87 Chapter 7 Sequencing MIDI Overview I n this chapter we will examine advanced MIDI sequencing concepts using Ableton Live, a powerful digital audio workstation. This chapter will also serve as a thorough overview of the tools and functions available within this program and how they can be used to facilitate composition and performance. Ableton Live was chosen for this chapter because it is not specific to the Windows or Macintosh platform, allows cross-platform compatibility, and allows users to run a trial of the software without limitations given a free registration. Even if you are already familiar with Live or prefer some other DAW, you may find it useful to follow along in this chapter as we discuss concepts related to interactive music making using this tool. Although much of this chapter focuses on working with Ableton Live, most concepts learned through this exploration will transfer to other DAWs of your choosing like Logic and Pro Tools. Take a moment to register (free trial), download, and install the latest version of Ableton Live for your Mac or PC from www.ableton.com. One main difference between the versions of Ableton Live available for download (Live Intro, Live, and Live Suite) is the library of samples, effects, and processing devices that come bundled within each version. In the case that an illustration in this chapter uses some content, such as a particular synthesizer sound or instrument, that is not available in your version of Live, feel free to substitute that content with other content as you see fit. Remember that one objective of this chapter is to illustrate concepts of sequencing MIDI as opposed to solely explaining how to operate a particular piece of software. The companion website for this book contains the example files used in this chapter in case you get stuck. If you have not done so already, please take a moment to download these chapter example files. Basic Setup Once you have installed Live, click the Live icon to open the program. The Live interface may seem intimidating at first glance, but in many ways it is similar to the FMT and Audacity software weve worked with so far. One of the most 07-Manzo-Chap07.indd 87 30/03/15 12:13 PM 88 fou ndations of music tech nolog y important features within Live is the Info View that appears in the bottom left portion of the program interface. This window, which provides a brief description of whatever your mouse is hovering over inside of Live, can be hidden or revealed by pressing the ? key. It can also be enabled by selecting the View from the menu at the top of the program and selecting Info View. This feature alone gives Live a distinct advantage over other DAWs that require you to read numerous tutorials or explore intuitively in order to operate the software. 1. Toggle the Info View by pressing the ? key or selecting it from the View menu. At the top left side of the program is a menu of Browser items stacked vertically that, when clicked, allow you to see various content within the Live library including effects, synth instruments, loops, and more. These items are called Devices in Live. Notice that as you hover over these icons with your mouse, information appears in the Info View window. Figure 7.1: Info View reveals a helpful description of whatever your mouse is hovering over 07-Manzo-Chap07.indd 88 30/03/15 12:13 PM Chapter 7 Sequencing MIDI 89 The Live Browser The menus labeled Sounds, Drums, and Instruments allow you to see the softwarebased musical instruments available for use within Lives library. The menus labeled Audio Effects and MIDI Effects allow you to see the various effects that can be used in Live such as reverbs, delays, arpeggiators, and chord generators. 2. Click on the various labels in the Browser. The number of devices available for use within this library depends on your version of Live. However, the Live library can be expanded by downloading content Figure 7.2: Browser reveals Live content when clicked 07-Manzo-Chap07.indd 89 30/03/15 12:13 PM 90 fou ndations of music tech nolog y directly from Ableton. The library may also be modified from the Preferences window by going to Live>Preferences (Mac) or Options>Preferences (Windows) from the top menu, or by using the key command ?1 (Mac) or ctrl1 (Windows). From the Preferences window, the Library tab will allow you to see the location of your library on your computer as well as the devices you currently have installed. Additionally, you may ctrl 1click (Mac) or right-click (Windows), a menu item from the browser to import content from a previous version of Live. Figure 7.3: Live Device Browser shows the instruments, effects, and more bundled with Live 07-Manzo-Chap07.indd 90 30/03/15 12:13 PM Chapter 7 Sequencing MIDI 91 Max for Live The menu item labeled Max for Live represents an arsenal of tools for use within Live that draw from the power of Max/MSP/Jitter, a powerful programming language that can expand the palette of compositional and performance options available within Live. Max/MSP/Jitter will be discussed further in Chapter 14. Figure 7.4: Max for Live Browser shows programmable patches for