Chapter 7
Recording MIDI
In This Chapter
\Setting up Logic Pro to record MIDI
\Recording external instrument and software instrument tracks \Using musical typing and onscreen keyboards to record MIDI \Overdubbing and recording multiple MIDI tracks
Logic Pro was created as a powerful MIDI sequencer. MIDI is the ultimate flexible recording medium, enabling you to change what you record until
it’s perfect. It does have limitations, but it’s unlikely that you’ll notice them.
In this chapter, you find out how to record MIDI, filter MIDI events, multitrack MIDI recording, use musical typing, and much more.
Preparing to Record MIDI
MIDI is just data. Audio is not included in a MIDI region or a MIDI message. What you hear when a MIDI track plays is either the software instrument connected to the track or the audio output from your external instruments. To begin recording MIDI, you’ll need to create either an external MIDI track or a software instrument track. Each type of track is explained in this section.
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Show Advanced Tools must be selected in the Advanced Preferences pane. |
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Choose Logic Pro X Preferences Advanced and then select Show Advanced |
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Tools. |
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Recording external MIDI instruments
If you have an external MIDI instrument such as a keyboard workstation, you need to route the audio from the instrument into an audio track in your project. To create an audio track, choose Track New Audio Track (Option- -A). You should also turn on input monitoring, as explained in Chapter 6, so you can hear the input of your MIDI instrument.
108 Part II: Digital Recording and Using Prerecorded Media
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After you’ve verified that the audio is coming out of your instrument and into |
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the audio track, you create and set up an external MIDI track as follows: |
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1.\ Choose Track New External MIDI Track (or press Option- -X). |
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A new external MIDI track is added to the track list and automatically |
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selected. |
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2.\ Open the inspector by pressing I or by choosing View Show Inspector. |
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The inspector shows you an external MIDI track channel strip, as shown |
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in Figure 7-1. Note that the controls are different than those available |
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with other types of tracks, and you can’t add effects or control the audio |
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in your project. You can, however, control various MIDI functions on the |
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external instrument. |
\3.\ Display the track inspector by clicking the disclosure triangle above
the channel strip, as shown in Figure 7-2.
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The track inspector area opens allowing you to adjust the external MIDI |
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track settings. |
Figure 7-1:
External MIDI track channel strip.
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Chapter 7: Recording MIDI 109
Figure 7-2:
External MIDI track inspector.
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4.\ Select the correct MIDI port and channel in the track inspector. |
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If you have multiple external MIDI instruments connected to a third- |
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party interface, you can choose different MIDI ports to control the |
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instrument independently. Each MIDI port or MIDI instrument can trans- |
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mit and receive up to 16 different channels. This allows you to control 16 |
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different sounds on each MIDI instrument. |
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You need two tracks for external MIDI instruments: an audio track to moni- |
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tor the instrument and the external MIDI track to record the MIDI. For this |
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reason, I record external MIDI instruments to audio as soon as possible. For |
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starters, leaving tracks as MIDI invites indecision. You can tweak until the end |
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of time, but if you want to be productive, you need to make decisions quickly. |
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Also, because external gear and multiple tracks only complicate your proj- |
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ect, recording your external MIDI instruments as audio simplifies the project |
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and guarantees that you’ll have the performance captured if a piece of gear |
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changes or breaks later. |
\Most keyboard workstations have a local off function. You should turn on Local Off on your external MIDI instrument; otherwise, you’ll get doubled
audio when both your hands and the MIDI data are playing the sounds on your keyboard.
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Recording software instruments |
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To record a software instrument, you’ll need to create a new software instru- |
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ment track. Follow these steps: |
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1.\ Choose Track New Software Instrument Track (or press Option- -S). |
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A new software instrument track is added to the track list and automati- |
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cally selected. |
\2.\ Open the inspector by pressing I or by choosing View Show
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Inspector. |
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The inspector displays a software instrument track channel strip, as |
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shown in Figure 7-3. |
Figure 7-3:
The library menu and the software instrument track.
