Best intro book for MIDI

Discussion:

(too old to reply)

unknown

2014-09-29 14:23:24 UTC

Hi All,

So I'm very new to MIDI. I've been into music my whole life but
never did any with the computer. I do know computers really well
though having worked on commercial Unix systems for years. I'm on
Ubuntu 14.04 for several months now and am still learning. So far I
have VMPK software synth, QSynth and QJackctl working making basic
sounds but that's all. I barely know what I am doing. I'm looking
around for a real cheap MIDI keyboard to get me started generating
some tunes with some audio input from things like my accordion.
Recommendations appreciated. I know basically what the MIDI protocol
specifies but don't understand all the routing and conditioning
functions. I'm looking for a good introductory or reference book on
MIDI and tools available.

On another note, I want to be able to generate musical scores. I
know there's score editors out there but I haven't found anything that
can take either an audio input or read an audio file and generate a
musical score out of it. Even a simple single track app would be
great. It seems like it wouldn't be that impossible but it doesn't
seem like anybody is doing it yet. Don't know what I am missing.
Lots and lots of signal capture and editing out there but nothing I
can find that can read an audio track, figure out the notes, and write
them out in musical notation. It seems like MIDI should be able to
support that.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Hal

H***@net.net

2014-09-29 16:53:04 UTC

Permalink

I'm in the same boat and I asked for suggestions also but I got no
replies. I have an Akai LPK25 which is really cool and is inexpensive
on Amazon. I use the Ableton software, the trial version is free and
does all kinds of cool stuff. I also have an Alesis Q49 that I got
from Amazon, with 49 weighted and velocity sensitive keys. It has
lots of features that I don't even know how to work.

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Bob Masta

2014-09-30 12:57:36 UTC

Permalink

Post by unknown
Hi All,
So I'm very new to MIDI. I've been into music my whole life but
never did any with the computer. I do know computers really well
though having worked on commercial Unix systems for years. I'm on
Ubuntu 14.04 for several months now and am still learning. So far I
have VMPK software synth, QSynth and QJackctl working making basic
sounds but that's all. I barely know what I am doing. I'm looking
around for a real cheap MIDI keyboard to get me started generating
some tunes with some audio input from things like my accordion.
Recommendations appreciated. I know basically what the MIDI protocol
specifies but don't understand all the routing and conditioning
functions. I'm looking for a good introductory or reference book on
MIDI and tools available.
On another note, I want to be able to generate musical scores. I
know there's score editors out there but I haven't found anything that
can take either an audio input or read an audio file and generate a
musical score out of it. Even a simple single track app would be
great. It seems like it wouldn't be that impossible but it doesn't
seem like anybody is doing it yet. Don't know what I am missing.
Lots and lots of signal capture and editing out there but nothing I
can find that can read an audio track, figure out the notes, and write
them out in musical notation. It seems like MIDI should be able to
support that.

Trying to deduce the notes from the audio is one of those
"hard" problems. It's not too bad (but not trivial) to find
the frequency of a single-tone instrument like a flute or a
(human or hardware) whistle, but it's *very* difficult with
more than one instrument.

Even with a single pure-tone whistle, it's also really hard
to simply find where the notes are. Real-world sounds don't
start and stop like key presses, they have attack and decay
and portamento slides, plus transition noises (breath on
whistle, string squeak on guitar, etc), plus overshoot,
undershoot, and correction, etc.

See
<http://www.daqarta.com/dw_pitch.htm> for an example of a
pitch-tracked human whistle, as clean as I could make it.
Color indicates loudness, which ideally would be uniformly
yellow here, but you will see a few dribbles of blue and
green on transitions. The black and grey background shows a
keyboard, where "perfect" pitch would be the center of each
key. Besides making my lack of talent obvious, it shows the
sorts of real-world wiggles and bumps you'd have to deal
with. And remember, this is only a single track of the
simplest possible (sine) waveform. Imagine chords and
mixed instruments, with harmonics!

Best regards,

Bob Masta

DAQARTA v7.60
Data AcQuisition And Real-Time Analysis
www.daqarta.com
Scope, Spectrum, Spectrogram, Sound Level Meter
Frequency Counter, Pitch Track, Pitch-to-MIDI
FREE Signal Generator, DaqMusiq generator
Science with your sound card!