use within Live 07-Manzo-Chap07.indd 91 30/03/15 12:13 PM 92 fou ndations of music tech nolog y Plug-Ins Device Browser The menu item labeled Plug-Ins allows you to view third-party plug-ins residing on your computer such as VST or Audio Unit plug-ins you may have installed. If these plug-ins do not show up in this browser window by default on your computer, view the File Folder tab within Lives Preference window. These plug-ins can be implemented into your projects just as easily as Lives devices. Figure 7.5: Live Plug-in Browser shows third party plug-ins 07-Manzo-Chap07.indd 92 30/03/15 12:13 PM Chapter 7 Sequencing MIDI 93 Other Menus The Clips menu allows you to see audio and MIDI files on your computer. These files, known in Live as clips, may include loops and other recordings. The Samples menu is used to see small sound recordings on your computer called samples. These samples are often only one note or beat in duration and can be used in a variety of ways like creating a unique palette of sounds within Lives drum rack. You may search for devices and other content within the Live library and elsewhere by typing into the Search field at the top of the Browser. Places Live allows you to view files and other content on your computer within the Places Browsers. These locations can be configured in a variety of ways to show commonly used file directories on your computer such as a folder that contains all of your Live projects. The Live Packs location is reserved to point to the contents of the Live library on your computer. Note the words Core Library appear at the top of the browser. This can be another way to view the content that is already accessible through the previously mentioned menu items. The User Library Browser location can be set to folders of your choosing. If you dont already have a folder on your computer to store your Live projects, please create that folder now. 3. ctrl 1click (Mac) or right-click (Windows) the User Library menu item and select Add Folder . . . 4. Create a folder on your computer named My Live Projects. 5. Select this folder as the Places location. The folder My Live Projects will now be accessible from the sidebar menu area. As you create projects in Live, called Sets, you may save them to this folder for easy access. Adding Book Content This book has chapter examples and other content available through the Oxford University Press companion website. Once you have downloaded and unzipped the Chapter Examples file to your computer, please add this folder to the Places Browser. 6. Unzip the Chapter Examples folder from the OUP website given above and copy this folder somewhere on your computer, but not in the My Live Projects directory. 7. ctrl 1click (Mac) or right-click (Windows) the User Library menu item and select Add Folder . . . 8. Navigate to the Chapter Examples folder and select this folder as the Places location. 07-Manzo-Chap07.indd 93 30/03/15 12:13 PM 94 fou ndations of music tech nolog y The folder Chapter Examples will now be accessible from the sidebar menu area. As you continue reading through this chapter, we will refer to various files located in this folder. Working in Live Live has two main views in which you may work: Arrangement View and Session View. These views may be toggled using the tab key or by clicking one of the two Figure 7.6: Live Packs menu item shows Live library files on your computer 07-Manzo-Chap07.indd 94 30/03/15 12:13 PM Chapter 7 Sequencing MIDI 95 Figure 7.7: File Browser shows the newly created My Live Projects directory on your computer icons in the top right portion of the program window. The views may also be changed from the View menu at the top of the program. Arrangement View We will begin looking at Live with the Arrangement View because it more closely resembles the typical DAW layout. 07-Manzo-Chap07.indd 95 30/03/15 12:13 PM 96 fou ndations of music tech nolog y 9. Switch to the Arrangement View. The arrangement view shares many of the same appearance properties of typical DAWs. The playback control transport is located in the dead center of this view. By default, there are even some Audio and MIDI tracks provided within Live, although there is, obviously, no musical content in this set yet. Figure 7.8: Icons to toggle between Session View and Arrangement View Figure 7.9: Playback control transport 07-Manzo-Chap07.indd 96 30/03/15 12:13 PM Chapter 7 Sequencing MIDI 97 10. Press the play button to begin playback. As the playback marker moves laterally in the main track display, note that the initial playback position can be changed by clicking at other points within the timeline and either clicking the play button or pressing the space bar. 11. Press the space bar to start and stop playback. 