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GMC Forum _ Ivan Milenkovic _ Software Audio Production Blog

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Jun 5 2011, 08:28 PM

Hey guys, I'm trying to make a small blog here that will combine some of my older posts with new material in wish to help the beginners to make their first steps towards more professional software recording:

Digital Processor for Guitar:

Processor is a digital unit that changes the way you guitar sounds. Example of a processor is Boss GT8, but there are cheaper models, varying in price from 20-30$ to thousands of dollars. The reason you would need a processor is because they can convert guitar unbalanced signal into a balanced one which your card can take. They also process your sound, emulating famous guitar gear, and convert your signal into digital one. Here are some processors ranging from cheaper to more expensive ones:


Zoom G2


Line 6 POD XT Live


Roland VG99


TC Electronics G System


Fractal Audio Axe-FX Ultra

Computer Audio chips


can be roughly categorized like this:

1. integrated cards
- these cards are of the worst quality. You get them with your motherboard and they should serve mainly as a worst case scenario backup situations. If you consider the fact that you get them for free bundled with the motherboard, you can presume what quality they have. Nevertheless newer motherboard models have more advanced chips and these cards are now enough for mainstream users, and some pilot recording projects.
This is the looks of one chip called Realtek that is often used for integrated solutions:


2. mainstream pc (aka gamer) cards - these cards are more expensive than integrated ones, they offer better sound quality, more clearer sound, and more accurate sound response. They also have bigger processing power than integrated ones, and the memory of their own, which enables them to add some effects on the sound of the computer. A lot of consumer cards will have options for enabling reverberation or chorus effects that can enhance gaming experience. The example of these cards are Creative Sound Blaster Series as one of the best selling cards on the market. Here's example of the high-end consumer market gamer card:


3. music production cards - these cards are mainly intended for music producing purposes, and branch into several categories, but most popular for beginners are audio interfaces. These interfaces have all the inputs and outputs for connecting instrument to computer and recording it with no problems. Interfaces are made mainly as external products, which means they serve as a external sound card with USB or Firewire connection.
Here's an example of a cheap Line 6 interface, notice the guitar input and modeling software that you get with the device:


There are also other music production systems, both PCI, external or combined solutions, but let's not go in-depth about it now.


If you wanna record sound on your computer, the wisest thing to do is to buy a small cheap guitar interface, like this Line 6 Toneport GX is on the last picture. This will get you a solid working sound card for recording, and program that has different guitar effects that you can apply to your guitar when recording in real-time.

Couple of words about latency:

In real-time speaking in audio production terms, means that there is a small amount of latency involved. smile.gif Why is this important? Well because signal that goes into your card must travel through the card, and processor, and back to the card and to speakers, and be processed in the meantime. This time is mesaured in miliseconds and it is called latency. Anything above 15-20ms is generally not good, and you can perceive the delay, and anything bellow is good. Integrated and consumer cards are not optimized for low latency monitoring, but music production sound cards are. They usually have some sort of direct monitoring that can send signal before it reaches the processor. This enables you to hear and record your guitar in the same time you play it. Well not exactly in realtime time but with less than 15-20ms latency.

In the end I wanna say that you can record things with your integrated card as well, just don't expect that good performance and you will need a device that will transfer your guitar unbalanced signal to line-level one that sound card can take via Line In.

If you buy a cheap interface you will not have these problems and can record much better, and plug your guitar straight into interface. The latency will be small and you will have effects to color the sound a bit.


In the following posts I will go through software and other interesting things you should know about making music at home! smile.gif

Posted by: Daniel Realpe Jun 5 2011, 10:12 PM

Very nice! Excellent post Ivan!

Posted by: quadrium Jun 5 2011, 10:23 PM

Awesome article here. I'm sure this will help beginners a lot smile.gif

Posted by: Todd Simpson Jun 7 2011, 03:19 AM

Great post! For players jumping in to the world of recording it's never easy, especially at first. There's a LOT to know and consider. This covers a HUGE amount of ground in a very succinct way. Getting good tone recorded can be a challenge. This is worth a read for pretty much anyone and everyone wanting to take the next step in "Journey of Tone"

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Jun 17 2011, 09:11 AM

Let's talk a bit about the connections today! smile.gif

We all need to connect our gear in various ways, and there are always more than one piece of gear that we can connect, wetter it's only PC and amplifier line out. Many people connect these devices, and get noise problems, or even fried cards, and are not sure why. It turns out not all the connectors work on the same "level", as I will explain soon.

