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MIDI what is it good for?! (Musings on creative process)
Excuse the click bait title.
I had a bit of an epiphany this morning. I know, it may not seem such by this afternoon but who knows.
So I heard on the news about Jacob Collier’s Grammy which got me thinking about grand things like being talented at the right time and space and how simple mismatch between the cogs may cause things not to line up and end in a self consuming mechanism. Anyway...
That led me to thinking about my creative process and how that can be made more spontaneous and liberating, At this point let me explain a bit about myself. I’m a naturally musically inclined person. I’m not a trained instrumentalist but can play a few, consider myself to have a decent timing, pitch etc, etc. So when I look at JC doing his thing I totally understand what’s happening and feel at home. Which led me to...
This led me, as a performing musician, to thinking of how midi slows me down. How in times of just Loopy on my iPad I was in sync with the machine. Now that I’m knee deep in Drambo and other very capable apps I realise that maybe the machines are starting to laugh at me. I feel like I’m trying to break into their world while totally lacking skill, time and completely losing my sense of purpose. I enter the machine with A in mind and I end up with XYZ that my tired brain cannot relate to.
I do see how we are all different and some will naturally be more drawn to the mechanics of midi. In fact, I am a builder and a tweaker so a big part of me is naturally drawn to building/connecting things. The thing is though, as a father of two, I am unable to accommodate all of those things into my schedule and in fact, especially now during lockdown, I get totally unproductive because of it.
Also....I do like midi but I’ve come to realise that what I need in life is shortcuts, not perfection, or rather my perfection is in things flowing as it happens when playing music with other people. There’s no time to stop and fiddle with your patch. When you play with other people the time is precious and you are in the NOW.
Still, it’s good to know how midi works, it’s good to know how synthesis works and many related things too. It’s just the proportions need to change.
So what’s the plan? Well, I think I’m going to focus more on audio, playing rather than constructing and trying to stay in the flow.
I’m definitely looking forward to trying the upcoming Loopy as that’s where immediacy has always been fresh for me. Drambo will still be there but the focus needs to shift. Absolutely.
Comments
MIDI! Whaaaat is it good for? Absolutely nothing! Uh!
Just joking, well the thing is, it seems to work rather well, that's why it's still around after all those years.
keys... what are they good for?!
midi is good for sending information to instruments.
keys are good for triggering hammers in your piano.
One little detail that struck me in Jacob's recording process is how fluent he is with keyboard shortcuts, including re-recording bad takes.
He'll also do detailed micro edits in the piano roll if necessary but most of his audio and MIDI recording is aimed at getting it right on the spot instead of wasting time with endless editing.
Like a painter who knows his tools to well that he can fully focus on the painting.
Example:
(Start at 5:24)
Yessss, that’s exactly what I’m talking about! This guy’s from another planet. Yes, he is super privileged being able to be part of performing arts since childhood but his head/mind? What a fertile ground for all this!
Yes, shortcuts, definitely. Muscle memory. The transition between thinking and making is sooo quick. I’m lucky enough to have a band where you say something and the band does it, but better which is entirely different subject but what he is doing here isn’t far from it as he’s feeding back off his own results. The flow, the energy, the excitement, are all there.
Also another thing I’ve noticed is that he’s working in Logic which isn’t exactly considered pro by the pros. Not to say that it is bad it’s just there’s other more capable software out there like pro-tools. Or not? I’m only eduguessing here. Still, he’s likely using software that he’s developed muscle memory in and it totally suits his purpose which is to minimise fuffing about with the mechanics for the benefit of thwart he’s trying to do, which is a non-brainier really.
I sometimes feel like we’re trying to cover all grounds, unnecessarily. I mean depends on one’s circumstances of course but with typically limited time available one cannot be a: sound designer, groove box builder, composer, lyrics writer and performer all in one. I mean, unless you’re at your maximum age and health wise, have shed loads of time and resources (let alone incredible talent). Assuming you don’t have all of the above you’ll have to compromise.
I think self discipline and not losing sight of the ball is part of the answer here. Alongside knowing your tools and how to use them....whereas I suspect most of us are like toddlers in a toy shop, the shop being the App Store with only difference that we have the power to spend.