12. Hold the shift key and press the space bar to start and pause playback. MIDI and Audio Tracks Live allows us to work with two basic types of media: MIDI tracks and audio tracks. Its also possible to work with video, but for now our discussion will focus Figure 7.10: MIDI and Audio Tracks in Live 07-Manzo-Chap07.indd 97 30/03/15 12:13 PM 98 FOunDATIOnS OF MuSIC TEChnOLOgy primarily on manipulating MIDI and audio. notice that in the main track display, MIDI and Audio tracks have been added to this set by default. To add more MIDI or Audio tracks, choose Create from the top menu and add accordingly. MiDi When we record audio with microphones, the sound is sampled and stored at a very high rate to ensure that what was captured is an accurate representation of what the live sound actually sounded like. Th is results in very large audio fi les. One feature that is so great about MIDI is that MIDI fi les are essentially text Figure 7.11: MIDI Note C as it relates to the grand staff 07-Manzo-Chap07.indd 98 30/03/15 12:13 PM Chapter 7 Sequencing MIDI 99 documents containing a list of numbers that say, these were the notes you played, this is how hard or soft you played them, and this is how long you held each note down. The resulting files are very small since the actual synthesis of those numbers into sound occurs within the DAW. Lets synthesize a MIDI file using the sounds given to us in Live. 13. Select the Chapter Examples menu icon from the Places Browser on the left. 14. Select the folder Chapter 1 and expand it to reveal the file piano riff 1.mid. 15. Drag the file into the main track display area where the playback marker resides. Live will ask you if you want to import tempo and time signature information that is stored within the MIDI file, but for now, well select no. 16. Select No when Live asks you to import tempo and time signature information. If youve already tried to play this file by pressing the play button, youve probably realized that there is no sound. The reason is because, again, MIDI data Figure 7.12: MIDI file represented in Lives track display 07-Manzo-Chap07.indd 99 30/03/15 12:13 PM 100 fou ndations of music tech nolog y is just a bunch of numbers that Live will interpret and synthesize with any sound of your choosing. Lets choose a sound so that these MIDI pitches can be heard. 17. Select the Sounds menu icon from the Browser on the left. 18. Expand the folder Piano & Keys. 19. Select the sound Glass Piano.adg. (Note: You may use any sound you like or have available.) 20. Click and drag this sound onto the track containing the MIDI file. Notice that when you selected this MIDI track, the instrument device KeysGlass Piano now appears at the bottom of the screen in Lives Detail View and that the MIDI track has been renamed to reflect this instrument. If you dont see this area, you can expand or contract the Detail View using the arrow at the bottom right of the program screen or by choosing View from the top menu and selecting Detail>Show. Now that we have a sound to make sense of those MIDI numbers and map the data to an instrument timbre, lets play that file. 21. Click directly in front of the MIDI file. 22. Press play to begin playing the file. 23. Press the stop button after you have played the file. D id Y ou K now ? Using Substitute Sounds for Missing Media Suppose your friend makes a really great composition in Live and wants to send you the set so that you can see what he did. However, when you open the set, you are prompted with a message in the bottom Status Bar that says Media files are missing. This means that some of the media, perhaps some recorded tracks or loops, or even instrument devices, could not be found on your computer. There is no need to panic, as Live will prompt you to search for the missing media. In the case that a file such as a vocal track cannot be found on your computer, you may need your friend to resend it. In the event that you do not have a particular Live instrument installed on your computer, you may ask your friend where he obtained the instrument, or you may use a substitute instrument by locating the track that contains the missing device, selecting a similar instrument device from your own local Live Library, and dragging it onto the instrument window within Lives Detail View. If you open the companion files that accompany this book, you will most likely not encounter this issue. If you did, however, open the Chapter Example file for this chapter and are unable to load the Live instrument used, you may use these steps to substitute for this missing media. 07-Manzo-Chap07.indd 100 30/03/15 12:13 PM Chapter 7 Sequencing MIDI 101 Now that we have some music working within Live, some of the processes you can perform with this file, referred to in Live as a clip, should be no surprise. For example, you can copy and paste this clip by clicking on the clip title and selecting these options from the Edit menu at the top of the screen or with the key commands ?1c (Mac) or ctrl1c (Windows) for copy and ?1v (Mac) or ctrl1v (Windows) for paste. 24. Click on the MIDI clip to highlight it. 25. Copy the clip using one of the methods described above. 