Can someone explain to be the argument behind Pro Tools being bad with midi?

[DBK]

Originally Posted by Drew Mazurek

I think the OP is asking what specifically is wrong with PT and MIDI, considering they seem to get done what they need with it.

That's how I read the post.

exactly

[DBK]

Originally Posted by musicman691

It's hard to say how the op's post should be read - he doesn't give explicit examples of what he's talking or asking about. My take is he's asking about technical info as to why PT & MIDI suck which is more than what anyone here can answer.

Drew got what I meant. I dont have specific examples because Ive never experienced problems.

The only thing it doesnt have are the midi plugins like arps/chord makers/etc.. but thats not a midi problem its a music theory problem. Im fine with theory. I look at ableton or logic and I cant find one thing they can do with midi that I cant do in pro tools.

Basically if i were to rephrase the question - What CANT I do in pro tools that you can do in other daws regarding midi? Or pretty much anything I guess.

[DBK]

Originally Posted by musicman691

It's hard to say how the op's post should be read - he doesn't give explicit examples of what he's talking or asking about. My take is he's asking about technical info as to why PT & MIDI suck which is more than what anyone here can answer.

Yes I am talking about the technical stuff but I dont really care about the technical details.. Im more concerned with the side effects of the technical problems, which most consumers who complain about the midi in pro tools should be aware of. I dont really need to know the guts of the problem, I just need to know the problems people seem to keep having because im not having them and I play around with midi everyday. So maybe there are problems Im not even aware of? Im actually trying to figure out if im blindly handicapping myself by using pro tools for the type of work I do, but im not just going to switch because people seem to think that I am.. I need real evidence that there are problems I may just be used to dealing with when I dont have to be.

[Cosme422]

To the OP, I work midi in Pro Tools but not with VSTs. I'm connected to outboard gear that has all my sound banks. And since I started midi back in the day using master tracks pro which is a midi only program it had all the tools to easily manipulate all the midi data on the fly. For example being able to duplicate bars on the fly, being able to cut instruments in and out on the fly, copy and paste very easily done. ProTools does not have all those tools up top in the tool selector area in order to do those functions rapidly. And I understand they are not primarily midi, but it wouldn't be so horrible in midi if they had the proper tools to edit it. I still work on my midi in ProTools but is a daunting clunky process compared to master tracks. That's my opinion on how I see ProTools as being horrible with midi.


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[juhanni]

Originally Posted by albee1952

Saying that PT is "bad" with midi is really a relative comment. If PT is all you have used, then PT is fine with midi. If you spend time on another DAW that maybe handles midi in a different fashion(like maybe it offers more or easier editing features), then you might view PT as lacking. I have friends that are heavy midi users and many swear that "(insert DAW brand here)" does midi much "better" than PT. They could be correct. Or, they could simply be accustom to another style of work flow(from my experience,no matter which DAW you start out on, any other will likely be tougher to learn). If you are able to create music as you like, I simply would not worry about it(Pro Tools works dandy for me with midi, and I simply prefer it for audio over the rest of the pack)

This!! +1

www.jonatanmusik.com

[YYR123]

Originally Posted by albee1952

Saying that PT is "bad" with midi is really a relative comment. If PT is all you have used, then PT is fine with midi. If you spend time on another DAW that maybe handles midi in a different fashion(like maybe it offers more or easier editing features), then you might view PT as lacking. I have friends that are heavy midi users and many swear that "(insert DAW brand here)" does midi much "better" than PT. They could be correct. Or, they could simply be accustom to another style of work flow(from my experience,no matter which DAW you start out on, any other will likely be tougher to learn). If you are able to create music as you like, I simply would not worry about it(Pro Tools works dandy for me with midi, and I simply prefer it for audio over the rest of the pack)

Dave with another stellar post, on point!!! Here here

[tbonesteak4dinner]

Having experience in two old versions, 7 and 8, and two new versions 10 and 11, I can point to two things.

1. Virtual Instrument handling. Not strictly MIDI, but if you're working in MIDI then they're playing back through something. In both old versions and new, Pro Tools has a really strange idea of assigning proper resources to either heavy sample libraries (if you do orchestral work), or heavy synths. I'm finding these are best left to an external program (VEP, etc), and then Pro Tools can do what it does best and be there strictly for mixing and processing via plugins.

2. MIDI stability. This one is subjective, but arguably if you hit the exact right point release, MIDI timing and responsiveness are great. If you don't and you catch yourself on an unstable update, playback can be uneven (even with just light VI's). The editing tools are argued to be very basic in how they function, but they address every MIDI parameter so I've never had an issue there.

All in all I'd say Pro Tools is fine for MIDI, but as others recommend here, it's always going to do best with live audio. Processor intensive virtual instrument sessions are perhaps best left to an external program or another DAW entirely. Freezing your tracks in the newer versions will alleviate this somewhat.

[Bob Olhsson]

Producing real electronic music is very different from making cheap one-man-band pop records.

[Barry Johns]

I personally have never had any issue with ProTools midi capabilities. However I wouldn't know if I was missing something one way or the other.

[Shanegrla]

I think the whole "Pro Tools is bad with midi" stigma may be a holdover myth from many versions ago, back before they had the midi editor (which I believe was introduced in ver. 8?). I do remember before that, it WAS a whole lot more clunky and difficult to use midi. But once they introduced the editor window, I think that tremendously improved its midi capabilities. But I think the stigma just still persisted anyway.