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MIDI Synth, bs-16i & Garageband
Keep in mind that I'm talking about iPhone apps: I recently utilized 'Open In' to bring MIDI files into bs-16i, but there are other options : MIDI Synth, for example... I imported a MIDI file into MS (I think), but I don't know what I was supposed to do with it after that... and I could find no way to edit the file in either one of these apps. Is there a way, or am I looking for another app for this? In bs-16i I noticed a lot of pitch-bend craziness in MIDI files I made & would like to get them to play back correctly...
Also, isn't one supposed to be able to import MIDI files into Garageband? If so, what is the procedure? Do I need Dropbox or IAA? Please advise... Thank you!
Comments
You can't edit the MIDI file in Midi synth or BS-16i. I've never tried importing midi into GarageBand. You can edit the MIDI on an iPhone in either beatmaker or Nanostudio. I think they both support Open In.
NanoStudio is definitely one of the options, so I will try that one first (even though I know almost zilch about NS). Don't have Beatmaker (2, yes?) yet, but it's on my appaholic bucket list. In fact, I might go after it very soon now... MIDI sequencing is something I can sink my teeth into (which is probably why I appreciate GB so much)!
Beatmaker 2 doesn't support "Open In...", you have to use the Intua FTP.
You can't import MIDI files in GarageBand, sadly.
Other apps who can read MIDI files are mainly Caustic (Open In after 3.1 update), NS, Looptical (you have to assign instruments to all tracks, though), NLog, FL Studio Mobile.
BM, Caustic and NS can also edit them, as far as I know.
From what I thought I understood, you could get MIDI files into GB... it's just that there was no export. Hm... I guess that solidifies my spoken and unspoken complaints about not being able to get good info online for iPhone versions of these apps in this iPad-centric universe of ours... sigh
And in NanoStudio: I imported one of my own MIDI files, and after struggling to figure out the UI to load the file, NS seems to be using its own sounds for the various tracks... is that what I'm stuck with? Does BeatMaker 2 do any better of a job than this? There are a few other apps that 'Open In' can use, but a couple of them seem useless (EchoPad?!?).
And before a response like 'Buy an iPad!' comes rolling off of someone's fingertips: I just learned that I have to spend $1100 to tent my house. This sort of thing is why I can't buy an iPad.
Midi files don't give you the sounds. Those come from the app reading the MIDI data. Think of it like sheet music. If you play a piece from sheet music on an organ, it isn't going to sound like a piano just because the composer wrote it on one.
I know how MIDI works. I guess I thought that if I could import a MIDI file into NS that it had a fairly typical MIDI engine and (GM) sound bank or something. Obviously not. And I've been doing MIDI for over twenty years...
No, Nanostudio doesn't support midi out. You can fix the midi file in there with approximate sounds and then export.
Beatmaker 2 does support midi out.
I'm still unfamiliar with NanoStudio, so I have to ask: Is it possible to re-create GM instruments? And re: Beatmaker 2: does it have a GM sound bank or similar presets?
@Brain said:
Beg pardon. I misunderstood your puzzlement. The main apps with General MIDI soundsets are bs-16i, Soundfont Pro, Gestrument and Nice to be Your Friend, mainly because they all come with the same soundfont...
And Double Decker. I think there are others, but all that Paul and I mentioned are AB compatible, and I can't think of any others in that category.
Actually, one other I thought of is VividTracker.
I have done a fair bit of midi exporting on my iphone. I use Music Studio which has a good selection of instrument voicings of the kind you are looking for. My song Love in the Time of Cholera was made on iphone using MS to edit and layer midi parts originally put together in Chordbot.
@Clocktoys said:
Music Studio's GM sounds are yucky compared to bs-16i, but I'm assuming (hoping?) that I can tinker with them some... the issue is (likely) my unfamiliarity with these apps: some of the MS tracks are waaaay reverbed out or something, making a number of the voices unrecognizable; the issue in bs is the pitch-bend setting - I don't know how to adjust this yet, and I'm hoping that I can at least export audio from bs (which will probably rear the head of the next issue: using AudioShare or the like is not something I'm up on yet). I'd really like to use some better voices for my MIDI files, but I have large question marks about how to do that & with what app.
MS does have reverb on some of its samples, even when played dry. Completely ruins those sounds, since it cuts off abruptly when you cease playing, which is not how real reverb works.
The sounds in MS are pretty ordinary in themselves, but you can edit the midi tracks quite effectively in the app and export to bs16i if you want to.
@Clocktoys said:
Which is what I thought the OP was aiming to do from the start.
@Clocktoys said:
I have a decent number of MIDI files on my old website that I made years ago (I wonder if @funjunkie ever went after any he seemed interested in!), so I don't really need to do that sort of thing unless it becomes necessary - ideally what I would like to do is what I used to do on the ol' XP-50, which is take the GM MIDI file and use the better XP banks and expansion card sounds that were available and spruce the song quality up. I don't quite know yet if bs-16i has other sounds besides the GM ones to do this with... and the same with MS. I'm still so behind the curve.. ;-)
And: What does 'OP' refer to?
I did pull a few from there @Brain. I guess I forgot to thank you for that....thanks!
OP = Original Poster
As I understand how midi import works within bs-16i, that is used for a backing song and uses the GM instruments called out in the midi file. I don't think you can modify that to map to sounds of your choosing. That sort of thing can be done with Cubasis, BM2, among others.
