I have garageband and an $80 keyboard. I can't really make much of anything. At the bottom you can "draw" notes in. I have seen a lot of other midi programs and stuff with the same "click to create notes" interface. I was recently looking for a program to make NES type music for a new game I'm working on. I found a plugin for garageband which doesn't work. I also found some sort of program where you have to basically "type" notes in.
My question is, how the hell does anyone make music this way? I mean with a keyboard I have decent enough timing that I can just play a loop over and over again for a minute or so. But there've been times where I've played one measure of something and tried to loop it but it's off too much so I go into the note editor and move things around a tiny bit but it ends up sounding robotic. The same thing happens when I try to use that editor from scratch. I know a lot of people here make their own music and use these midi-editing programs, so how the hell do you do it?!?!
Can you not listen to a metronome through some headphones as you record your keyboard?
If you're going to do it just by clicking it's always going to sound a little robotic because it will be perfect, whereas human performance is obviously slightly flawed.
I use Garageband to sketch out songs. I thought that's how all music apps work - you just plug in a midi keyboard, press record and play out the track? You can tighten it up later using the notation or piano roll editor, or automatically align notes.
Change the blue middle box thing to display measure, that changes the type of ruler and makes it easy to create the loops. Record the piece, edit the notes so they look and resize the loop section so it lines up to a whole number on the ruler. Then highlight the lower corner of the single block of notes (the cursor will change to a loop icon) and then stretch it out. Any changes you make (including the length of the initial loop) will be repeated over the whole loop.
... If that makes any sense. But it works. I did the whole Sam and Tormi OST using Garageband and Logic.
hate to break it to you but i do most of my composing in the editor, its a skill i picked up through necessity ie not having a working keyboard for a long time and stuff. you can quantise your midi track (in most softwares at least) and i believe theres options to change the percentage by which the track is quantised by so as to still retain some of the natural feel.
the midi keyboard is the easiest way to play things in because of this. but i more or less only play my guitar parts live now. and obviously they cant be quantised and editing the audio to make it more in time is very hard. basically... if i'm not bang on with it.. its obvious!
Originally Posted by Dr. James I use Garageband to sketch out songs. I thought that's how all music apps work - you just plug in a midi keyboard, press record and play out the track? You can tighten it up later using the notation or piano roll editor, or automatically align notes.
Change the blue middle box thing to display measure, that changes the type of ruler and makes it easy to create the loops. Record the piece, edit the notes so they look and resize the loop section so it lines up to a whole number on the ruler. Then highlight the lower corner of the single block of notes (the cursor will change to a loop icon) and then stretch it out. Any changes you make (including the length of the initial loop) will be repeated over the whole loop.
... If that makes any sense. But it works. I did the whole Sam and Tormi OST using Garageband and Logic.
Yeah I've got the basics of garageband down. I guess I just can't figure out why no matter what I do in the editor, whether just adjusting what I've played, or trying to make something from scratch, it just doesn't sound right.
yeah its way too easy in the editor to make it sound robotic, quantising is where the computer snaps the notes to the beats, so if you play a couple of slightly off notes it corrects it, but again that can make it sound like a machine. you have to just remember that the way something is played by a human has a sort of..... organic feel. dont make all the notes the same length, put a few in that are not just whole and half beats.
When I make music on my computer i use a tracker. This means that I never play anything realtime. Works great for me, and has done so for 10 years
n/a
Deleted User
8th June, 2009 at 02:47:03 -
You could make a program in MMF2 that can play loops overlapping =/
Probably not the answer you were looking for, but the first thing that came to mind...
Really, you could set it up so it plays loops, change pitches, have a little offset, all kinds of stuff! =D
Assault Andy Administrator
I make other people create vaporware
Registered 29/07/2002
Points 5686
8th June, 2009 at 03:20:17 -
I use FL Studio and I don't use a keyboard. I use the in built composer to place notes where I want them. I don't play anything in realtime. Most Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs) work like this. Keyboards are only necessary if you want to 'feel' what you are playing or you want to play live/ have more control etc. But there's nothing you can do with a keyboard that you can't do without.
Next you'll want to get some VSTs (Virtual Studio Technology, ie virtual instruments/effects) and some samples to use for things like drums (unless you also use virtual drums.) Most DAWs come with these but you'll really want to get some of your own. There are many many free ones for all kinds of instruments but it depends on what sort of music you want to make. I make electro stuff so I'm into virtual analogue synths. But you can get VSTs for real instruments such as flutes and cellos too.
In summary a keyboard is just a way of inputting the notes, it doesn't actually make any sound that you record unless you really want it to.
If you can't play your own tune in time to a playing loop with a beat or at least a metronome you should probably work on your rhythm on keyboard a little more. I've made a little bit of music for games before and honestly, I just create MIDIs straight out of Guitar Pro software which I normally use to learn songs or write my own down because I can't record. However since it works on MIDI (though they have a realistic sound engine now too), it's extremely easy to make a tune and export it as a MIDI file. I think I get too confused with more powerful MIDI editing software and software specifically designed for it.
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