Topic: Crazy Enzo's crazy-stupid crazy MIDI questions topic.

[CrazyEnzo03]

Exactly what it says on the tin, but I would like to go into more detail.

I'm wanting to create MIDIs for D1 and D2.  I'm afraid the most satisfactory program I've found for creating MIDI music is Anvil Studio, with its pricetag of absolutely nothing being a major selling point for me, though I'm getting to the point that I'm ready to get ones that.. er.. augh.. omg I can't bear to say... cost money.  There I said it.  I almost died there, guys.
Soundfonts are not a big problem for me as I've found excellent ones, although almost every single soundfont has *that one instrument* at least which sounds terrible.  The one I'm using right now is silverspring15.sf2, and I thought it was exactly what I was looking for to just listen to all the time until I played the level music for The Entropy Experiment 2, Level 1 and heard that the Choir Aahs instrument sounds like it is delayed because they fade in.

I'm also having trouble composing MIDIs that do not sound extremely "empty" and I find myself losing inspiration for the songs I try to write, so I'm stuck with all these MIDIs that are only about 20-30 seconds long, some much shorter than that and many of them sounding terrible.  I've been wanting to do something similar to a jam session in, say, mumble or something.  I want to see how someone else goes about putting together MIDIs.

Another thing - almost all sequencers I've found have been terribly inadequate for doing drums.  I need solutions specifically for those, too.

[Kaiaatzl]

...I'm also having trouble composing MIDIs that do not sound extremely "empty" and I find myself losing inspiration for the songs I try to write, so I'm stuck with all these MIDIs that are only about 20-30 seconds long, some much shorter than that and many of them sounding terrible...

Have you ever tried composition or songwriting before & do you play an instrument?
It can be a lot easier to come up with something just by playing randomly on a keyboard (for example) and seeing what sounds good to you, than trying to do it all conceptually.  And if you have an instrument with a MIDI connection that can make the composition part a lot easier, you can do it "live"; or at least what I call "delayed live", if your instrument can store its own recordings.
And if you're planning to go into this hobby in any way seriously you should not be afraid to spend money.  And you shouldn't expect to be able to write something that sounds professional without at least a few years of practice and a significant devoting of time, either.

[CrazyEnzo03]

I have been trying since I was 12 to make just one song - just one song - with MIDI and never have been able to do it without hating what I have written.

I used to play both piano and guitar several years back.  I do not have a keyboard but I might be getting one for Christmas.

*I am afraid to spend money even if I do plan on doing something seriously because money is something I do not have and cannot seem to be able to get.*

I have absolutely no intention of making anything that sounds "professional", just something that sounds decent.

[Kaiaatzl]

To be honest MIDI isn't the best starting point for composition either as a career or even as just one song.  (Take that from me, someone who actually did start with MIDI...)
It makes it very hard to get used to other tools and other sorts of instruments and sounds later on.  It took me years to evolve past using midi sounds and this is counting from after I started using semi-professional and then professional tools and synthesizers.
I find when doing midi it helps to start with writing fully fledged composition using all the best tools available to me, and then create a MIDI out of that song after I'm happy with the "official" version.  Of the two DAW's I've used (one unsuccessfully, the other very successfully) both had MIDI conversion capabilities and as far as I've read about others it does seem to be an industry standard.

As for compositional theory, that's far too in-depth and subjective for me to go into.  There are plenty of books you could either buy or probably borrow from a library to help you get unstuck from what seems a perpetual rut; but once you are unstuck you still won't get anywhere close to where you want to be without practice, practice, practice.  And it's always best to aim for "professional", not simply "acceptable".  You want to make something people will remember, at the very least, I think.

Anyway if you want me to be more help you can send me your midi loops you have so far that you're unhappy with, and I'll do my best to give you some professional criticism/advice to try and help you get a feel for how to do better.

[CrazyEnzo03]

How's Music Theory for Dummies?

[Kaiaatzl]

I haven't read that one.  But you sound like you at least have a good grip on music theory, and it's the composition you're struggling with.
Music Composition for Dummies is OK but the authors seem to think it's still the 1980s when it comes to some music technology.

[CrazyEnzo03]

Well let's just say I'm glad I haven't bought Music Theory for Dummies.  I looked through it at B&N and found that it's full of all these awesome and interesting things about music that I already know.

And a few that I didn't..

I'm struggling to find anything about actually composing music in the form of a physical book.  Apparently the only thing anyone ever wants to do regarding music is learn how to play it.  The search goes on, I guess.

[CrazyEnzo03]

Ok.  I got a Yamaha YPT230DI.  What I need now is a USB-MIDI cable I guess.