26. Click at another point in time along the track display and paste a copy of this clip. The contents of this clip as well as the way it functions within Live can be modified from within Lives Clip View. You can enter the Clip View by double-clicking on the top title part of a clip. This will switch the bottom view from the Detail View where we saw the MIDI track instrument to the Clip View. 27. Double-click the clip to enter Clip View. Figure 7.13: MIDI clip inside of Lives Clip View 07-Manzo-Chap07.indd 101 30/03/15 12:13 PM 102 fou ndations of music tech nolog y MIDI Pitch Editor Because this clip is a MIDI file, the Clip View allows us to see the pitches represented in Lives MIDI Note Editor that some other DAWs refer to as a Piano Roll Editor. The MIDI Note Editor allows us to change the MIDI data within this clip and even add or delete MIDI notes. At the top left of this editor is a small circular icon with a tiny pair of headphones in it. Clicking on this circular Preview headphone icon will allow you to hear the MIDI data in the MIDI Note Editor when selected. 28. Click the circular headphone icon. (Note: The icon will turn blue when enabled.) Figure 7.14: The circular headphone icon allows you to preview MIDI and audio in Live 07-Manzo-Chap07.indd 102 30/03/15 12:13 PM Chapter 7 Sequencing MIDI 103 The horizontal bars inside of the MIDI Note Editor represent MIDI pitches across the vertical keyboard at the left. Clicking on these bars allows you to delete, reposition, and perform other manipulations on this clip. 29. Click on the MIDI bars inside of the MIDI Note Editor. 30. Reposition a few notes if desired by clicking on the note and dragging horizontally or vertically. To lengthen or shorten a note: 31. Click on the edge of a MIDI bar so that your cursor turns into a bracket, then click and drag while holding the mouse down. Notice that while resizing or relocating notes, the notes seem to snap into place when they approach or cross a bar line. This is because, by default, Snap to Grid is enabled in the Options menu. If you prefer to turn this option off and move your MIDI files more liberally along the bar lines, you may deselect Snap to Grid from the Options menu or use the key command ?14 (Mac) or ctrl14 (Windows). 32. Disable Snap to Grid using one of the methods described above and move one or more of the MIDI notes freely across bar lines. To create new notes in the MIDI Note Editor, we will enter Draw Mode: 33. Press the b key on your computer keyboard and hover your mouse, now appearing as a pencil, over the MIDI Note Editor, clicking where youd like to place a new note. 34. Press the b key again to allow your cursor to function normally. (Note that if you hold the b key, your cursor will function in Draw Mode only as long as you are holding the key down.) MIDI Velocity Editor Beneath the MIDI Note Editor is the MIDI Velocity Editor, which, as you may have guessed, will allow you to edit the velocity for each pitch above it. The velocity value for each pitch is represented as a vertical bar which can be increased or decreased by clicking on the top point of the bar and dragging up or down. Figure 7.15: The MIDI Velocity Editor representing velocity values with vertical bars 07-Manzo-Chap07.indd 103 30/03/15 12:13 PM 104 fou ndations of music tech nolog y 35. Click on the top point of one or more velocity bars and drag them up or down. (Note the numerical change for the MIDI velocity value reflected at the left side of the MIDI Velocity Editor.) Note that selecting all of the notes shown in the MIDI Note Editor by choosing Edit>Select All or using the key command ?1a (Mac) or ctrl1a (Windows) will allow you to adjust the velocity for all notes in this clip simultaneously. This is also a great way to transpose all of the notes in a clip up or down by some number of semitones. Figure 7.16: MIDI clip is set to loop 07-Manzo-Chap07.indd 104 30/03/15 12:13 PM Chapter 7 Sequencing MIDI 105 The small button labeled Fold located above the headphone Preview button will hide rows that do not contain MIDI clips. This can be used to make looking at data in the MIDI Note Editor a little easier. Be sure, however, to turn the Fold button off if you intend to move MIDI pitch bars from one note to another. Loops While the MIDI Note Editor screen is still open for this clip, notice the Clips and Notes boxes at the bottom left. These boxes allow different parameters to be set for the selected clip. Note that the word Loop is highlighted. The selected clip will loop, that is, repeat itself, when the clips length is dragged horizontally within the track display. 36. Select the clip within the track display. 37. Hold your cursor over the top right edge of the clip until it appears as a bracket. 38. Click and drag the clip to the right to extend the loop over several bars. The looped pattern refers to the data within the original clip. This is important because any changes you make to the original clip within the MIDI Note Editor will appear in all of the looped iterations of that clip. This is good if you decide to change a note or two in that clip later on. If youd prefer that changes to the clips not appear in the looped iterations, simply copy and paste an instance of the clip on the same track. 39. Select the clip within the track display. 