MIDI starter library?

[Stone Knife]

Is there a must-have nuts & bolts "MIDI for beginners" book I should have? I can't stand it anymore and want to do as much as possible with outboard gear without relying on salespeople piling a cart full of useless stuff.
What's your favorite?
Thanks!

[B.Ray]

I started using MIDI at the very begining of commercially sold MIDI products so my perspective may be a little skewed. But I don't think you really need a "MIDI Book for Beginners". I saw one once and found it to be so basic that it was virtually usless. Maybe there are some books on MIDI worth buying...I don't know.

The problem with some generic books is that they may use terminology for some detail or function that is different from the terminology used by the various product developers. For example: the terms "Patch" & "Voice" are used differently by different manufacturers. Digi uses "Voice" to mean playback audio tracks. Which is a very different usage from what you'll find a Yamaha synth manual. "Program Number" & "Patch Change" might refer to the same thing depending on what User's Manual you happen to be reading.

Every piece of software or hardware that utilizes MIDI has enough information in its documentation to get you going. I believe the best way to learn it is to just connect up some gear and experiment...record into your sequencer, edit, record, tweak, etc..

I've always found the concepts of the MIDI implementation to be pretty simple. But then again, my perspective is probably skewed because of my background.

What kind of issues are troubling you? Maybe the DUC'ers here can help you out.

If you're concerned about product features & capabilities, may I suggest Keyboard Magazine. I've found it to be an excellent source info re: various MIDI related products.

[Phil O'Keefe]

BY FAR, the best "general overview" of MIDI ever written is "MIDI For Musicians" by Craig Anderton. I don't know if it's still in print, but Craig has a forum over on Musicplayer.com where you can ask him where you can get a copy. It's reliable information, it's easy to read and understand, and has tons of pratical suggestions and examples. Craig's a great writer and all around great human being.

http://www.musicplayer.com/cgi-bin/u...?ubb=forum;f=1

Come visit us Stone! I'll start a thread about it and I'll bet that within a day I'll have an answer for you regarding where you can get a copy.

Cheers!

[Phil O'Keefe]

Yup, "Midi for Musicians" is still in print - available through Barnes and Noble, Amazon.com, Books-a-million, etc.

Craig also mentioned that his revised "Home Recording for Musicians" also has a lot of MIDI information in it. I have a very old version of that book and have not read the latest edition, so I can't comment. But "MIDI For Musicians" is absolutely what you should check out!

http://www.musicplayer .com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=005988

[STUDIO-DE-ARIEL]

Craig

is the defacto Genious extrodinair I got a quadra fuzz desighned by him and he returned my email.

[Stone Knife]

Thanks fellahs-
I'm in recording land today so not much web time available- I'll get ahold of Craig's book first thing- Aside from connections for MIDI IN OUT THROUGH and the midi part on "Be There" nothing is too basic for me.
I mean, if there were a contest to find someone that doesn't know squat about MIDI I'd win it.

Gear wise, am thinking about starting with a Roland JV-1010 and a Studio Logic SL-161...

[Roy Howell]

Stone,
If you go with a sound module(or Midi keyboard with stuff built in), I'll be glad to help you in layman's terms as best I can. I've been Midiing for about 13 years using sound modules. You know you can ask me anything, no matter how basic.

Roy of the Hill People

[The_Jester]

I’ll second the Craig Anderton books they were the text books for my Midi and recording classes when I was in music school. They have a permanent spot on the book shelve of my studio.

[Phil O'Keefe]

Ditto on the offers to help with the MIDI stuff... I've been using it since it first came out Waaaay back in 1983.

[Roy Howell]

Originally posted by Roy Howell:
I'll be glad to help you in layman's terms as best I can.
Roy of the Hill People

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">I don't really know what 'layman's terms' are, but I'm a man who likes to lay around as much as possible, so I really like that phrase... [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]