Rich Bongorno MIDI Info
Technical Information
A little bit about midi and my compositions:
I'm not much of a musician (although I do a pretty good job of fakin' it). I play a little rhythm guitar and play around with the piano and keyboards. I'm really just a right-handed keyboard player and, in fact, I don't often use all five fingers on the right hand. Still, I'm able to compose without too much difficulty. I'm truly amazed with the technology that's available inexpensively and how it allows a poor musician to compose and record with ease.
The basic component of it all is a computer. Midi music really takes little computer power and I believe anything from a 486 based computer on up will work. I'm currently using an HP Pentium 450.
In order to input the midi information in the computer, you need a midi composition program and an input device. Midi composition program are called sequencers. Often a new computer will have composition software loaded on it already, although you will need to look for it to find it. It's usually buried somewhere under the sound files in the program directory. If the computer doesn't have it on it, programs almost always come with sound cards. So if your going to upgrade your sound card (se below) you will be able to get a sequencer with the card.
I am currently using the Voyetra Turtle Beach Digital Orchestrator Pro as my program. I'm currently trying out Cakewalk Home Studio 9 and comparing the two and, although Cakewalk is a much bigger seller, I prefer the Voyetra product at this time.
While it possible to input midi music information via a typewriter-style keyboard, you really need a piano-style device. These come in all shapes, sizes and price ranges. I use a Yamaha PSR 520 which I actually bought for my wife but I have long since commandeered it for myself.
That's really all you need to be a superstar composer like me. Still there are some additional components that are truly recommended to get you near recording-studio quality at home. These are a sound card and/or a midi sound generator.
A good quality sound card will allow you to create/hear sounds that will more closely match the sounds of the actual instrument. I'm extremely impressed with the Creative Sound Blaster Live! which I have installed in my HP computer. The sounds and options are tremendous. In addition, I upgraded my speakers to Cambridge SoundWorks speakers. These are fantastic! For $99 I got four fantastic mini-cube speakers and a subwoofer and now the sound from my computer is hi-fi stereo quality. The Live! sound card was $199. I highly recommend both.
In order attain a CD-quality sound, I did have to purchase a top-of-the-line midi sound generator. I got the Roland SC-880 sound canvas. This baby comes with 1,117 sounds/instruments and 42 drum kits. I'm sure I'll never get to use all the different options on this machine. It's a great item. I have also purchased a sound module from E-Mu Systems. It's the Xtreme Lead-1 and it truly produces awesome sounds that are primarily in the "dance/techno" genre. I highly recommend it.
That's what I've got to create the songs on my mp3 page. To really hear the full quality of the music, you need to get the CD.
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Last update: March 03, 2007