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Midi controllers (1)
| Introduction: Why controllers...?
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Most newcomers aren't familiar with controllers, although they are extremely important for creating a good and interesting piece of midi music.
There are 127 midi controllers. Most of them you probably will never use, but some of them can make the difference between a boring midi-file and a great piece of music. Controllers implement information on certain aspects of the performance of your piece, like master-volume, stereo settings, use of a sustain-pedal, vibrato effects, and much more. For many of these variables there are separate controllers for coarse and fine settings (beginners don't have to worry about this).
The information that usually has to be included when you insert a new controller event is where in the piece the new setting should take effect (exact position of the controller-event), to what channel the controller should be applied (1-16), what effect you want to implement (controller number) and how strong this effect should be (usually a value between 0 and 127).
Example: You might place an event with controller number 91 (Reverb) at the beginning of the very first bar for channel 1 and set it to a value of 80 - the instrument on channel 1 will start playing with a medium amount of reverb (at least if your sound card supports reverb...), resulting in a warmer, more realistic sound.
| How to implement controllers
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Drawing controllers
Most sequencers allow to draw in curves for controllers, making it quite simple to add complex variations. This function is often integrated into the sequencer's piano roll view.
Mixer
Many sequencers feature a mixer that will give you control over the overall balance of your piece. Here, you can directly implement volume changes and other controllers through a graphical interface. You can do all the settings and then take a 'snapshot' of them, which saves mixer-values for that particular position in the piece.
You might also use the 'record mixer movements' option: when activated and in recording mode, you can mix your piece in real time (this probably is what most people expect from a mixer-console...)
Keyboard
Another excellent and comfortable method of adding controller-changes like variations in volume is to re-assign other controllers to the modulation-wheel on your keyboard (I discovered this accidentaly and it even works on my cheap keyboard). You can use the wheel while recording or overdub over an existing track.
Event list
In case of imergency, if you don't have all these possibilities, you might at least have access to the midi-event list. There, you can manually insert controller values.
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Midi articles: Introduction
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