MIDI stands for “Musical Instrument Digital Interface.” Many of you use MIDI to create instrumentations for your songs, and it’s a fantastic way to have synthesized versions of instruments literally at your fingertips. In short, MIDI is a way of controlling electronic instruments (usually synthesizers), and allowing those instruments to produce many different kinds of musical timbres. Used well, MIDI can make it sound as if you hired a full symphonic orchestra for your recording. Used poorly, MIDI can make your song sound cheap and amateur!
Whether you use MIDI simply to add a backing guitar, bass and drums, or use it to create a full orchestra, there are some basic problems that can arise. Here are some common problems and some solutions to help you solve them:
PROBLEM 1: In the MIDI orchestration, the instrument is being asked to play in a way that can’t be achieved by a real instrument.
PROBLEM 2: If the sound samples being used have not been properly panned, the orchestra can sound haphazard and disorganized.
PROBLEM 3: You can just tell that the instrument is MIDI, and it sounds “electronic” more than real.
- solo one of the tracks, and set a basic volume for that track (MIDI controller 7).
- Then develop a general shape for the line by varying the velocity for each note, so that it sounds as natural as possible.
- Then go to your Expression Controller (usually controller 11) and create a natural swell and diminishing for certain notes. (Good use of controller 11 is a major secret for good MIDI orchestration.) This will make your music “breathe,” and it will sound more as if a real person is playing. Keep in mind that a lot of the latest orchestral samples make use of the mod wheel to create some of the realism we are talking about here.
PROBLEM 4: The orchestration sounds uninteresting.
That should get you started. There is so much that could be said about MIDI orchestration, and it’s impossible to deal with it all here. But if you want some good preliminary advice, here it is: Get familiar with a REAL orchestra before you start working with a MIDI one!
-Gary Ewer is the author of “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” set of songwriting texts. Download all 6 of them at a 50% saving.