Course 7: MIDI & Virtual Instruments

MIDI, or Musical Instrument Digital Interface, has been the default language of electronic musical instruments for over thirty years. As a production tool, one can use it to compose music without committing to the sound of the instrument, as MIDI is just simple set of messages (primarily notes). These messages, generated by hitting a drum pad or keyboard controller, are the DNA to your musical performance, and once fed into a computer, take on many new and exciting lifeforms. You’ll discover how Logic’s robust MIDI sequencing engine can affect your capabilities as a producer with the most extensive library of built-in instruments at your fingertips. One-on-one with your mentor, you’ll dust off hardware instruments that you come across in the studio, and use MIDI to get sounds out of them that have never before been heard!

Objectives

• Section 1 – MIDI
  • What is MIDI?
  • MIDI vs. Audio
  • Section Review
• Section 2 – A Brief History
  • CV/Gate
  • Development of MIDI
• Section 3 – How It Works
  • Type of MIDI Events
  • MIDI Standard Applications
  • Section Review
• Section 4 – MIDI-Based Instruments
  • Software Instruments
  • Adding Apple Loops
  • External MIDI Tracks
  • Section Review
• Section 5 – MIDI Sequencing in Logic Pro X
  • Step Input
  • Take Recording
  • Merge Recording
  • Multi-Track Recording
  • Capture Recording
  • Section Review
• Section 6 – MIDI Editing in Logic Pro X
  • Re-arranging MIDI Events
  • Tool Menu
  • Quantizing
  • Note Velocity
  • Section Review
• Chapter Assignment: Create a MIDI Loop