40. Copy and paste a copy of the clip to the right of the original clip. Figure 7.17: MIDI loop copied and placed alongside itself There are now two instances of this clip. Changes made in one clip will not have any impact on the other. This is a good technique to use if you make a drum loop pattern that you would like to use to make derivative patterns from later without destroying the original. For our purposes, lets move this copied pattern to a new MIDI track and assign it a new timbre. 41. Select the copied MIDI clip within the track display. 42. Drag the clip to another track within the track display. 43. Double-click the track name for this new track to close the Clip View and open the Track View. (Note: You may also accomplish this from the View>Detail menu item at the top of the program.) 07-Manzo-Chap07.indd 105 30/03/15 12:13 PM 106 fou ndations of music tech nolog y 44. Select the Sounds menu icon from the Browser on the left. 45. Expand the folder Piano & Keys. 46. Select the sound Keys-Tinefull Ambient .adg. 47. Click and drag this sound onto the new track containing the copied MIDI clip. Figure 7.18: MIDI loop on different MIDI tracks We now have pitch material on two different tracks with two different timbres. Lets edit the MIDI clip on this track to create some basic counterpoint. 48. Double-click the newly copied MIDI clip to open the Clip View revealing the MIDI Note Editor. Among some of the more interesting compositional options one can explore within the Notes box are the buttons labeled :2 and *2; that is, Play at Double Tempo and Play at Half Tempo, respectively. 49. Click the button labeled :2 to change the MIDI values of the notes in the clip view so that they play at double speed. 50. In the track display, click at the beginning of this clip to move the playback marker to the front of it. 51. Press the play button to hear the same melodic pattern played at double speed. 52. Press the stop button when the track is done playing. Notice that the second clip does, in fact, play twice as fast. Additional processes available through buttons within this box allow the MIDI data to be manipulated in other novel ways. Lets now move this track so that at least part of the clip begins playing in sync with the first clip. 53. Select the copied MIDI clip within the track display. 54. Drag the clip to the left so that at least part of the new clip is overlapping the original clip. 55. In the track display, click at the beginning of the original clip to move the playback marker to the front of it. 07-Manzo-Chap07.indd 106 30/03/15 12:13 PM Chapter 7 Sequencing MIDI 107 56. Press the play button to hear the same melodic pattern played at double speed. 57. Press the stop button when the track is done playing. This is starting to sound interesting, but the volume of the newly created track could probably be reduced. To adjust the volume of a track: 58. Go to View from the topmost menu and ensure that Mixer is checked. 59. Go to the track name for this clip and locate the orange panel containing the number 0. 60. Click on this panel and drag your mouse down to decrease the volume to 23. 61. Press the play button to hear the changes. 62. Press the stop button when you are done. Figure 7.19: Track mixer section contains volume, pan, activator, and other elements related to the track The mixer section of a track contains volume and pan level controls, a track activator to mute tracks, a solo button to mute all other tracks, and other useful controls that we will discuss in the future. Adding Tracks This set needs some bass and drum tracks. To create a new track, choose Create from the topmost menu and select Insert MIDI Track. 63. Create a new MIDI track. 64. Select the Sounds menu icon from the Browser on the left. 65. Expand the folder Bass. 66. Select the sound Wobble Bass.adg. 67. Click and drag this sound onto the new track. Inserting a New MIDI Clip Theres currently no MIDI data on the Bass-Wobble track, so lets create a new clip and draw in some pitches using the MIDI Note Editor. 07-Manzo-Chap07.indd 107 30/03/15 12:13 PM 108 fou ndations of music tech nolog y Figure 7.20: Selecting a region in the track display Figure 7.21: Inserting a new MIDI clip from the contextual menu 07-Manzo-Chap07.indd 108 30/03/15 12:13 PM Chapter 7 Sequencing MIDI 109 68. Select the track display for the bass track and select a region by clicking and dragging your cursor to the right. 69. With the selection highlighted, ctrl 1 click (Mac) or right-click (Windows) the selection to show a contextual menu. 70. Select Insert MIDI Clip from the contextual menu. We now have a blank clip by which we can add bass notes. Note that the clip length is the same length as the region you highlighted. Of course, we can change this region length from the Clip View as we saw earlier. Lets add some notes: 71. Double-click the clip to enter Clip View. 72. Within Clip View, click the circular headphone icon to allow MIDI note previewing while drawing MIDI notes. Figure 7.22: Pitches stacked vertically in the MIDI Note Editor 07-Manzo-Chap07.indd 109 30/03/15 12:13 PM 110 fou ndations of music tech nolog y 73. From the vertical piano roll on the right hand side of the MIDI Note Editor, locate the pitch marked A0. 