~Hakurei Shrine~ > Alice's Art Atelier
Art Tips Thread II
GenericArrangements:
Yeah, I'd suggest using a DAW, preferably a free one until you know what you're doing. LMMS is what I used to use, and it's very user-friendly for newcomers to the digital music scene, although I don't like its reverberators very much (which are super important for mixing). Really it's the only place to go after MIDIs. DAWs take a long time to get used to - particularly in terms of mixing - but with good enough plugins you should be fine. Just keep making stuff until it sounds up to your standards. Good luck!
--- Quote from: Mеа on June 19, 2017, 06:43:16 AM ---it's not very nice to have to ask the audience to download the file, load up a midi player, load the file, select the instruments, and then finally after all this to play the file. People don't have long attention spans and I certainly feel less inclined to go listen to something when I need to go through all these steps to listen to it.
--- End quote ---
That's probably an issue on your end. In my experience all a MIDI requires is Windows Media Player unless you're trying to play it at higher quality than necessary (which is rather pointless for such simple files).
Z_A:
Thanks for help guys! I just had a couple more questions.
@Mea: sure thing, I understood that already ^^ I did read the forum a bit and what you said:
--- Quote ---midi doesn't feel like a very responsible or considerate form to submit your work in
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strikes me as true (with all the rest of it in mind, of course). That's why I'm trying to do something about it. It doesn't have anything to deal with attention spans of people though :P
--- Quote ---DAWs are a good way of doing that. There are plenty of free ones out there which you can find on the google machine. There are also lots of free vsts that you can download, virtual instruments, among which you can pick out the one that you would like your notes to be played by. I'm not super well-versed with the usage of these because I don't use these much, but simple experimentation with them works well most of the time.
--- End quote ---
Thanks! That's exactly what I wanted to know! I also did a bit of research myself, but I don't understand all of this yet. Isn't a VST basically a software synthesizer, and do I need one for each of the instruments, or can one be used as more than one instrument, if I use different settings? Because I really use a lot of them already. Also, could you (or someone else around here) recommend some of those that sound prettiest? And do those plugins also emulate drums? I think, if I got that correctly, that there are also such things as samples and soundfonts, that can also be used to make music, not just synthesized sound. Should I use those as well?
@GenericArrangements: as soon as I posted that, I tried LMMS. Sure is harder to use that my midi editor, but it just feels more right. I also tried using several other soundfonts to play my midis, rather than the default one, and some of those indeed have better sound. That might be worth trying as well, especially since LMMS has a soundfont player tool. What worries me is that some of the more complex formatting that I used in my midis didn't import into LMMS correctly; it probably doesn't support all of the so-called flags or events.
--- Quote ---In my experience all a MIDI requires is Windows Media Player
--- End quote ---
That's not entirely true: some platforms don't have a way of playing midi at all (like my former Windows Phone), and some others play it not the intended way (like my new Android device). What Mea said is correct. As I send a file to my friend, who I know has Windows, I can be relatively sure that he hears the same sound that I do, but that's not the case, when I upload it for a broader audience.
Bio:
VST is a software interface, with both synthesizer and effect plugins produced. As such, a lot depends on the actual plugin itself.
GenericArrangements:
--- Quote from: Z_A on June 19, 2017, 10:51:50 AM --- I think, if I got that correctly, that there are also such things as samples and soundfonts, that can also be used to make music, not just synthesized sound. Should I use those as well?
--- End quote ---
If you want certain sounds, it might be better to get soundfonts. I haven't yet stumbled into the world of VSTs, but I am aware that they are very different. Best idea is to just get both and mess around with both until you find what you like. It's all about experimenting.
--- Quote from: Z_A on June 19, 2017, 10:51:50 AM ---What worries me is that some of the more complex formatting that I used in my midis didn't import into LMMS correctly; it probably doesn't support all of the so-called flags or events.
--- End quote ---
Yeah, that's normal. I tried importing a pitch-bend, and it literally crashed. I suggest you only put the notes in, and edit all other effects in the DAW itself. It's easier in the long run, and gives more freedom.
--- Quote from: Z_A on June 19, 2017, 10:51:50 AM ---
--- Quote from: GenericArrangements on June 19, 2017, 09:34:52 AM ---Windows Media Player
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I thought this was clear enough. My fault for not elaborating more on MIDIs. I just thought it wasn't really necessary, considering you're moving away from them (as individual sound files). MIDIs are just a series of notes and simple techniques, and so use the sounds of what's actually playing them, which is why your Android phone made it sound different. Also Macs are not capable of playing them at all without external software, mainly because of the file-type (possibly because of a lack of pre-installed sounds too, but I don't actually know about that). Either way, MIDIs are still not good forms to release content as, when they're the main feature.
Z_A:
--- Quote ---considering you're moving away from them (as individual sound files)
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No, really, I think I'll still be using midi a lot, at least to input most of the unaltered notes. Piano roll is just too inconvenient for the task.
--- Quote ---MIDIs are just a series of notes and simple techniques, and so use the sounds of what's actually playing them, which is why your Android phone made it sound different.
--- End quote ---
I know that ^^ I've actually been using this format for years already, but I started trying to arrange Touhou stuff only a little more than a year ago. One of the best things about midi, even to this day, is that it's pretty much universal. Most of the software that has something to do with music also has a means to interpret midi, making it almost as portable as such things get.
With all your help, I might finally be ready to post one of my arrangements soon. Because, well, I really need some feedback. While I don't think they are utterly awful, there is always room for improvement, right? I'm still not sure where to upload it. Would you recommend something?
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