MIDI Playback

[adam79]

I barely ever use MIDI, and I'm having a rough time getting a MIDI track I imported to playback. How do I go about doing this? Thanks.

[Darryl Ramm]

Uh *much* more info is needed

What version of Pro Tools?

The MIDI came from where/what instument etc. and how did you import it?

What VI are you trying to use?

The MIDI is on a MIDI or Instrument track?

Can you get the VI to play notes you type/mouse into the track?

What happens? the transport appears to be moving? What do meters show?

Can you play any audio out the interface?

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Get basic stuff to work with Mini Grand on an instrument track first.

If you are completely new/lost with VIs. Stop now and go find a tutorial about working with VIs in pr Tools on YouTube and follow that.

[adam79]

Originally Posted by Darryl Ramm

Uh *much* more info is needed

What version of Pro Tools?

12.4

Originally Posted by Darryl Ramm

The MIDI came from where/what instument etc. and how did you import it?...What VI are you trying to use?...The MIDI is on a MIDI or Instrument track?

I can't play drums at my current residence, so I have to rely on VI drums. I don't have hundreds of dollars for the big name ones, so I'm stuck with XPand!2 (it came bundled with PT).. and I'm not a fan of it's rock drum samples. I do like some of the kits that come with Garageband.

So, I bounced down a rough mix, loaded it into GB, layed down the drum track, then imported the .MID file from GB into PT. It asks me if I want to import the .MID as an Instrument or MIDI track.

Originally Posted by Darryl Ramm

What happens? the transport appears to be moving? What do meters show?

When I import the file into a MIDI track, it's meter is moving like there's output, but I can't figure out how to tap in and play it.

Originally Posted by Darryl Ramm

Can you play any audio out the interface?

Yes. Everything is working beautifully except the MIDI track. It's a UA Apollo DUO.

Thanks
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[bradch00]

Import the MIDI into an instrument track, insert your VIOC (Virtual Instrument of Choice) on the track and it should all work.

[Darryl Ramm]

As said, start by inserting XPand 2 on an instrument (not MIDI) track. [edit: oops I missed you have XPand 2]

and get that to play at all from mouse clicking in midi notes.

Then import your MIDI on that track

It's a good idea if having problems to check with Mini Grand to see if basic MIDI stuff works.

Of course if you like the drum audio Garageband is producing you can just import that audio.

I bet there are many tutorials online about working with the XPand 2 VI.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[adam79]

I just realized something.. is it even possible to import a MIDI File created in Garageband into Pro Tools? When I import as an instrument track, it won't output sound until I insert a VI, but then it's using that VI's samples.

Does the .MID file just contain the data on which pitch the VI plays, or does it also contain the original samples sounds used to create it?

[Darryl Ramm]

Yes it's possible, but MIDI is MIDI, it only ever contains event data, you press a key etc. it never contains sound information.

You can record the audio from GB as already mentioned.

DUC is not the place to get general introductory help like this. You likely need to find some introductory tutorials on YouTube or elsewhere about working with MIDI and VIs.

[adam79]

Originally Posted by Darryl Ramm

Yes it's possible, but MIDI is MIDI, it only ever contains event data, you press a key etc. it never contains sound information.

You can record the audio from GB as already mentioned.

DUC is not the place to get general introductory help like this. You likely need to find some introductory tutorials on YouTube or elsewhere about working with MIDI and VIs.

The reason I wanted it as MIDI was so I could split the notes by pitch, and have each drum/cymbal on it's own track. I don't think you can do something like that in GB.

[Darryl Ramm]

Then you need to take the MIDI drum strikes from Garage Band into a VI running on Pro Tools that can do that...

Pick a Drum VI and go start working through some tutorials on how to use it. DUC is not the place where you can get handheld though using some VI or plugin.

You've got XPand 2, as far a I know that does not do multi-output (it also likely just not the drum VI most people want), but you can manually put different MIDI on different instrument tracks with separate instances of XPand 2 on each instrument track.

EZ drummer may be a better drum VI to start with and it can do multi-outputs.

You need to pick a VI and go start working though how to use it. Expect to spend an order of magnitude or more time learning how to use that VI than using Garage Band. And after doing that you might ask yourself why you are starting in Garage Band at all

Like with any DAW you should be able can run multiple separate instrument tracks of the same VI in Garage Band and route/process them however you want. Which may let you do what you are talking about all in Garage Band.

You may be far over-complicating all this and getting yourself in way over your head. Start by looking at EZ Drummer on Pro Tools and see if you want to even go there.

[musicman691]

Originally Posted by adam79

The reason I wanted it as MIDI was so I could split the notes by pitch, and have each drum/cymbal on it's own track. I don't think you can do something like that in GB.

The question is why do you want to do this - separate each drum & cymbal to it's own track? I've seen several of your threads here that either don't understand exactly how things work (basic knowledge types of things) or that you want to over-complicate things.