74. Double-click in the first two squares directly to the right of the A0 marking at the beginning of the MIDI clip. (Note: These two squares should fill up half of bar 1 as delineated at the top of the MIDI Note Editor leaving two squares empty.) 75. Skip the two adjacent squares in bar 1 and click in the first and third squares of bar 2. 76. Play this set from the beginning to hear the changes stopping playback when you are done. Figure 7.23: Bass figure drawn into the MIDI Note Editor The bass pattern provides a nice, low-end complement to the other clips in this set. However, as you have probably noticed, even though the bass clip is set to Loop in the Clip View, the loop region itself is too large for the minimal amount of MIDI data we have entered. We can either write more notes to fit the length of the clip, or adjust the size of the clip to the amount of notes weve written. Lets choose the latter. 07-Manzo-Chap07.indd 110 30/03/15 12:13 PM Chapter 7 Sequencing MIDI 111 At the top left of the Clip View, note the two triangles stacked on top of each other just beneath the bars/beats numbers at the top. The top triangle is the Loop Start point. At the far right of the clip is the Loop End point. The length of the clip and, essentially, when and how it will loop, depends upon the position of the Loop Start and Loop End points in the Clip View. Figure 7.24: Adjusted loop region in the bass tracks clip view 77. Click the Loop End point for this clip and drag it to the start of bar 3 at the far left. 78. Press the play button to hear the change. 79. Press the stop button after you have played the track. Notice that the way that the loop appears within the track display has now been changed. Now that we have discussed how to do this, lets undo what we just did and save that process for another time when we need to use it. The arrow beneath the Loop Start arrow is the Start Marker and controls from wherein the loop region the track will begin playing. We will leave this Start Marker in place so that this clip will play from the beginning. Recording with a MIDI Keyboard or the Computer MIDI Keyboard Lets now add a drum part. 80. Create a new MIDI track. 81. Select the Drums menu icon from the Browser on the left. 82. Select the sound Kit-Core 909 .adg. 83. Click and drag this sound onto the new track. 07-Manzo-Chap07.indd 111 30/03/15 12:13 PM 112 fou ndations of music tech nolog y If you have a MIDI keyboard connected to your computer, youll be able to use it to play notes using this drum instrument as opposed to drawing them into clips like weve been doing. (If your MIDI controller is not working at the moment, we will discuss configuring it in Chapter 8. If youd rather troubleshoot it now, you may open the Preferences>MIDI Sync menu to configure MIDI controller options.) If you dont have a MIDI keyboard, Live has provided a mechanism that allows you to use your computer keyboard to play MIDI notes. To enable this feature, go to Options from the top menu and check Computer MIDI Keyboard. D id Y ou K now ? Synthesized Sounds and Samples Heres a quick review on how synthesizers are used to create different sounds. If you feel youve already mastered this information, feel free to move along to the next topic. The sounds, or instrument timbres, that are played with MIDI information generally fall into one of two categories: 1. Instruments that are primarily created synthetically by manipulating wave forms or frequencies in some ways to create new sounds or to emulate sounds that already exist 2. Instruments that are primarily created using recorded sounds, called samples Of course there are also hybrid approaches that combine both approaches. In the synthesis approach to instrument creation, you might use a spectrogram to examine the frequencies present when a note is played on the piano and then attempt to add generate waveforms with oscillators to synthetically recreate that sound. When a MIDI key is pressed, the synthesizer device will understand the MIDI pitch that was pressed and generate a sound with those oscillators at a certain frequency based on the MIDI key/pitch that was pressed. Synthesis is now commonly associated with new, unique sounds as opposed to imitating existing sounds, especially given the increased popularity of the sampling approach. In the sampling approach to instrument creation, instead of combining wave generators to imitate existing sounds, you might make audio recordings of someone playing each note on the piano. Then, when a MIDI key is pressed, a sampler device will understand the MIDI pitch that was pressed and trigger an audio recording of the piano playing that same pitch. The sounds are incredibly realistic because they are recordings, or samples, of actual instruments. 