I also like to do a certain amount of ‘in the now’ recording. Improvised parts often impart somthing to a composition that no amount of forethought can create, but I certainly don’t have to skills of someone like Mr Collier. That’s where MIDI comes in. Since when I play I’m using instruments that generate MIDI anyway, I just record the MIDI as I play. That way I can go in afterwards and correct my worst gaffes and still preserve the essence of the performance. Once that’s done, I render the audio and eventually mix. MIDI is just there so I can make tasteful changes, or rethink the arrangement or even the structure without having to get into tricky audio editing, etc.
This is so true for me as well. At times when I'm not 100% aware of what I'm doing, I often "wake up" after an hour or two of fiddling around and don't know what I did and end my "music making" completely frustrated and without result (better: I can't see/feel the result clearly enough).
@supadom Yep, muscle memory. I have it, to some extent, with Adobe Audition v1.5 and Ableton Live with many custom keyboard shortcuts but with LPX I would have to invest much more time to feel at home with it as much as Jacob does.
Time!
If by "pro" you mean musicians that are in the business for a living then for sure, Logic Pro is as much a common choice as is Pro Tools or Ableton Live. The times that one DAW totally kills another one are over. Still, I would always prefer LPX over Live or PT for its MIDI power and factory instruments. Rock musicians will likely prefer PT and electronic & experimental musicians will often choose Live and a number of Max devices.
Um... really??
Yea, no. But I think lot's of people claim that Pro Tools has an edge when it comes to live recording. Friend of my has a recording studio and he swears that Pro Tools is still the best for that
Yeah, all people I know who run studios as businesses here in Oxfordshire use pro tools.
I totally get the original message here. I feel the same -- I love working on a technical level but it's not the same as spontaneous creation. I personally approach this issue by operating with strict division of tasks, an awareness for which task I'm in process with and by not allowing myself any flexibility in 'crossing the lines'.
In production, it's a pretty established, strict and simple process:
prepare -> track -> edit -> mix -> master
For developing performance tools, it's more of an iteration loop with an 'exit point'. An example process could be:
concept (usually wake up with it or comes when walking)
-> experiment (tweaking)
-> jam (experience how I interact with the machine)
-> refine (implement the concept with a concrete plan)
-> develop an idea (decide whether the additional complexity is worthwhile for the expression it provides and accept/discard)
-> create (forget the rest and make music)
Considering that since 2016, through all my experimentation the only new apps I've added to my workflow are Koala and Gauss (and many have been discarded as development has allowed implementation to become more elegant), it takes a quite exceptional result for something new to stick.
An interesting thread on a topic that i have pondered many times. I think that iOS has attenuated my response to your question because one can’t actually loop like you can on Live, for instance. Loopy Pro looks to solve some of these limitations so maybe full on audio loops will work; I gave up on an audio flow for live performance because the compositions became dull and one-dimensional due to app limitations.
Which leads me to my conclusion: I think it’s important to know what your musical super power is and then keep refining that. Some people can get a crowd grooving and that’s a beautiful thing. In that case the limitations of iOS can be worked around now with audio loops and the upcoming Loopy Pro should crush any remaining constraints. But if your superpower is storytelling or rich compositional variations then mixing in some MIDI might help you focus on your superpower?
Someone said that the soul begins to leave a track the moment you start to edit it. I have experienced this.
I never record MIDI for all the reasons stated above. Much faster to just record everything as audio, including soft synths. Usually faster to just record mistakes versus editing them too.
Welcome to the easy life!
100% do this myself too.
It's a balance for me. There are ways to sequence data and flow with minimal edits that feels just as creative as straight to audio. Straight to audio can be super fun, particularly for me in Endlesss. Anywho the nice thing about the sequencing data 'midi' method (for me Maschine is the best for that flow) is throwing those big switches after and switching out entire patches or duplicating entire banks and layering / offsetting new elements on a mass scale. It is isn't about getting lost in the minutia of small tweaks at this point so much as big 'HAND OF GOD' stuff which is just as super flowy / inspiring to me and grand gestural. Sure it isn't about the playing of the fingers so much but emulates the juice of 'playing with others' part so well.
This is exactly why recording music e.g. in Loopy HD is so different.
Kind of the same experience as tracking to multitrack tape.
I mean, lot's of people use it, that's no suprise. It has been the industry standard for a long time for a reason. Also lot's of classic studios focus on recording actual instruments, that's where Pro Tools is the best (according to my friend who also owns a studio).
