PCM Audio Basics and Terminology pt. 2 MIDI

PCM Audio Basics and Terminology pt. 2

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What is MIDI?

• Music notation translated to digital.

• The notation for programming music

• Lets you have more control over your music creation by adjusting volume for each note, length of notes, etc.

​What is the grid?

• ​The grid is where we program our music.

• MIDI notes are placed in the grid so we can create melodies and chords.

• The grid can be adjusted so we can create faster or slower moving notes

Working in the Grid

Editing in the grid

• The grid is where we create rhythms and place notes.

• The grid is adjustable meaning you can add more squares to make faster moving notes/rhythms. You can also make it smaller, which takes away squares and therefore allows you to make slower moving rhythms.

• Grid notes "snap" to the grid meaning they will fall in line perfectly with the grid unless you turn "snap" off. Turning "snap" off will allow notes to be nudged in between grid lines.

In order to quantize notes you need to select the notes you want to quantize in your grid and then right-click to bring up the quantize options. When you click quantize you'll notice the notes snap into the grid. This is especially useful if you played your pattern into your DAW grid and made some mistakes with the rhythm. Just know that quantize will not always work correctly, sometimes you may need to move notes individually or adjust your grid type.

Quantizing means that notes are "snapped" to the grid and adjusted.

You can adjust notes to different types of grids:

1/4, 1/8, 1/16 etc.

Higher the fraction (ie. 1/16) the faster notes you can place on the grid. 1/16= 16th notes

Quantizing MIDI in the Grid

Programming music

• Programming music is like composing music

• You can choose to play your notes with a MIDI controller or click them in

• The grid lets you program rhythm and notes

What MIDI notes look like

​What is velocity for MIDI?

​Velocity is volume

Think of Velocity as a way to make individual notes louder or softer in volume. When working with MIDI, the softest volume value is 1 and the loudest is 127.

​You can select multiple MIDI notes and adjust their velocity the volumes together or individually.

S

What is a Loop?

• A loop is a repeated musical idea.

• Loops need to be activated with a loop brace.

• Good loops usually have layers of sounds

• Loops are a simple way for us to start a musical idea and begin writing a song.

MIDI Controller

• A MIDI Controller makes programming music easier by letting you control digital instruments within your DAW

• MIDI Controllers are usually piano keyboards with knobs and beat pads