Correction...bs-16i will allow you to change the instruments. Additionally, you can set it to anything you can find a soundfont for,
@funjunkie27 said:
Cool! Just have to figure that one out. I'm not looking to change voices, just looking to replace GM voices with better ones for recordings' sake.
BM2 looks to be a bit of a nut to crack, to be sure. For example, triqtraq messes with me a bit, but I get these quantum leaps in my understanding and I have a bit of a handle on it now... just takes time I sometimes don't have patience for.
And no apologies necessary... I was just curious as to which ones you went for, as well as your assessment of them!
It's been a while, but I recall downloading a few Oingo Boingo songs, XTC, and a couple of others. I thought they were all well done.
With BM2 you would need to use samples while bs-16i uses Soundfonts. You should be able to find high quality replacement sounds in either case.
You can use BM2 to control BS16i via MIDI.
Yeah... that's the deep end of MIDI I never really got much into - controlling other 'devices' with one. I used the XP-50 because everything was right there under one hood & I didn't have to worry about getting that far into it (plus I could insert sys-ex messages into tracks to handle this stuff).
Can I assume that there is no ability in bs-16i to alter pitch-bend steps, 'cuz that's my #1 issue with it at the moment; and is there functionality to alter CC values for tracks? The volume sliders are all well and good, but they're not all there is to it.
I'll also need to get my head around how to use AudioShare or the like to import MIDI files into BM2 - 'Open In' doesn't give me the option to use BM2.
It seems to me that all these apps have little bits of what one might need for dealing with MIDI and that these bits are scattered through them haphazardly, like holes in Swiss cheese. I don't know WHAT you fellers did before Audiobus...(shakes head)...
I was able to get bs-16i pitch bend to respond to cc256 in Genome.
I don't know that you'll be able to get midi files from Audioshare to BM2. I haven't had any luck.
Also, I don't believe you can remap cc's in bs-16i.
@funjunkie27 said:
>
Ugh... not having an iPad means no Genome. And I'd still have to figure out a workflow that would work with whatever-the-heck it is I'd want to do with it at the time.
Does that mean one has to create (or recreate) MIDI files in BM2? Once us dummies learn to use it, that is? ;-) Is there another option beyond AudioShare (DropBox? iZip? On an iPhone?)
Swiss cheese, indeed...
@funjunkie27 said:
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGH!!!
;-)
I'm on the verge of begging, borrowing or stealing for an iPad... and that would mean spending even more on all those cool apps (and docks & interfaces & & &) I keep drooling over... and I like Swiss cheese!
@Brain - I just meant to show that the bs-16i pitch bend is controllable with cc256. You don't need Genome specifically as the controller.
I'm in no way the BM2 expert here, so I'll defer to those folks on what options might be available.
Ultimately, I'd recommend you pick up an iPad, but given costs and reduced mobility, I can understand the reluctance. Still, there are only so many things that can be controlled via midi in bs-16i. If you need to remap, look into MidiBridge. That might be your quickest and cheapest solution, although you'll need to learn how that works and how it will fit into your workflow.
@funjunkie27 said:
What iPhone-compatible apps are controllers of this sort?
I've been trying to watch BM2 videos to learn how to use it, but the vast majority are for the iPad & most of them suck - because either some dude is sitting in a car in his driveway with his iPhone showing that he can make beats (after ridiculously pointing out the orange forest fire haze in the sky outside), banging out beats without showing anything about WHAT he is doing with the UI (partly because the cameraman isn't anywhere close enough to the device & YouTube allows any half-assed schmo to make and upload any kind of half-assed video he wants... ab-so-lute-ly useless); or these schmoes don't understand that their familiarity with these apps causes them to unwittingly gloss over the important basics that I would say are the real reason anyone should be posting these kinds of videos in the first place (Doug is one of the very few who does it right).
I read on this forum that iPhones generally have a little more oomph when it comes to processing power, but devs can't or don't create versions of apps for it - which makes no sense to me... is there a fundamental reason why this happens, given that one of the key virtues of iPads/Phones is their portability? Why are some apps universal, but not all? Don't they want to sell apps? And this deplorable state of MIDI implementation is weird... are these devs unqualified to implement it?!? Not that I'm a MIDI guru, but I can read - the MidiBridge info on the App store mentions this as well.
I really hate whining like a little b****, but in some cases it seems like some devs don't know what they're doing wrong. Is it the prices for apps? A lot are cheap, sure, but some prices are all over the map. I'd pay considerably more for music apps if they were designed & implemented smartly & competently (like ThumbJam). I understand that there is a learning curve with most of these apps (I can recall trying to figure out the XP-50, hoo-boy), but I feel like I'm being thrown to the wolves with some of them.
Just had to get this off my chest...
Just because something is available for purchase does not mean that the creator is a qualified professional. I would lay good odds that most of the music apps on the App Store are designed by hobbyist programmers who do something else for a living. Even if some of them are professional programmers, it's highly likely that for most of those, their main programming job does not involve music, MIDI or UI design. The vast majority are making it up as they go along, so it's hardly surprising that the end results can be a bit quirky. That's the environment Apple has created, for better or for worse, but if they'd somehow limited developer accounts to professional developers only, there'd be far fewer music apps available today.
The App Store is not a shopping mall, it's a craft fair.