07-Manzo-Chap07.indd 112 30/03/15 12:13 PM Chapter 7 Sequencing MIDI 113 Early samplers, such as the Birotron or the Mellotron, used tapes to store the sample sound recordings. Now, software instruments feature Sample Libraries of several gigabytes that contain audio recordings of many different instruments. Each sampled software instrument contains numerous recordings of each pitch at varying volumes played in different ways. To preview MIDI playback on a MIDI track, using a MIDI controller or a computer keyboard, ensure that the track is selected and that it is armed for recording by selecting the Arm Arrangement Recording switch in the Mixer section of the track. The switch will appear red when the track is armed. Figure 7.25: Arm a MIDI track for recording 84. Ensure that the drum MIDI track is armed by clicking the Arm Arrangement Recording switch. (Note: Ensure that the mixer section is visible in View>Mixer.) If you are using a Computer MIDI Keyboard, you may use only certain computer keys to play pitches. For example, the keys AK map to the pitches of the C major scale. To transpose notes down or up an octave, use the keys z and x, respectively. Note that your current octave is shown in the Status Bar at the bottom left of the screen while you press the z and x keys. Figure 7.26: Octave of Computer MIDI Keyboard shown in the Status Bar 07-Manzo-Chap07.indd 113 30/03/15 12:13 PM 114 fou ndations of music tech nolog y The Drum Rack device shown in the Track view shows a number of individual drums within a grid. Figure 7.27: Individual drum samples within a Drum Rack device From the Drum Rack device, you may sample different sounds by clicking the small Play button in each of the grid cells. Notice that when you move your cursor over one of these cells, the Status Bar reveals which MIDI note must be played in order to trigger the sample. For example, the Kick 909 sample is triggered with MIDI pitch C1. You may need to transpose down on your MIDI or computer keyboard to play this pitch. Once transposed to the correct octave, you will use the note C on a MIDI keyboard to play this kick drum; on a computer keyboard, it will be the a key. 85. Transpose your controller, if necessary, to the correct octave and play drum samples for this instrument. Once you are able to get your controls working to play notes, recording them into the set is easy. With the drum track armed: 86. Using the keyboard to perform, determine a drum pattern to play that you feel fits with the musical material we already have in this set. 87. In the track display, click at the point in time where you would like to begin recording. 88. Press the F9 key to begin playback/recording or click the Global Record Button in the transport dock at the top of the screen. 89. Press the stop button to end recording. Figure 7.28: Recording in progress via the Global Record Button 07-Manzo-Chap07.indd 114 30/03/15 12:13 PM Chapter 7 Sequencing MIDI 115 It is advised that you enable the Metronome while recording so that you can keep in time by clicking the Metronome button at the top right of the screen (shown as two small circles). The icon will appear yellow when activated. Figure 7.29: The Metronome button toggled to provide a click during recording/playback If you messed up a bit in the recording process, dont worry. You already have enough skills to correct timing and pitch problems in the MIDI Note Editor with Clip View. Lets take a closer look at what you just recorded by opening the Clip View. 90. Double-click the Clip title bar to open the Clip View. I can see with painful clarity that what I recorded does not line up with the bars and beats grid provided. Figure 7.30: MIDI notes in the MIDI Note Editor out of beat as they were recorded At this point, I can manually reposition all of the notes to my choosing or use a method called quantization to nudge the MIDI notes to the nearest bar. To quantize this clip: 91. Highlight all of the notes within the clip. 92. With the notes highlighted, ctrl 1click (Mac) or right-click (Windows) the selection to show a contextual menu. 93. Select Quantize Settings . . . from the contextual menu. 07-Manzo-Chap07.indd 115 30/03/15 12:13 PM 116 fou ndations of music tech nolog y Figure 7.31: The Quantization Settings box controls the ways that quantization will function The quantization process in Live can adjust the position of each MIDI notes start and end according to the beat spacing of the bars and beats grid. If you play a pattern of 8th or 16th notes and find that quantization creates a strange and unwanted accompaniment, you may select different rhythmic values from the Quantize To: pulldown menu in this box. 94. Click OK in the Quantization box to nudge the notes you played to the nearest bar and beat. If this quantization process just ruined your recorded MIDI data, undo the process from the Edit menu and try the process again with different Quantize To: settings. (The Global Quantization button is located at the right of the Metronome.) Additionally, ctrl 1clicking (Mac) or right-clicking (Windows) in the Track Display or Clip View will also allow you to adjust the beat grid. The drum clip I recorded is not long enough to cover all of the music I have in this set, so I am going to click the Loop button within Clip View in order to use this clip as a repeating pattern. If desired: 95. Adjust the region of the recorded drum pattern within the MIDI Note Editor by adjusting the Loop Start and Loop End points. 