Any MIDI experts in the house?

[DennyD]

Over the years I've dabbled in MIDI but not nearly enough to call myself even a novice. I know that when you play a MIDI file in Windows you get pretty generic sounding crap, and I was wondering if there is a program that you can get that will install a databank of MIDI sounds to use instead of whatever crap windows uses?
Thanks in advance!
D.

 

[corkyg]

Yes, you have choices. This is a good basic place to start.

MIDI

MIDI will never sound like the real thing except for instruments that are electronic to start with. But you have choices. SoundBlaster cards come with a good MIDI synth - better than the built-in Windows one.

Microsoft explains what they have here:

MS

See what you are using - go to Control Panel., Sounds, then Audio and see what is selected in the MIDI playback box. I have a choice of Microsoft GS Wavetable SW Synth or a SoundMax Synth. I use the SOundMax - it sounds better.

 

[fishbits]

I know that when you play a MIDI file in Windows you get pretty generic sounding crap

With image quality, the resolution of the image and color depth impact how faithful the image looks, as does the ability of your graphics card and monitor to display the data. Same goes for MIDI on the PC.

Hooked my MIDI out to a decent synthesizer a while back, and the output was much better. As Corkyg said though, sound card synths have gotten better too. I also once found a MIDI of "Sultans of Swing" that was, I believe, 10x the size of a typical MIDI "jingle" of its length. It sounded *amazing* and probably used guitar-to-MIDI and a good guitarist to record those parts. A lot of detail and nuance went into that file, not just typing in the main vocal melody from a Big Note Songbook with no dynamics, other instruments or voicing changes added.

So while most of what's out there is crap, it's not necessarily a limitation of MIDI or the PC. I'm sure there's many others, but FruityLoops is a pretty neat program, and it might let you map some of the MIDI data to better sounds it has (or ones you provide).

 

[LanceM]

If you're just looking to piddle around without spending much cash, you're pretty much stuck with unrealistic sounds. You can always get a cheap Live card and install a bunch of old SoundFonts, but it's still only going to sound about as good as some N64 and PSX games.

If you're looking to blow a fortune, check out products like GigaStudio (libraries for it are available at http://www.soundsonline.com ), Quantum Leap Symphonic Orchestra (QLSO, also at soundsonline.com), and Vienna Symphonic Library (http://vsl.co.at ). In the right hands, these combinations can sound authentic to the average ear.

 

[xgsound]

A midi file does not contain sounds at all, it is a musical score, and can contain up to 16 instruments at once. A well done one includes many nuances, including pressure on keys, sustains, and chords. This is one limit to how good a midi file can sound.

Another limit is the Synth (in your soundcard or a software synth) that plays back the midi file.

If midi interests you here are two programs to fool around with.

1. This is a free program that shows what is in a midi file, and allows simple editing of the score.
http://www.anvilstudio.com

2. This is Wingroove, a shareware software (less than 1.44 Mb) synth . Version 9E You can use it stand alone or make it your default midi engine.
http://www.cc.rim.or.jp/~hiroki/english/wgdl.html
I bought this about 6 years ago. It was free for about 30 days at the time, and $15 to register. Use this to play your midi files and see how much difference there is!
It allows you to play back midi files and change on-the-fly individual instruments. It's reeds are very good as are several of the horns and pianos.

Almost all of my midi bookmarks have gone now, so that's the best direction I can give at this time. If you enjoy these programs and need further help , post here and I'll try.


Jim

 

[SelArom]

These guys did a pretty good job of explaining MIDI, so I won't go into any more detail,but I will recommend an inexpensive alternative to the behemoths suggested above. Magix Music Studio Deluxe comes with a MIDI Studio program that lets you import MIDI files then assign the outputs to virtual softsynth instruments (VSTi) that you can purchase or download for free. Soft synths of course sound infinitely better than the General MIDI soundtable on most (if not all) sound cards. For a list of many excellent, and FREE VSTi downloads, visit www.kvraudio.com.

Magix Music Studio can be found for < $50 every now and then. In fact, it was free after rebate just a few weeks ago @ CompUSA! It has been described as rinky-dinky, but it should let you do what you want, and when you are through you can render the MIDI file to an MP3, WAV, or even burn it to CD (say for Karaoke or something like that).

Hope that helps!

-SelArom

Edit: Just thought I'd mention: VST doesn't stand for virtual softsynth it stands for Virtual Studio Technology, which was developed by Steinberg. just FYI

 

[KenSimone]

I think Roland makes some pretty good software synths. This is one of them.