At 12:47 PM 6/10/03 EDT, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > (1) Hardware: Buy a very expensive sampler, and use a sequencer to feed a >Midi file into it. Then listen to and do a mix of the result.
No. This is not flexible. The main reason to use outboard boxes now is if you perform regularly and need equipment that will survive on the road. > (2) Software: Upgrade my computer so it can handle sampling software (I >have been told I need at least a 1 Ghz CPU, and more than 256 MB of RAM). >Basically, this will convert my existing computer into a sampler. One such >product is GigaStudio. There are others. I use Sonar with LiveSynth Pro. This is a kind of 90% solution. Giga has the big sample libraries, and can stream them from disk. It also requires routing cables, etc. And it's expensive. I might use it if I wanted to produce the kind of results that, say, Mark Snow gets in his television music, or Jerry Gerber does on his "virtual orchestra" recordings for Ottava Records. But my work is mostly for reasonable demos or background music for video. LiveSynth Pro uses SoundFonts (there are hundreds of excellent real samples available for free, but you have to audition to get the good ones; there are also commercial SoundFonts). I don't recommend using Finale as your ultimate Midi source because, in order to tweak it so the results sound even marginal -- your General Midi card may not be entirely at fault for sound quality here! -- you will go absolutely crazy. Get software dedicated to the task, like Sonar. Here's an outline of how I work with this (and save, save, save under new names between each step): 1. Create the raw score in Finale. 2. Explode any parts sharing a staff to separate staves for my playback version. 3. Pre-assign patches, volume levels, etc., as much as possible. 4. Output the Midi file to separate tracks to create my crude working Midi file. 5. Open the Midi file in Sonar, where instruments will open as separate tracks. 6. Install multiple instances of LiveSynth, using one for each instrumental choir, section, or special instrument. 7. Load the SoundFonts into each LiveSynth, including (for example) various string articulations, etc. 8. Assign the tracks (instruments) to Midi banks, channels, and patches (using multiple LiveSynth instances gives the option of hundreds of separate channels; watch that track 10 percussion!). 9. Check to make sure patch changes within the score perform the correct synth/bank/patch change. 10. Expand stop times for notes in any area where legato is needed. 11. Go back and hand-separate overlapping identical notes (Midi will stop the 2nd note when the first ends if I don't do this) in legato areas. 12. Hand-draw the velocities to avoid mechanical sameness. 13. Hand-draw the volume changes, de/crescendi, swells, sfps, etc., for the same reason. 14. Quantize the start time, stop time, and length with a random percentage (between 5-15%) for the same reason. 15. Go back and hand-separate overlapping identical notes again. 16. Add plugins (hall or room reverb, etc.) and audition the results. Live-record (using console mode) and mix changes I need to make. 17. Output the results as a .wav file. 18. Open the .wav file in Cool Edit Pro to master it (I use iZotope's Ozone). >I was wondering if there is a third approach that would merely make a WAV >file in the computer from a MIDI file, then I could simply play that back. That's what you do from Sonar. But if you want good results, it's not simple -- you have to approach the demo with as much attention as you do the score. Dennis _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