But there are A LOT of professionals out there, and today a lot of them make music "in the box" and there you will find a lot less Pro Tools. Most composers that make orchestral film music seem to gravitate to Cubase for example, Hip-Hop artists towards FL Studio etc.
Finneas, who happens to produce the biggest pop act currently uses Logic, Jacob Collier has won 5 Emmies using it. I really doesn't get more pro then that.
In the end, all of those DAWs can produce professional music. If Jacob Collier and Finneas aren't limited by Logic in their creativity, nobody is.
I used to edit midi all the time Ableton but stopped doing that when I moved to iOS and using AUM. I let any sequencers I use manage the midi, and stopped thinking about arranging the midi.
I only arrange in audio, which is such a better process for me.
Since we're talking about DAWs here now ..
.. Harrison Mixbus!
Analogue workflow, analogue sound, productive habit building and fast -- all leads to QUALITY mixes!!! I use a fresh install with zero additional plugins above the Harrison DSP and it's the happiest I've ever felt about a DAW. I never (ever) use MIDI in the DAW.
Interestingly, I find it to be quite a similar mixing flow to Auria Pro (but much quicker and while I like Auria's, I prefer the DSP in Mixbus).
Different people can have different preferences so as usual it seems more appropriate to evaluate if your musical tools are helping you to achieve your musical goals rather than there being some sort of objective/optimized set of tools. Evaluating A versus B outside the context of your values and goals seems pointless.
The scope of MIDI extends well beyond the concept of the traditional piano role as a way to give you more options for tweaking your tracks. I enjoy experimenting around with composition so MIDI can be a very useful tool in that process whether it’s experimenting with scales, rhythms, or timbres— MIDI can be used to manipulate all of that in ways that manual control or only using audio would be very difficult to do.
There are so many app and hardware controllers that allow you to leverage MIDI in your workflow that it can be difficult to choose so that’s where being able to achieve a balance between practical skills, learning new things, and taking risks comes in. Too often we can try to blame our choice of tools rather than digging a little deeper to see if we might have underlying unresolved issues which are causing us to become too distracted, to lack focus, or to procrastinate.
@Paulinko
My post wasn’t at all questioning whether we need midi or not. Of course we do! I was questioning getting lost in some serious shit like sound design or wiring things up as an often unnecessary part of a creative process. I am clearly defining my own experience and would be presumptuous of me to expect this to apply to everyone.
Yes, you’re right, the lockdown hasn’t helped me at all, or rather, it did at the beginning. I was spitting out tunes like no tomorrow until August. Since then I’ve been a bit frustrated, hence my trying to understand why this is the case. So clearly personal circumstances are definitely to be considered.
What I’m noticing however, is the ease in which I can lose path while working with midi. Not because I’m not good at it but because it’s an unnecessary rabbit hole I fall into while chasing the rabbit that’s long gone.
Oh no, not the DAW wars!!!! 😭
I wasn’t at all questioning what DAW can do what. Just observing what’s around me. Of course they are all valid tools and perfectly capable of delivering high end results.
Yeah, I totally get the distinction you are making. The rabbit hole is real! That's why I think it's important to be disciplined about what you want to focus on and really refine. I do think there are rabbit holes that can be productive however--there are many cases in history of artists who tackled parts of the equation that they wouldn't normally (The Beatles in the studio, for instance) and the impact on the creative process was huge.
I had a similar lockdown shakeup to my music process/methods and for me it all eventually boiled down to ‘Why am I bashing my head against the wall with mobile tools when I no longer commute?’. So about 1000$ later (a fraction of what I have spent on iOS over the years, including the existing desktop purchase from years ago) and I feel like I am set up for more years now than I have spent on iOS without having to spend anymore. Plus no need to beg, plead, pine for updates to apps etc. Nuttin but flow now!
I almost am coming at it from the opposite direction which is funny because pre-iOS I was all audio workflow on desktop but now that I am home again with desktop I wanted a more midi like iOS-y (well BM3-y) experience, so boom, Maschine to the rescue... ahhh... what other threads can I shoehorn in my love of Maschine?
I have been thinking about that mobile angle a lot lately, @AudioGus. I have stuck with iOS because I used to spend a lot of time on planes and in hotels for work. That has dried up to NOTHING in one year and I've spent the last few months calculating whether it was worth it to keep holding on to "but when the pandemic is under control and I start traveling again..." Still clinging, probably as much for the switching costs at this point as anything. Although one dose of vaccine has me feeling pretty bullish!