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MIDI primer anyone?
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flavio



Joined: Jun 04, 2003
Posts: 4
Location: Oakland, CA

PostPosted: Wed Jun 04, 2003 9:03 pm    Post subject: MIDI primer anyone? Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Hello there.

I'm pretty baffled by the whole MIDI concept. I currently have a Roland MC-303 hooked up to my PC through the line-in and have been using it to make loops and such in Soundforge which I then put together in Acid.

I've been told in vague terms that I could do some useful things if I also utilized the MIDI output (and maybe input?) of the 303.

So I hooked up the midi-out to through adapter to the smaller midi-in on my SBLive soundcard. From this point I apparently have no idea how to even test the connection or the slightest idea what new potential I have once I confirm the connection is good.

Thoughts?
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mosc
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 04, 2003 9:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Flavio, welcome to the site. We probably should have a links section with basic information like you are asking for. Here are a few links I found that might be of help.

http://www.knowledgehound.com/topics/midi.htm
http://www.harmony-central.com/MIDI/Doc/primer.txt
http://www.cpmusic.com/midiinfo.html

I'm sure other people might reply to this also, but this may get you started.

BTW, your MC-303 is considered a vintage treasure in some quarters. Take good care of it.

BTW[2], I used to live in Oakland, near Mills College.

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DES



Joined: Feb 28, 2003
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 04, 2003 9:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Hi Flavio!

The links Howard left are good ones. One thing that you can do is synchronize the MC-303 to the software. This can be done by connecting the midi out from the computer to the midi in of the MC-303 and setting it to accept midi clock. (you can also go from the MC-303 to the cmputer...) Midi clock is basically a time reference sent down the midi cable that allows several devices to play in time with each other. The benefit is that you can have audio tracks palying on the computer and have the MC-303 play in time with those. You can also use a similar setup to record audio from the MC-303 to Acid for example and have it synchronized with other Acid tracks. Then you can furhter process the recorded MC-303 in Acid - and then play EVERYTHING together in sync! If you get a simple midi sequencer you can output midi to the MC-303 - basically using it for a tone generator.

Dave
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flavio



Joined: Jun 04, 2003
Posts: 4
Location: Oakland, CA

PostPosted: Wed Jun 04, 2003 11:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Thanks guys!

I'll have some reading materail tomorrow in my free time at work with those links.

As far as synching the 303 to the software goes....I do see options in Acid for enable real-time midi, generate midi timecode, generate midi clock, and trigger from midi timecode. Sounds like this could simplify some beat matching I've found painfull.

Can you suggest a quick way to test the midi connection between the 303 and the PC to confirm that the adapter is working properly? It would help me as if I was off on the right foot.

Quote:
BTW[2], I used to live in Oakland, near Mills College.


I nearly lived in that area on two occasions in the last few years. Smile I'm up around Piedmont Avenue currently.
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egw
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PostPosted: Thu Jun 05, 2003 6:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

midi is most useful when you have multiple devices that you want to
a) synchronize (i.e if more than one are playing rhythmic parts)
b) control one device from another e.g. a sound module from a separate keyboard or sequencer

Also, you can record midi information into a sequencer/recorder on your computer, which lets you edit things in a different way than you would with straight audio. The midi recording is just the note, timing, and control information, not the actual sounds. If you have this recorded you can edit individual notes, transpose parts, or play the same part back on different instruments.

You can also use midi to save and recover settings from a synth into a computer (e.g. for backup, or if you have more patches than will fit in a device). This is usually done with a protocol called sysex.

Here are some useful midi links:
http://www.borg.com/~jglatt/tutr/miditutr.htm
http://www.fortunecity.com/tinpan/faithfull/379/moverview.html
http://www.midi.org/
http://www.midiox.com/

One way to test your midi interface - run a program that has soft-synth (sound generating) capabilities, then play something on the 303 and see if you can get sounds out of the computer. To test the reverse connection, run a sequencer-type program in the computer (e.g. fruityloops) and see if you can get it to play sounds on the 303.
Here are some links where you can find freeware or shareware to do all of these functions:
http://www.hitsquad.com/smm/?ng
http://www.sonicspot.com/
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