both start from the same base - record MIDI performance data to computer's memory. The big difference is a DAW let you record audio too and manipulate it in any imaginable way.

If you don't plan to record audio a plain MIDI sequencer will do, but if you want to record audio (voice for example) you'd better be getting a DAW

Being said these i will use both terms interchangeably buy keep in mind there are differences.

Midi sequencers come in three forms mainly:

• Hardware sequencers
• Software sequencers
• Build In sequencers

Hardware Sequencers

If you don't have a computer around or can't afford to dedicate one for your studio, hardware sequencers are a good solution to record midi data.

Hardware sequencers have all the functionality of a conventional multitrack recorder, right down to the "fast forward" and "rewind" buttons. (Although, of course, they record MIDI data, not audio.) Plus they offer facilities for editing songs that leave razor-blade tape editing in the dust.
No one sequencer can be all things to all musicians. The following list includes some of the most cornmon and important features you can expect to find as you look at sequencers, and can serve as a check list when evaluating different models to see which one most closely meets your needs. Caution: As with synthesizers, not all manufacturers refer to a feature by the same name.

• Number of tracks. Most sequencers provide at least eight. Some provide 32, 64 and more. As a bare minimum, you should have one track for each non-multitimbral synth you own and somewhere around three to eight for each multitimbral synth (depending on how many voices it has). If you're wonderlng why anyone would want 64 or more tracks, bear in mind that tracks can be used to record much more than note information for your synths to play. For example, tracks can be used to store autómation data for MIDI mixers and program changes for effects processors. You may also want to record things like pitch bends on a different track than the note data that goes with those pitch bends. This makes it easy to re-do the pitch bends without having to re-record the notes.
• Reasonably complete MIDI implementation. The sequencer should be able to send note-on/off data plus dynamics as a bare minimum, and be capable of assigning any track to any channel. Pitch wheel change, pressure change and program change are also very Important.
• Programmable auto correct (also called quantization). While recording, auto correct rounds off timing errors in your playing to the nearest note value you specify -quarter notes, eighth notes, triplets, etc. Generally, a high resolution or real-time mode will also be available so that you can defeat auto correct. Some sequencers auto correct only during playback, which is a useful feature since you can change auto correct on any already recorded track.
• Disk or USB storage option. This is a lot faster than saving data on cassettes, and more reliable too.
• Real-time, modular and step-time programming. Real time lets you record like a tape recorder, where you put the sequencer into record and play away. Step-time lets you move one-step-at-a-time through each and every step in the sequence, deleting or adding notes as you see fit. Some sequencers only let you do one or the other. Modular recording lets you create individual pattems which are then linked into songs (like drum machine programming). These patterns may usually be recorded in real time or step time. Note that step time, while useful, can often be simulated on real-time-only sequencers by simply slowing the tempo way down.
• Automated punch-in and punch-out. The sequencer should let you define a punch-in point and a punch-out point-in beats, measures and "ticks”. When you play back the song, the sequencer will go into record mode when the punch-in point arrives and go out of record mode when the punch-out point arrives. Careful, though, there are some subtleties to MIDI punching. If you punch right after a "note on" command and don't program anything to turn that note off, the original note will sustain in the background. A pre-roll feature is also handy, where you can program a section to start playing a couple of measures beíore the punch occurs.
• Programmable tempo changes. Being able to change the tempo for a song is very useful. Unlike tape, speeding up and slowing down a MIDI sequencer doesn't affect the timbre of the instruments. This makes it very easy to play complex parts at a slow speed, then boost the speed up for playback. Being able to program relative tempo changes -accelerando and ritardando- helps considerably to humanize a track
• Track re-assignment. Maybe you want to drive your Korg instead of your Yamaha from track five without having to do any repatching; this option will let you do it.
• Easy commands. You want to do the least amount of typing necessary. A program which requires only single- letter commands and lets you move a cursor around to make selections is betier than one which makes you type in stuff like "SAVE: COMPOSITION #1 IN B-MINOR: DISK A."
• Printout option. Some score/lead sheet printout programs are better than others, but just about all of them beat doing it by hand.
• Ability to name sequences and tracks. it's much easier to remember a song title than a number. Naming tracks is also handy; that way you know which instrument is driven by what track.
• Programmable countdown. I don't know about you, but I always need a few beats before a song starts in order to prepare myself for recording.
• Programmable metronome. Being able to program fast metronome times means that you'll still have a solid click reference if you slow the sequence way down when overdubbing.
• Expandable number of events. Most sequencers seem to be able to remember somewhere between 5,000 and 10,000 events (with note on, note off, pitch bend and so on being considered as "events"). This is fine for working on a song, but not always enough for a set of music. Being able to expand the memory to, say, 70,000 events with an optional memory expansion package leaves more space for sequences.
• Memory space status. You should be able to check how much memory is left.
• Readable manual. Make sure the person writing the manual is trying to instruct you, not impress you. If the first few pages make good sense, the rest probably will, too.
• Sync-to-tape and external clock facilities. The ideal sequencer would be able to sync to anything: MIDI timing information, SMPTE click pulses and so on. Generally, sequencers don't have all these capabilities, although you can usually find a suitable adapter box (try J. L. Cooper, Roland, Garfield Electronics, Synchronous Technologies, etc. for specific situations).
• Non-destructive editing. When editing a sequence, some sequencers create a copy which you edit. This preserves an unedited version of the original in case you end up not liking the edited sequence (don't you wish tape recorders would save a previous track when you did an overdub?). Once you get an edited version you prefer, then overwrite the original.
• Fast. forward/rewind. It's fun to hear the sequence whiz by as you look for a part towards the beginning or end of a song.
• Search. Search looks for a particular part of the sequence, or places you a certain number of measures into it
• Bounce. You should be able to bounce around data for tracks, and combine tracks together (thus, you could play sections of a complex part for one instrument on several tracks, then bounce them all down to create one composite part on one track)
• Transpose. So you can't sing that song in D# after all? Then transpose until you hit the right range.
• Filter. The ability to selectively eliminate data from a track is a time saver one. For example, suppose you played left and right hand parts on a single keyboard, and wanted to split off the left hand part to a different keyboard. You could copy the track and filter the low notes from the original, thus sending the right hand part to one instrument; then, you could filter the high notes from the copy and send the low notes (the left hand part) to a different instrument.
• Mute/cue function. This lets you selectively silence tracks while recording. One use is to record four or five different solos, and listen to each one individually. For live use, this means you can play different solos at different performances so you don't get bored with hearing the same sequenced part over and over and over and over again.
• Free software updates. According to Anderton's Law of High-Tech Equipment Purchasing, never buy anything that says "Version 1.0" unless the company will upgrade you to the next software revision for free. Initial software offerings often have bugs by the time you get to version 1.4 or so, the bugs are pretty much all gone.

