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offline theo himself from +- on 2003-03-10 22:17 [#00589696]
Points: 3348 Status: Regular



I'm not looking for top-of-the-line technology here.. just
something that doesnt sound quite as dated as the !1988!
Yamaha I've been forced to settle with (you could imagine
what this sounds like.. not only is reverb and/or a
phaser/flanger of some sort NECESSARY with each track..
there's a loud humming noise that is emitted whenever the
thing is on.. as you could imagine.. it's a dream to work
with) I want something good.. something with a bank of
sampled instruments, effects?, sampling capabilities, midi..
etc all that is now standard.. it has to be pretty good and
not any more than a few hundred dollars (I only have a few
left from my tax return check to spend) .. let me know where
to look (which companies, websites) and which models are
good.. all the music makers.. let me know what hardware u
use.. and what for.. and finally how much it cost you.


 

offline Clic on 2003-03-10 22:39 [#00589742]
Points: 5232 Status: Regular



vintagesynth.com

harmony-central.com

At Harmony Central, try looking through the classifieds for
used gear. You can find good things sometimes.


 

offline eXXailon from purgatory on 2003-03-11 06:22 [#00590125]
Points: 6745 Status: Lurker | Followup to theo himself: #00589696



what Yamaha model do you have, theo?


 

offline Laserbeak from Netherlands, The on 2003-03-11 06:47 [#00590137]
Points: 2670 Status: Lurker



maybe you can get a yamaha CS1x for a few hundred dollars
now. It's not very good compared to other gear but it's
cheap. I still use mine as a controller. And if you want
sampling, you can always get a seperate thing for that, but
I personally would recommend using the computer for that


 

offline hevquip from megagram dusk sect (United States) on 2003-03-11 16:09 [#00590702]
Points: 3381 Status: Regular



i have a yamaha sy22. it's good. so was the roland d10 i
had. they're both cheap.

check out sonicstate.com. they have good classifieds. and as
usual, ebay.


 

offline theo himself from +- on 2003-03-11 16:24 [#00590717]
Points: 3348 Status: Regular



what are contollers.. or midi controllers

hahah exxailon I have a Yamaha PSR-32



 

offline evolume from seattle (United States) on 2003-03-11 16:26 [#00590719]
Points: 10965 Status: Regular



i don't have any keyboards but i am considering buying a
controller.

anyone have any info on midi controllers? i.e. good ones?
work with which programs? tasty?


 

offline eXXailon from purgatory on 2003-03-11 16:28 [#00590721]
Points: 6745 Status: Lurker



I have a PSR-510...it's old...but works fine for MIDI
purposes and practicing finger technique.


 

offline theo himself from +- on 2003-03-11 16:42 [#00590748]
Points: 3348 Status: Regular



how do you use that for midi?


 

offline hevquip from megagram dusk sect (United States) on 2003-03-11 16:45 [#00590755]
Points: 3381 Status: Regular



midi controller is a keyboard, or sometimes something with
alot of knobs and sliders. basically it only sends midi
messages, it doesn't make any sound of it's on. you select
what midi channel you want and play with parameters.


 

offline hevquip from megagram dusk sect (United States) on 2003-03-11 16:45 [#00590759]
Points: 3381 Status: Regular



but you can also use most keyboards as a midi controller, at
least for programming stuff into a sequencer.


 

offline theo himself from +- on 2003-03-11 16:47 [#00590763]
Points: 3348 Status: Regular



I dont think I get what midi is..

it's when you use the computer to control the keyboard
right?


 

offline eXXailon from purgatory on 2003-03-11 16:48 [#00590766]
Points: 6745 Status: Lurker



You simply hook your keyboard to the PC:
MIDI cable --> on the one side you plug it into the joystick
port on your sound card and on the other side you plug the
MIDI IN plug into the keyboard MIDI OUT port and the MIDI
OUT plug into the keyboard MIDI IN port.

That's your basic MIDI setup. You can create MIDI files with
a MIDI sequencer (Logic, Cakewalk and Cubase are the most
advanced, but check www.download.com for more) or you can
use the keyboard to input notes in for example FruityLoops.


 

offline mylittlesister from ...wherever (United Kingdom) on 2003-03-11 16:50 [#00590768]
Points: 8472 Status: Regular | Followup to theo himself: #00590763



digital signals, that are used to create notes.

they could be either the keyboard making the computer make a
sound, or the computer making the keyboard make a sound.

they are like a language which allows midi-compatible
devices to communicate.


