# Import Midi File or Record Live



## SamGarnerStudios (Aug 26, 2013)

If you guys compose a score in a notation software, do you export that midi into a DAW or record it live into the DAW? I've always recorded it live, but the school I start doing TA work at today has the students import the midi file. Everytime I've done it this way it's just more complicated than entering it yourself.


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## JJP (Aug 26, 2013)

I prefer playing it in live in most cases. For sequencing I get better results and often can work faster.

Though, there are some cases where I've imported MIDI for one reason or another, but it's not very common for me.


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## Nick Batzdorf (Aug 26, 2013)

Depends on your performance skills I think.

If like me you're an almost keyboard player, groove quantizing (i.e. you tap in the groove) is very useful - especially in combination with randomizing around that groove so that all the parts aren't locked together. Randomizing around a perfect grid still sounds quantized, but groove quantizing doesn't.

But while I'm a closet step-enterer, often it's faster just to play it in again, because getting the right dynamics can be more trouble than it's worth.

My opinions only, of course - unlike politics this isn't something only I'm right about.


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## SamGarnerStudios (Sep 6, 2013)

I've been playing piano for 16 years, so I'm technically proficient. I presented a project the other day which was a full orchestral mockup of a short film cue, and several people were blown away that I recorded everything live after I notated it. I explained to them that it's so much easier to perfect everything from the ground up opposed to importing and backtracking, but then they complained that it was so much work lol. "Why can't you just import the midi from Sibelius and bounce that". I guess that's an advantage for me.


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## SamGarnerStudios (Sep 6, 2013)

I've been playing piano for 16 years, so I'm technically proficient. I presented a project the other day which was a full orchestral mockup of a short film cue, and several people were blown away that I recorded everything live after I notated it. I explained to them that it's so much easier to perfect everything from the ground up opposed to importing and backtracking, but then they complained that it was so much work lol. "Why can't you just import the midi from Sibelius and bounce that". I guess that's an advantage for me.


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## GrimeBrett (Sep 6, 2013)

I only import MIDI data when the final product doesn't need to sound good. For instance, when I make practice tracks for my choir students. 
IMO, when you're aiming for a realistic mockup, playing the lines in is always the way to go. 
However, in regards to your TA class, if the purpose of the assignment is to teach the students how to edit expression maps and adjust velocities (and such), then working with raw MIDI could be beneficial. Perhaps extremely tiring and very mechanical, but still beneficial. :D


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## J:H (Feb 4, 2014)

Hi all! My first post, ive been lurking for quite a while just learning stuff from this brilliant forum with so much talented people.

I have a question i dont know if its already been answered, but anyway;

When importing mid files from notation programs is there any fast way to clean them from cc data and other superfluous stuff? A program or plugin or something?

I have to go lane by lane in the daw to delete unnecessary stuff and its way too time consuming.

Thanks !


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## SamGarnerStudios (Feb 4, 2014)

And that's why I record everything live


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## rgames (Feb 4, 2014)

Even if I play it in I still have to tweak MIDI data, so I just import the MIDI and start tweaking from there. Plus, my piano chops are not very good so there's a lot of music that I write that I can't actually play (e.g. runs). Even if I were a proficient pianist, though, it still seems it would be faster to just start tweaking the imported MIDI data. Dunno. Whatever works...!

Regarding removing CC data - you can do that in Cubase using the list editor. Just select all the MIDI data, open them in the list editor, hide everything except controllers, then select them all and hit delete. I'm sure other sequencers have similar functionality.

rgames


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## J:H (Feb 4, 2014)

Im studying orchestra scores and I was looking for a painless way of importing them without all panning and volume being all messed up after I transcribed them. I don't have Cubase unfortunately and my keyboard skills arent really fit to take on some of that material. When theres a lot of fast wood and string passages i have to slow down the recording speed to a velocity that sometimes sounds strange when I speed it up again. 

But i totally agree that live inputing is the way to go. And thats what im aiming at.

Im mainly a flamenco guitarist so im more fluent speaking guitar than challenge Bach on a keyboard duel and I saw that its possible to convert a guitar signal to midi without needing a midi guitar and I have an old electric laying around so played around with it and some flute and solo string samples sounds pretty decent triggered by a guitar and some phrasings that are hard to get right on keyboard is even easier, even if it glitches and feels completely surreal playing flute on a strat. =o 

Thanks for your replies.


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## J:H (Feb 6, 2014)

For people using Reaper as main Daw:

I found a tutorial for cleaning up midi:
http://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=74478

And how to use a guitar as midicontroller:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5IVj_x6UUQ


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## doubleattack (Feb 7, 2014)

SamGarnerStudios @ Tue 04 Feb said:


> And that's why I record everything live



I thought so too until I've tried recently another approach.
Just for practise I've recorded the main track live (accordion) and added afterwards the sibelius files (string quartett). It's pretty useful and time saving - the secret here is time warp (using Cubase). There some examples on my sound cloud page for immediately comparison use both following links:

sibelius playback: http://soundcloud.com/doubleattack/akk- ... 5-vivre-la

hybrid track: http://soundcloud.com/doubleattack/vivr ... nne-hybrid

Over three years ago I did a first midi mockup (arranging "on the fly") for a different ensemble (15 winds and acc).

http://soundcloud.com/doubleattack/stre ... i-vivre-la

Maybe nice for a comparison, since I still thinking about the question live playing vs. using midi import (with programing afterwards.) 

Keep in mind that not real productions…

Frank


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## The Darris (Feb 7, 2014)

I do and I don't. It depends on the situation. I typically import it all in and redo the lyrical lines but leave the rhythmic lines such as percussion or ostanatos alone. From there I tweak velocities as necessary.

I vary in my workflow from piece to piece. When I have an exact theme and style I want to convey, I try to do a small sketch in Sibelius then play in the parts/orchestrate into the DAW from there. If I am writing for the percussion ensemble that I work for, I write it all in Sibelius and don't even fuss with a DAW, unless I am wanting some particular synth or sound that I can't get in Sib. On the rare cases (these days) I write my entire piece in Sibelius and then import it into Cubase. This is one of those pieces. 
https://soundcloud.com/christopher-harris/yearnings-of-wind-chrono


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## waveheavy (Oct 28, 2014)

This is where I'm at a crossroad, i.e., just how much I need to be able to play into my DAW to get close to realistic sounding performance.

I agree playing in the notes is always going to sound best IF... one is able to do it that way. Congrats to you guys that are pianists and can do that 'naturally' without sounding like a rooster pecking at a keyboard. I'm a guitar player.

Taking time with sample keyswitches, phrasing, and dynamics within Finale 2014, I can get pretty close to a natural sounding performance with slower material. Not sure about faster material yet.

I also tested Finale 2014's MIDI file export into Pro Tools 10 (using VSL). It kept everything when importing the MIDI file into Pro Tools, and the performance sounds the same as the Finale .wav file except for a slight difference in overall tempo. Vienna has a Keyswitch library file you can load in a Finale project. All this MIDI data, keyswitches, dynamics, expression markings, etc., transferred fine into Pro Tools.

I've got a Roland GK3 MIDI pickup for guitar, not setup yet. Fender makes a Strat with a MIDI pickup factory installation. I don't know how well that method will translate yet. Anyone doing that to compose for orchestra I'd be interested in hearing about it.

One thing to keep in mind for those not aware, when just using a .wav file recording from Finale 2014, it's only a 16bit/44.1kHz bit/sample rate. That's the best you get in Finale. Lot more instrument libraries today are at least 24bit/44.1 or better quality.


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