Hello all, I have been composing midi music for a good 3-4 years and I have been searching and searching for information in regards to switching from midi to digital. I still plan on writing out my music notation wise then using another program to convert it with digital sampling of such. Considering I have no experience with working with such tools beyond what little I have read I am looking for advice on free resources or resources that aren't so expensive to get me started in digital composition. I've viewed the sticky thread above and it was a great resource to look at each of the software items listed but that is not as much help as finding out where you folks started your humble beginnings or where you would start if you had to start over. Thanks for your time. -Kal

I would consider MIDI to be digital, but I think I get what you mean. What sort of music do you see your self producing in the (near) future? This could greatly impact the sort of software/hardware you're going to want, unless you feel like shelling out tons of money for a full studio.

Well, I have been doing midi production for small game projects. I am also looking into so small film projects such as graduate film projects as well as earlier film projects. I can write the scores no problem via Finale or Sibelius and send them that score printed out but for the most part these folks are looking for real sounding digital compositions. Not midi but more so 'live samples' of instruments.

So I am looking for some basic software and sampling material so I can get use to working with the software and get the basics done in converting midi to mp3 quality and then slowly step up.

Or would it be better to go with a top level program like Giga Studio? and spend money on hardware updates. It seems like Giga Studio comes with one of the most extensive sample libraries but requires a lot of hard drive space as well as sound card update.

So in short I see myself writing mp3 quality music for Games, TV & if lucky small film works.

Thanks again.

One good way to go if you are stepping from MIDI to the world of digital audio is to buy yourself a good MIDI sound module (such as the Edirol Studio Canvas or Yamaha MOTIFRACK). Whilst expensive ($300+ new), they can produce a really good sound from plain MIDI data which you can then record back into your computer. If that's way out of your budget, have a look on eBay - I got a Roland SC-7 Sound Module (oldish) for just 20 GBP which has good built-in sounds, digital reverb and chorus.

DaveW,

Thanks. I will be looking into that. I figured getting a midi keyboard would be part of the next step be do note the only software I am working with right now is Finale & Sibelius. I have modplug tracker but I have been having problems replacing the midi sounds with some .wav sample files I've come across on the net. Of course they aren't professional quality but I was trying to mess around to see if I knew what I was doing. Sadly, it appears I didn't hah.

So what other software would you recommend with the keyboard you stated?

Quote: Original post by Kalorian
Or would it be better to go with a top level program like Giga Studio? and spend money on hardware updates. It seems like Giga Studio comes with one of the most extensive sample libraries but requires a lot of hard drive space as well as sound card update.

If you get Gigastudio, you will spend most of your money on samples, not hardware. Gigastudio also doesn't really come with samples (mine came only with this Gigapiano sample that's not too bad) so you will have to buy them from a place like soundsonline.com. In addition to that, you will need a Gigastudio-compatible soundcard, and a fast computer with lots of ram.

I usually run it with a sequencer like Cakewalk as it gives you better control over the midi data than programs like Finale.

A midi keyboard is not essential, but I think having a piano available somewhere is good for composing/improvising.

Ok Thanks.

Well lets put it this way. What if I was looking to work on a few short film projects for a school to start developing an idea of how things work in the film world. Would it be better to get a 500-1000$ keyboard and record the keyboard samples to some type of software that overwrites the midi? I haven't spent a lot of time reading all the technical stuff about this yet so I know this is sounding very unknowledgable. Thats why I call it my awkward transition heh.

So would it be better to get a keyboard with some decent sounds or go with some grouped programs and sample files?

Thanks.

I don't know of any keyboard that uses real recorded instruments, so anything more than just a plain "midi keyboard" is a waste if you are buying it solely to create more realistic sounds, which Gigastudio does better than anything else out there.

If you're interested in getting into the industry (film, t.v., games, etc.) then Gigastudio is a great way to start, maybe even finish...

Check out this article: link

Crud, I do remember there was a keyboard that actually used recordings, but heck if I can remember which one. All these keyboards have too many letters and numbers.

Almost all keyboards use real recorded sounds, gone are the days of FM synthesis chips. However, the quality and the way they play the samples is the important factor. Cheaper keyboards/sound modules/software/etc will have one or two samples for the whole range of notes, where as expensive keyboards/sound modules/software/etc may have several samples for each note, using different velocities and playing styles to create an extremely realistic sound if used well.

I'd also like to point out that the hardware(s?) I described earlier are sound modules not keyboards (sound modules are just the bit that makes the sound). If you make a midi connection with one of these devices from your computer, you can play sequenced files (logic, cubase etc) and get sound out. If you take this sound as a line input you should be able to record it back to your sequencer and bounce it to mp3 (I know both Cubase and Logic can do this).

On the other hand, software solutions are usually cheaper and have access to more raw sound data, so their sound can be as good or better than the external modules without shelling out so much cash. It's really up to you to decide what you'd rather use (I've never used GigaStudio myself but I've heard from other users who are very happy with it)