MIDI tutorial

[goose134]

Hey all! I'm looking for some tutorials on how to incorporate MIDI into my recording setup. I have never done any MIDI recording so I really need to go 101 on this. Right now, I'm trying to use an old Yamaha drum pad to achieve some of the sounds I have in Sonar. I can see that Sonar is recording the sounds, but I can't hear them on playback. I'm able to trigger different sounds 'live' but not in Sonar. Very strange.

Any help would be appreciated. Book, website, whatever.

Running Sonar 8 Producer on Windows, with MOTU ultralite mk3

Remember. ONE-OH-ONE.

[mrc]

The manual or help files in your daw will easily clear this up. It's far better than people guessing about your daw. There are also written and video tutorials out there for most all daws, and brand specific forums. As a guess, have you turned on the source you are going to get your drum sounds from (instrument or sampler in your daw) and or checked the routing for your signal from the vsti or dxi you are using? RTFM
mrc

[Brett Siler]

There also might be some decent youtube tutorials, or some DVD and Guitar Center. I have a friend that uses MIDI stuff in Sonar and he can get it to sound really good.

[goose134]

What I'd love to do is sit down with someone who has done this and walk through it. I've watched a number of videos on the web about this subject. This is really the only proof I have that you can indeed get the sounds I want out of the computer. Part of the problem with the videos I've seen is that they assume I have a working knowledge of MIDI. Anyone around Chicago willing to sit down and help a newbie? I could probably trade some electrical work.

I'll hit the videos again and see if I can come up with some more basic info. I think my problem is assigning the triggers to the VST. Again, not sure. Thanks for the replies.

[sonocide6]

I'm near Peoria and use MIDI quite a bit. I've also developed some MIDI controllers.

I'm not a Sonar user, but it sounds like you need to assign your recorded MIDI track to the input of the virtual instrument "drum machine" and make sure that your virtual instrument "drum machine's" output is assigned to an output audio bus (maybe the master?).

I might have some 101 type material sitting around somewhere from when I was a TA in college. Hit me with a PM if you're interested!

[Aquaman]

This might be a little too much MIDI 101, but you never know:

It's possible that you may just be hung up on the general concept. MIDI is just like holes in a piano roll. You don't record any sound, you are just "punching" holes in a "paper tape".

Now, you can use those paper tape holes to trigger sounds from another device along the way to your DAW (like your keyboard, or a drum module), or you can record the "hole punches" themselves, then use those holes to subsequently trigger sounds from your DAW (like a virtual synth or a built-in piano sound).

Generally you press on some kind of controller (a keyboard, or a drum pad) to "punch" a hole at a specific time and pitch. You can "record" these hole punches directly to your DAW as a MIDI track (looks like a piano roll diagram), or you can make the hole punches trigger a sound along the way from another device and (actually) record the sounds you've made (audio wave files on an audio track).

Specifics can be tricky, depending on your setup and devices, but just keep the distinction between MIDI NOTES (simple triggers sent along a MIDI cable) and SOUNDS TRIGGERED BY MIDI clear in your head, and things should get a lot easier.

[goose134]

Aquaman, no it not too 101. I appreciate your clarifying the difference between MIDI notes and sounds. I am able to see the holes in the piano roll, the problem I'm having is hearing them as the drum sounds I want. I'm going to get back into this tonight. My kids are screaming now. Can you hear them?

[dubphaser]

Hey Goose!

You may have already read this:
http://www.tweakheadz.com/how_to_get_st ... _midi.html
This should give you a basic understanding of MIDI.

[goose134]

No, I had not seen that. Thanks so much for the link! Nice explanation of the process without making it seem too daunting. I'm going to try and take another stab at this and report back. Thanks again for the responses!