96. Enable the Loop button for this clip. 97. Loop as desired within the track display. As you continue to on this set, you may find it useful to loop a certain region of audio while adjusting volume, panning, or even notes in the MIDI Note Editor. To set the loop region to a specific clip: 07-Manzo-Chap07.indd 116 30/03/15 12:13 PM Chapter 7 Sequencing MIDI 117 98. ctrl 1click (Mac) or right-click (Windows) the clip title bar for the drum MIDI track or another track. 99. From the contextual menu, select Loop Selection. Figure 7.32: The Arrangement Loop settings specify the size of the loop region, punch in/ out settings, and a Loop Switch Notice that the loop region at the top of the screen now surrounds the length of clip you selected. This region can be adjusted from the Arrangement Loop settings at the top right of the program. Clicking the center icon called the Loop Switch will loop the selection as it plays back. This is a very useful feature for adjusting balance, panning, pitches, and more. 100. Enable the Loop Switch and play the loop region noticing how it loops. 101. Turn off the Loop Switch and notice how the track does not cycle back to the beginning as the playback marker reaches the end of the loop region. Changing Tempo At the top left of the program, near the Metronome, is a button that says TAP with the numbers 120.00 next to it. Changing this numerical value will change the tempo of this piece. The tempo, at 120 by default, is measured in beats per measure (BPM). To change this number: 102. Click the number 120 in the Tempo box and scroll your cursor up or down to increase or decrease the tempo. 103. Play the file to hear the adjustment in tempo. Figure 7.33: Tempo modification tools within Live Additionally, you may click the TAP button repeatedly at the tempo of your choosing to insert that tempo value on your session. 07-Manzo-Chap07.indd 117 30/03/15 12:13 PM 118 fou ndations of music tech nolog y Saving and Cleaning Up the Set For now, we will close our discussion of Lives Arrangement View. In Chapter 8 we will examine how Lives Session View functions. We will use the clips weve created in this chapter in our discussion of Session View, so lets quickly rename our clips so that our set is cleaner: 104. Ctrl 1click (Mac) or right-click (Windows) the clip title bar for any one of the MIDI tracks in the set. 105. Select Rename and rename the track with a more appropriate name such as Keyboard Hook or Drum Pattern. 106. Repeat this process for each clip in the set. Note that you can use the key command ?1r (Mac) or ctrl1r (Windows) to rename anything in Live that can be renamed such as clips, tracks, and so on. Lets now save this set: 107. Click File>Save Live Set. 108. Save this project to the folder we created at the beginning of this chapter called My Live Projects. Exporting Rendered Audio Now that the project is saved, you may render the entire set as an audio file. 109. From the top menu, click File>Export Audio/Video . . . A number of options can be specified within this menu, including the audio settings and format. If its not already apparent, the specific applications for changing these settings will become so later on in the text. Clicking OK will render the entire set as an uncompressed audio file. 110. Click OK and specify a filename for your audio file. Note that highlighting a region in the Arrangement View prior to selecting the Export option will render only the highlighted region. This is useful if you intend to render only specific loops or sections of your set, and not the entire set. Summary Sequencing is a universal skill that is addressed in some way by every major DAW. The process is easy to grasp, and, with time, the various editing techniques become easier to work with and able to be executed rapidly. There are many different DAWs. None is necessarily superior or inferior. Often, the particular DAW you decide to use may have more to do with the software preferred by your collaborators or some other particular feature or compatibility that appeals to you personally. Issues like technical support availability, including loop and effect libraries, are important parts of the decision-making process. For this book we elected to use Ableton Live because it solves the crossplatform compatibility (Mac vs. Windows) issue. 07-Manzo-Chap07.indd 118 30/03/15 12:13 PM Chapter 7 Sequencing MIDI 119 Figure 7.34: Export Audio/Video window 07-Manzo-Chap07.indd 119 30/03/15 12:13 PM 120 fou ndations of music tech nolog y If youve enjoyed using Ableton Live and the pace at which the concepts were presented, you may enjoy the book Interactive Composition (Manzo & Kuhn, 2015). Key Concepts Sequencing is a function of all DAWs and allows mulitrack recording and editing of both MIDI and audio. Quantization is the process of smoothing MIDI data by repositioning notes to the nearest beat division. Recording MIDI and audio is generally a similar process in DAWs. It requires arming an individual track and clicking a global record button. Key Terms beats per measure (BPM) clip (Live software) loop quantization 07-Manzo-Chap07.indd 120 30/03/15 12:13 PM

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