H***@net.net

2014-10-06 23:03:57 UTC

Permalink

Post by Bob Masta

Trying to deduce the notes from the audio is one of those
"hard" problems. It's not too bad (but not trivial) to find
the frequency of a single-tone instrument like a flute or a
(human or hardware) whistle, but it's *very* difficult with
more than one instrument.
Even with a single pure-tone whistle, it's also really hard
to simply find where the notes are. Real-world sounds don't
start and stop like key presses, they have attack and decay
and portamento slides, plus transition noises (breath on
whistle, string squeak on guitar, etc), plus overshoot,
undershoot, and correction, etc.
See
<http://www.daqarta.com/dw_pitch.htm> for an example of a
pitch-tracked human whistle, as clean as I could make it.
Color indicates loudness, which ideally would be uniformly
yellow here, but you will see a few dribbles of blue and
green on transitions. The black and grey background shows a
keyboard, where "perfect" pitch would be the center of each
key. Besides making my lack of talent obvious, it shows the
sorts of real-world wiggles and bumps you'd have to deal
with. And remember, this is only a single track of the
simplest possible (sine) waveform. Imagine chords and
mixed instruments, with harmonics!
Best regards,
Bob Masta
DAQARTA v7.60
Data AcQuisition And Real-Time Analysis
www.daqarta.com
Scope, Spectrum, Spectrogram, Sound Level Meter
Frequency Counter, Pitch Track, Pitch-to-MIDI
FREE Signal Generator, DaqMusiq generator
Science with your sound card!

Does any one even read this newsgroup? I don't need a commercial. I
just want to compose a few songs and e-mail them to my sweetee.
Ableton.com wants $449 for their software. Got something better?

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power in the universe

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Pete

2014-09-30 22:36:37 UTC

Permalink

Can't really help you on the book. The only one I have (which I like)
dates from the 90's and is long out of print.

If you haven't already, check out Amazon, where a quick peek shows
a good selection of titles. The reviews should give you an idea of
which might suit you.

From your list above, it looks like what you are missing is a sequencer.
You'll need that if you want to record MIDI and play it back.
For Linux, the one of choice seems to be RoseGarden. I have no personal
experience (I do most of my music in an OS you'll never have heard of...
Haiku (:-/) but I understand it is very full featured.

You'll want to look into the ALSA Sequencer functions (in particular
'aconnect') to see how to connect your apps together. If you're using
QSynth, you probably already are aware of Soundfonts, and that there
are several with different capabilities available on the web. (I assume
you know about the "General Midi" standard set of instrument voices,
and its extensions.)

Don't bother trying to turn audio from your accordion into MIDI.
Just enjoy it as an accordion! As Bob has pointed out in his response,
audio-to-midi apps are more sworn at than sworn by... Better to find
yourself a keyboard that you like, and enter your MIDI with that.

I'm not sure what you consider 'cheap', but you could get a simple
Korg Nanokey (a couple of octaves) for ~$50. I have an Axiom49 that
I like (as well as an 88-key digital piano) that I think I got for
$250 on sale. You could look for a reconditioned unit to save some cash.

To make good use of MIDI and all its various messages, you'll want
a keyboard with a selection of controllers besides the keys themselves
-- things like modulation and pitchbend, and some sliders. (Another
thing the accordion would not be able to do!)

HTH

-- Pete --

unknown

2014-10-01 16:06:52 UTC

Permalink

Post by Pete

Can't really help you on the book. The only one I have (which I like)
dates from the 90's and is long out of print.
If you haven't already, check out Amazon, where a quick peek shows
a good selection of titles. The reviews should give you an idea of
which might suit you.
From your list above, it looks like what you are missing is a sequencer.
You'll need that if you want to record MIDI and play it back.
For Linux, the one of choice seems to be RoseGarden. I have no personal
experience (I do most of my music in an OS you'll never have heard of...
Haiku (:-/) but I understand it is very full featured.
You'll want to look into the ALSA Sequencer functions (in particular
'aconnect') to see how to connect your apps together. If you're using
QSynth, you probably already are aware of Soundfonts, and that there
are several with different capabilities available on the web. (I assume
you know about the "General Midi" standard set of instrument voices,
and its extensions.)
Don't bother trying to turn audio from your accordion into MIDI.
Just enjoy it as an accordion! As Bob has pointed out in his response,
audio-to-midi apps are more sworn at than sworn by... Better to find
yourself a keyboard that you like, and enter your MIDI with that.
I'm not sure what you consider 'cheap', but you could get a simple
Korg Nanokey (a couple of octaves) for ~$50. I have an Axiom49 that
I like (as well as an 88-key digital piano) that I think I got for
$250 on sale. You could look for a reconditioned unit to save some cash.
To make good use of MIDI and all its various messages, you'll want
a keyboard with a selection of controllers besides the keys themselves
-- things like modulation and pitchbend, and some sliders. (Another
thing the accordion would not be able to do!)
HTH
-- Pete --

Thank you for the comments and advice.