LEVELS (VOLTAGES):

As far as analog signals go, there are several different standards that had to be made, relative to the strength of the output signal from the source. Today, we use 3 of these standards: Line-level, Mic-level and Instrument-level.

Line Level:


One that is most commonly in use is "Line Level". It's used to standardize the voltage/strength of the input/output signals, in order to make connecting of various audio gear possible. Most gear that has Line Level inputs are CD and DVD players, consumer electronics like MP3 players, or integrated/consumer PC audio cards.

The standard for Line Level signal is around 750 milivolts. What this means is that all the outputs or inputs that are marked as "Line", are usually operating at this voltage.

For example, with intergrated sound cards you can see the arrow sign, or "Line In" or "Line Out" sign. This means that you can connect this line level output to another device that is operating at line signal voltage at their connectors.

Mixing consoles usually have various inputs available, because of their function, so they usually have labeled out line level inputs as well. On most mixers, the last 4 or 8 channels (ones without XLR connectors, are usually operating only at 750mV (line-level).

There are two types of line level:

consumer line level is at -10dBV
professional line level is at +4dBu (or dBm)

In order not to get you confused with dBV and dBu values, it is just important to understand what goes where. Here are some common connectors and what line level they operate at:

RCA (phono) connectors are usually -10dBV.
XLR connectors are usually +4dBu (Mic Level).
TRS quarter inch jack plugs can be either -10dBV or +4dBu, depending on the use.

Mic Level:

Microphones are operating at much lower voltages then line level devices, around 1mV - 80mV. This signal is too weak and prone to external interference. This means that a preamp is being used for microphones in order to get the mic-level low voltage signal to line-level high voltage signal.

Instrument Level:

Instrument level is not a standardized voltage, but can vary depending on the instrument's output, and it's usually somewhere between mic and line level voltages.

Here's a hi-res picture of a mixer that has mic-level and line-level inputs:



As you can see, XLR inputs are low voltage mic-level inputs, and they can handle lower voltage power, which means that you can "burn" the inputs by using the higher voltage sources like instruments or line-level devices. Preamps are very sensitive, and serve to amplify the low voltage mic signals to appropriate 750mV line-level.

Also, notice that there are lots of line-level inputs available on the mixer. All these serve for standardized 750mV equipment.

______________________


In the next article I will write about impedance and balanced/unbalanced connections, which are closely connected to levels/voltages! smile.gif


Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Jun 19 2011, 09:19 PM

OK, let's continue with connections! smile.gif

IMPENDANCE



A high impedance circuit tends to have high voltage and low current. A low impedance circuit tends to have relatively low voltage and high current. Impedance is usually labeled as "Z" and it is measured in "Ohms" (Ohm).

If you connect a low-Z source to a high-Z load, there is no distortion or frequency-response change caused by this connection. But if you connect a high-Z source to a low-Z load, you might get distortion or altered response.

When you connect an electric bass guitar or an electric guitar (a high-Z device) into an XLR-type mic input (a low-Z load). The low frequencies in the signal will roll off, so the guitar will sound thin.
We want the guitar to be loaded by a high impedance, and we want the mic input to be fed by a low-impedance signal. A direct box or impedance-matching adapter does this.


- Microphones and line outputs are usually low Z.
- Electric guitars, synthesizers, and line inputs are usually high Z.
- XLR mic inputs are low impedance; phone jack mic inputs are high impedance.




BALANCED/UNBALANCED audio:

Balanced audio is a method of interconnecting audio equipment using impedance-balanced lines. This type of connection is very important in sound recording and production because it allows for the use of long cables while reducing susceptibility to external noise.

