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How to improve midi files (1)
The midi format offers great possibilities for creating music. Although getting started is quite easy, there are a few points you should pay attention to - they'll help to avoid typical problems and mistakes.
In this article, you'll find two kinds of tips:
'Midi channel setup' & 'Controller setup' deal with technical aspects of Midi - they might be of help if you have experienced problems with setting up your instruments, midi settings not switching off and such stuff.
'Performance' and 'Composition' add some points that will help you make your sequenced music sound less mechanical and more realistic.
Percussion
The percussion kit is automatically assigned to channel 10. Don't try to change the percussion-channel and don't assign other instruments to it - or you might end up with a big mess.
Order of assigning channels
Midi channels should be assigned in descending order from channel 1 to channel 16, because under certain circumstances (probably depending on equipment & settings) the last midi channels might be cut off during playback.
If you are making full use of all channels it might be a good idea to assign instruments according to their overall importance: Make sure that just in case that channels 15 & 16 drop out on certain equipment, this doesn't affect the most essential lines.
Multiple tracks sharing one channel
A midi channel can only play one instrument at the same time - if you assign both a piano and a guitar to channel 3, both lines will play using the same patch.
Obviously, this method is most useful for ensembles using the same patch. Example: 3 string ensembles *or* 4 horns might play through the same channel, but not 2 strings *and* two horns.
It is important to keep in mind that a midi channel can only play a certain amount of notes at a time. If this limit is exceeded, certain notes will not be played - so assigning all 5 string sections to the same channel generally isn't a good idea.
Another problem is that controllers assigned to a channel affect all tracks playing through it: If all your strings are assigned to channel 6 and you create a fade out for the violins, the other string sections will follow. So, if you need to use several tracks with identical patches but different controller settings, you'll have to use different channels for each of them.
Example for deviding up a whole instrumental section between channels:
Violins I - ch.1, Violins II - ch.2, Viola - ch.3, Cellos - ch.2, Basses - ch.3
Using only 3 channels for 5 tracks, this arrangement will leave you one independant voice that doesn't affect others (ch.1). It also keeps instruments from similar registers from fading out simultanously (violins I+II, Cellos + Basses).
If you need more than 16 instruments in a piece you can use the Change Patch controller to change the patch that's assigned to a channel. Again, this will affect all tracks on the channel - so it only makes sense to replace patches that temporarily aren't used. Example: If the middle section of your piece doesn't make use of the tuba, but you suddenly need a harp, you might temporarily exchange these patches. Obviously, these settings won't allow a duet between tuba and harp.
It might be a good idea to reserve the last two channels for such 'extra instruments' that only appear from time to time and can be switched between. This allows to use two extras at the same time.
Incompatible channel setups
Under certain circumstances, you might want to use a channel setup that won't play on standard midi equipment - for example, your soundcard might have two midi ports and thus allow you to use 32 independent channels. This might be great for recording MP3-versions or midis for private use.
However - if you are planning to make these files available to the public, you should do a general-midi-remix for 16 channels (Change Patch controllers can be of help in squeezing 32 voices into 16). This might produce a loss of quality, but it makes your music accessible to everyone.
| Controller setup: "Head & Tail" |
Midi controllers don't automatically reset after playing a song. So - for example - if you use volume controllers to create a fade-out, the volume will remain at this level and suddenly your midi-equipment won't produce a single sound until new settings are defined for these controllers. There are less obvious cases, in which settings from another song might still be in use in another piece: the sustain pedal might not have been deactivated, the chorus might be set to maximum, or modulation might still be active - all these settings, if used in the wrong place, can easily destroy the best composition and performance and are one possible reason, why a piece played on different equipment with different settings might sound absolutely awful.
To avoid such bad surprises, it is usually recommended to define all important controllers at the beginning of a piece: enter volume, reverb-, chorus- and pan-settings, switch off sustain pedals, and so on. Besides of this 'header' you should also implement a 'tail' at the end of your sequence, that resets all controllers to default values. This 'tail' is especially important in case of rare or extreme controller-settings, that are likely to cause trouble without reset (Imagine: you're a beginner, listen to a midifile that fades out and suddenly your whole midi-system appears to be dead...). The proper use of controllers like 'All notes off' and 'Reset controllers' helps to avoid such bad surprises.
You might have noticed that many midi-files start with an empty measure. These empty measures are used for setting up everything nicely *before* the music starts. However, it's unnecessary to take a whole measure for this - a 1/8 or 1/16 measure doesn't create such a long delay and is absolutely sufficient.
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Midi articles: Introduction
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