 

offline hevquip from megagram dusk sect (United States) on 2003-03-11 17:01 [#00590794]
Points: 3381 Status: Regular



MIDI = Musical Instrument Digital Interface

"MIDI information tells a synthesizer, in its most basic
mode, when to start and stop playing a specific note. Other
information shared includes the volume and modulation of the
note, if any. MIDI information can also be more hardware
specific. It can tell a synthesizer to change sounds, master
volume, modulation devices, and even how to receive
information. In more advanced uses, MIDI information can to
indicate the starting and stopping points of a song or the
metric position within a song. More recent applications
include using the interface between computers and
synthesizers to edit and store sound information for the
synthesizer on the computer."

"The basis for MIDI communication is the byte. Through a
combination of bytes a vast amount of information can be
transferred. Each MIDI command has a specific byte sequence.
The first byte is the status byte, which tells the MIDI
device what function to perform. Encoded in the status byte
is the MIDI channel. MIDI operates on 16 different channels,
numbered 0 through 15. MIDI units will accept or ignore a
status byte depending on what channel the machine is set to
receive. Only the status byte has the MIDI channel number
encoded. All other bytes are assumed to be on the channel
indicated by the status byte until another status byte is
received."

"Some of these functions indicated in the status byte are
Note On, Note Off, System Exclusive (SysEx), Patch Change,
and so on. Depending on the status byte, a number of
different byte patterns will follow. The Note On status byte
tells the MIDI device to begin sounding a note. Two
additional bytes are required, a pitch byte, which tells the
MIDI device which note to play, and a velocity byte, which
tells the device how loud to play the note. Even though not
all MIDI devices recognize the velocity byte, it is still
required to complete the Note On transmission."


 

offline hevquip from megagram dusk sect (United States) on 2003-03-11 17:05 [#00590797]
Points: 3381 Status: Regular



"The idea is that there are 16 channels in General MIDI, and
that's also the case in most sound cards and synthesizers.

Different instruments can be assigned to different channels
at the same time. So theoretically you can have a maximum of
16 instruments playing at the same time. The actual number
can vary, because the sound card or synthesizer can only
produce a fixed maximum number of notes at the same time.
(eg: 32-voice polyphony means that you can only press 32
keys at the same time and hear them. The 33rd key you
pressed will either be ignored, or the first key you pressed
will be cut off) You can also use more than 16 instruments
if you can "steal" a track (eg: Your harp only comes in at
the introduction, so you can use the same track for another
instrument that only appears later in the song on the same
channel). All 16 channels are transmitted in one MIDI
cable."

"You can use as many tracks that the sequencer program
allows you to. (Usually more than a hundred) A track
contains the events (i.e. the things you did; eg: what key
you pressed at when & for how long) you want to put inside.
For example, you may want to do a very complicated Grand
Piano part. You can record the right hand part in track 1,
and then record the left hand part in track 2. If you make a
mistake while recording the left hand part, you don't have
to worry about the right hand's - it's stored seperately in
track 1. Then you can assign both tracks to channel 0 (Grand
Piano in General MIDI - mentioned above). The end result
will sound exactly like you played both hands at the same
time! (*Note: percussion instruments are stored as a single
"Instrument". Different keys correspond to different drums)"


 

offline theo himself from +- on 2003-03-11 17:47 [#00590867]
Points: 3348 Status: Regular



oh.

I dont think my keyboard even has a midi in/output


 

offline rockenjohnny from champagne socialism (Australia) on 2003-03-11 18:11 [#00590884]
Points: 7983 Status: Lurker | Followup to theo himself: #00589696



well.. im using a midi controller jacked into a roland mv-30
sequencer.. which is 12 yrs old now.. however its got
in-depth filters and you can layer up to 8 timbres at once,
so once you get to know the thing its quite a decent synth

my mate and i have 3 of them between us that weve managed to
pick up in perth.. snap it up if you see one. its also a
damn fine sequencer and was the first to fully implement
real-time-phrasing



 

offline rockenjohnny from champagne socialism (Australia) on 2003-03-11 18:12 [#00590886]
Points: 7983 Status: Lurker



i shouldve read the rest of your posts. midi is a bitch to
get your head around.. but once you do theres no turning
back :)



 


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