Balanced connections use three-conductor connectors, usually the XLR or TRS connector. XLR connectors, for instance, are usually used with microphones because of their durable construction, while TRS jack plugs are usually used for mixer inputs and outputs because of their smaller profile.

TRS and XLR cables are basically the same, except having different connectors, you can see the picture for XLR male/female and TRS connectors:



All these have ground wire, and two wires that carry the same signal, hot & cold. These two wires are phase-reversed, so they aren't susceptible to external noise.

- Microphones usually have low-voltage, low impedance signal that is very susceptible to interference, and because of this, they are usually featuring balanced connectors.
- Electric guitars and bass guitars have "mid" voltage, high impedance sources, and they usually have unbalanced connectors
- Consumer audio devices usually feature unbalanced connectors
- Prosumer audio usually feature both unbalanced and balanced connectors


Posted by: Daniel Realpe Jun 19 2011, 11:13 PM

this is excellent Ivan, thank you!

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Jun 21 2011, 10:21 PM

Cheers mate, more to come very soon! smile.gif

Posted by: Fran Jun 21 2011, 10:24 PM

Omg how did I miss this thread! This is tasty wiki material, I'll make sure to put it all there Ivan cool.gif

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Jun 25 2011, 06:33 PM

Thanks a lot mate. I'll do some modifications possibly as time goes by, and refresh the material weekly! smile.gif

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Jun 26 2011, 12:35 PM

After all this technical mumbo jumbo about connections, it's time to actually start pluggin in (finally) smile.gif There are several ways you can connect and record your guitars, most often used include the ones bellow. They are ranged so that the first ones in the list require most budget, but are least practical. Lower down the list are cheaper options, but more practical and flexible:

1. Plug the guitar into an amp, mic the cab, and record the microphone sound into mic preamp/sound card
2. Plugging the guitar into guitar head with line out, or guitar preamp, and connecting to line in on sound card
3. Plugging guitar into processor, connecting the processor via analog or digital link to sound card
4. Connecting the guitar into audio card with Hi-Z input (aka audio interface) and modeling the tone from software


1. Plug the guitar into an amp, mic the cab, and record the microphone sound into mic preamp/sound card:
The first option is the most expensive one, and it will require most money and biggest chunks of gear. The end result may prove to be most natural one, but only if you know what you are doing. Just as having a pro skate doesn't make you Tony Hawk (it actually guarantees lots of injuries! smile.gif )- having all that gear doesn't qualify for best tone possible, in fact, it can test your patience at moments. With experience, it can guarantee best tones tho. If you own guitar amp, guitar cab, room to crank it and to baffle it, microphone(s), mic preamp, and sound card (duh..) you can start experimenting right away.

There is one (and only IMHO! smile.gif ) good thing about this particular approach. The sound from a real tube amp will be better then the sound you will emulate through software or processor. Real thing is always better than the emulation, no matter how good the emulation is. But, you can also create a mosquito attack tone easily, and some guy with software will create that huge tone you are craving for. How? By experimenting and knowing your gear, recording space and mixing techniques inside out.

Bad sides of this approach is that you have to play relatively loud (not important if you have deaf neighbours), you have to experiment a lot in studio, have nerves to always adjust, record, adjust record.. One important downside of this approach is that people usually have couple of amps only, and this will prove limiting after a while in creating various tones. If you do have the amp that you really like and it has your signature tone, there is always an option of getting another cool mic, another cool preamp, another cool stand, another cool acoustic foam, another cool cab... you see where this is going? smile.gif

various ways of micing this marshall cab


I will not put too much words about the factors that are important, but will mention some of the important ones, and leave you to experiment, cause this is the best way to actually observe and learn your particular gear in your particular recording situation:

- proper room acoustics
- quality balance of the complete gear chain (eliminating bottlenecks first)
- choosing the best possible gear for the job
- microphone placement and microphone combinations
- loudness of the amp vs microphone sensitivity
- setting the tone right in relation to musical arrangement/function
- avoiding clipping and EQing (a lot) before recording
- recording dry (unless there is nice acoustics available for capturing)


In general, problematics of this kind of recording involves lots of factors, but with lots of experimenting and studying, great results can be achieved. I do recommend testing this method if you have the gear and means available.
Since the gear list is big, and budget can increase greatly with each component, I do recommend thinking it over before you actually go into the shop and get everything you need. You might want to consider other options too.
This method is as close as it gets to professional studio recording, so it might be worth taking a shot, and interesting experience for those who would like to taste some of that work. Like I said, the end results can be very satisfying after a while, and you will be richer for one cool experience, which will eventually help you in the emulating world too. Here applies the general rule: Once you learn how the "real thing" sounds, it will be easier to emulate it later through software.




to be continued....