Software Sequencers

There is a seemingiy endless stream of MIDI sequencer programs. Software developers too numerous to mention have succeeded in getting many of us to use use our home computers as sequencers. Whether you have an Apple, IBM computer, Atari or Commodore (yes, there's still a number of those around yet!) there's a MIDI sequencer for you. In addition to the software that tells the computer how to be a sequencer, most computers, with the notable exception of the Atari ST and Yamaha C-1 (both discontinued), require some sort of hardware interface that hooks the computer up to a MIDI In and MIDI Out connector. The interface can be a DIN 5 pin connector or a plain USB interface if both, keyboard and computer allow it.
The Apple Macintosh has long held sway as the "artist's favorite" due to its sleek packaging and friendly operating system, althought any PC compatible can be pretty good nowadays. There is a vast amount of MIDI  software available for both systems.
One advantage shared by all software sequencers for personal computers is visual feedback. When you work with them, you get to stare at a large screen, rather than a tiny 1" x 6" LCD display like you'd find on a synthesizer or hardware sequencer. You get a list of what's happening on each of your tracks and a set of transport controls (Start, Stop, FWD and REW) just like what you'd find on a tape recorder. When you edit songs, you can work with a detailed visual display that shows all the notes and other data within a given section of your composition. Mouse-driven PCs let you click on the screen to achieve most tasks, which is something that many people find preferable to pressing arbitrary combinations of buttons. Of course personal computers are a lot less road- worthy than other types of sequencers, but if you're just looking for a sequencer that you can use in your MIDI studio, this shouldn't trouble you.

As for the features any of these programs should have, give it a read to the hardware sequencers sections to know most of the things you should expect from any decent software sequencer.

Jumping to a DAW in another thing. These beasts need a lot of raw power from the computer for the audio they need to feed straight to the computer's memory or to disk and to handle all these audio tracks in perfect sync with the MIDI ones. So if you pretend to record audio and don't have a multi-track recording around, you should look for one hefty computer. It may be a little more expensive than the average but the investment is worth it. You will be able to handle audio and virtual instruments right from your computer and believe me, doing so it's a hell of time saver.

Built-In Sequencers

Many keyboards offer and built-in sequencer to record performances. They are not as useful as software or hardware sequencers but have the advantage of being there wherever the keyboard is and can be handy to layout a preliminar musical idea in case inspiration strikes.

Microphones and acustical instruments

If you pretent to record voice or an acoustical instrument (guitar, sax, violin, etc) you will need a microphone and a good one. There are omnidirectional or directional, meaning they can record for any source around no matter what or just from a specific direction and ignore anything outside this field.

Hooking it All Up

Now we have our tools together, so let's hook everything up. Next figure shows a typical setup for a MIDI studio hook up.

The MIDI signal from the computer interface (in this case a USB interface) goes to the MIDI IN and MIDI OUT of the keyboard, through a USB to MIDI adapter, forming a perfect loop to record and playback from the computer. If the keyboard has a thru port you can cascade any other's instrument MIDI IN port to this port and the sequencer will direct any data this instrument is prepared for. By feeding MIDI Thru jacks to MIDI In jacks, we can send the computer data to several slaves.
However, as we aII know, MIDI is not perfect; some instruments do not provide MIDI Thru jacks, and in any event, this way of interconnecting devices only works for a limited number of keyboards (as the MIDI signal goes through multipIe Thru outputs, it can be the victim of "data distortion" and delays due to technical limitations of the MIDI interface).

For the microphone look for a line input of your computer's audio card and connect the microphone to this input. If more microphones are needed you need to get a mixer preferably with phantom power supply for when the need of more sofisticated setups come.

Using It

Congratulations! Everything is in place and ready to go. Dig out the sequencer's owner manual and start putting it through its paces. Remember to set your MIDI channels and modes (omni-poly-mono) correctly, and you're off.
Not everything will go smoothly, of course. You should be prepared for surprises (both good and bad), and some frustration. Remember those times your tape recorder wouldn't record until you noticed that you were in sync mode? Those kinds of "beginner's mistakes" are very common when using MIDI.
MIDI has so many variables that things seldom work perfectly from the beginning. You will have to make sure that your controllers are set so that they can talk to the sequencer, and you might occasionally run into a hardware or software bug. These are part of the deal, just like a drop-out on regular tape. The important thing is not to give up, or let frustration take the lead. Come back later with a fresh outlook, study the manual a little further and experiment.
Once you begin to use the MIDI studio, you'll realIy start to appreciate how much it simplifies and speeds up the composition process. For years, I've been waiting for the tapeless studio, and it's finally here. If you've been looking for something truly new in musical electronics, this is it... recording will never be the same again.