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Chapter 7: Recording MIDI 111 |
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3.\ Open the library by pressing Y or by choosing View Show Library. |
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The library menu opens to the left of the inspector. |
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4.\ On the library menu, select the patch you want to use. |
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You can audition patches by selecting a patch and playing your MIDI |
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controller. |
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\5.\ Display the track inspector by clicking the disclosure triangle above
the channel strip (refer to Figure 7-3).
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The track inspector area opens allowing you to adjust the software |
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instrument track settings. |
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6.\ Set the correct MIDI channel in the track inspector. |
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The default MIDI channel is set to All, which means your MIDI controller |
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can be set to any MIDI channel and the software instrument track will |
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receive the signal. If you want to set the track to receive from only a single |
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MIDI channel, you need to set it to the correct MIDI channel in the track |
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inspector. Using different MIDI channels is useful if you have more than |
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one MIDI controller and you want them to control specific software instru- |
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ment tracks. |
Recording with musical typing
What if you don’t have a keyboard controller handy? No problem. You can use musical typing to play your computer keyboard like a musical keyboard. Simply do the following:
\1.\ Choose Window Show Musical Typing or press -K.
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The Musical Typing keyboard appears, as shown in Figure 7-4. |
\2.\ Play the notes on the keyboard by pressing the corresponding keys.
Figure 7-4:
The musical typing keyboard.
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112 Part II: Digital Recording and Using Prerecorded Media
You can do a lot with the musical typing keyboard. Here’s a description of the keys and what they do:
\\You have access to almost an octave and a half by using the middle and
top rows of alphabet keys.
\\Sustain the notes you play by holding down the Tab key.
\\Pitch bend down and up by using the 1 and 2 keys.
\\Modulate the software instrument by pressing the 4 through 8 keys.
Turn off modulation by pressing 3. The parameter that gets modulated will depend on the selected software instrument.
\\Shift the keyboard octave down or up by pressing Z or X, respectively.
To change the octave, drag the blue area in the keyboard at the top of the window (as shown in Figure 7-5).
\\Adjust the velocity of the keyboard down or up by pressing C or V,
respectively.
\\Switch between the musical typing keyboard and the onscreen keyboard
(shown in Figure 7-5) by clicking the keyboard icon in the upper-left corner of the interface.
Figure 7-5:
The onscreen keyboard.
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Recording with the step input keyboard |
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The step input keyboard allows you to enter notes one at a time. It’s great for |
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non-keyboard players or keyboard players who need a little help inputting |
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technical passages or those impossible to play with only two hands. The step |
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input keyboard is also great for inputting scores from sheet music without |
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having to learn how to play the part. |
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A MIDI region must be open in a MIDI editor to input notes with the step |
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input keyboard. To use the step input keyboard, follow these steps: |
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1.\ Double-click the MIDI region you want to edit. |
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The piano roll editor opens at the bottom of the tracks area. |
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Chapter 7: Recording MIDI 113 |
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2.\ Choose Window Show Step Input Keyboard (or press Option- -K). |
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The step input keyboard appears, as shown in Figure 7-6. |
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\3.\ Place the playhead where you want to begin inputting notes.
\4.\ Click the note length and note velocity icons, and then click the key
you want to input.
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A MIDI note event is added to the piano roll editor at the playhead |
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position. |
Figure 7-6:
The step input keyboard.
The step input keyboard has the following advanced features:
\\To input notes sequentially on the same beat, select the chord icon on
the left side of the step input keyboard.
\\To make the first note you click a length and a half of the currently
selected note length, select the dot icon. The second note you click will be half the length of the currently selected note length.
\\To make the next three notes you play part of a triplet, select the triplet
icon.
\\Select the sustain icon to lengthen the selected note in the editor by the
length selected in the Step Input Keyboard.
\\To snap the next note you input to the nearest division on the grid,
select the quantize icon.
\\To define the MIDI channel of the next selected note, choose a value in
the MIDI channel drop-down menu.
\The step input keyboard uses traditional notation for velocity values: ppp (16)
pp (32), p (48), mp (64), mf (80), f (96), ff (112), and fff (127).