Posted by: Todd Simpson Jun 26 2011, 05:56 PM

Great posts smile.gif This is stuff that every guitar player needs to know in order to get started recording. I"m thrilled this is all being added to the Wiki!

Posted by: Sinisa Cekic Jun 26 2011, 10:04 PM

Are you sure that this topic should be only for beginners ? smile.gif...A lot of interesting things here wink.gif

Posted by: quadrium Jun 26 2011, 10:31 PM

This is awesome Ivan! Thank you for sharing this smile.gif

Posted by: Fran Jun 29 2011, 04:39 PM

OK, I'm adding all this info into our wiki in different articles, here they are:

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/wiki/index.php/Digital_Processor_for_Guitar
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/wiki/index.php/Computer_Audio_Chips
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/wiki/index.php/Guitar_Connections

I put links to the pictures in some of them, because I ignore whether we own the copyright of them, specially the diagrams, etc.

I'll keep adding more smile.gif

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Jul 27 2011, 05:07 PM

Thanks a lot Fran! smile.gif


I'm continuing the article of connecting guitar to various equipment, so this is the same article as the previous one, i'll notify when it's done! smile.gif


2. Plugging the guitar into guitar head with line out, or guitar preamp, and connecting to line in on sound card
This option was specially popular back in the days when there were little or no processors and software modellers available. Although it was used more before than now, it is still a great way to produce a healthy sounding guitar preamp tone, better than using software or processor for emulating the preamp.

First what is guitar head with line out? If you've been reading the articles above, you will know that line out is most often used way of interconnecting audio equipment. Guitar heads/amps usually have speaker outputs which are definitely not something you would want to connect to any audio equipment but the speaker. The power would fry the components! Instead, by making a small signal detour, on various modern heads they make the signal come out as a low voltage output that can be recorded. This way you still get the sound of a head, but skip the poweramp and speaker components. On some heads you can find unbalanced, and on some heads even XLR balanced line output (like the Marshall JVM example bellow, check the hi-res picture)


Rear side view of a Marshall JVM head - notice the XLR line outputs

If you have a guitar preamp on the other hand, like a stomp box preamp or a rack preamp, often there is line out on these devices. If you really like the sound of it, you can connect it to external recording gear as well, namely the sound card. It's outputs voltage and resistance are tuned in to line level standard.


Rear side view of a Marshall JMP-1 guitar preamp - notice the line outputs on the right side, and the consumer/pro switch for adjusting the line level output strenght


As you can notice on most devices you can choose wetter it's consumer/pro switch, which means you can connect it to various gear, with various cables, XLR connectors/cables will usually "ask" for +4dBu, and mono jacks or RCA connectors will usually ask for -10dBV. XLR and TRS connectors are better (and usually present) since they are balanced, so you can introduce bigger length cables etc.

Now, there is another issue about connecting guitar preamp directly to audio card. Sound sucks smile.gif You may ask how can a sound from a guitar preamp, a dedicated device for guitar, with tubes and all ...sound so lame? Well, this is because power amp and speakers (in particular) play a major role in shaping the sound that we usually perceive as "guitar tone". There is no guitar tone without the speaker, so on various modern equipment, manufacturers started to include optional "speaker emulator" circuit, that will color the raw tone of the guitar preamp into smooth-sounding tone, as if the signal passed through the miked cabinet.

I won't go in-depth with speaker emulation options, I will leave it for another article, but will mention that there are usually three options that are being used for speaker emulation with this type of connection:

1. integrated speaker emulation (like the one you can see on the JMP-1 picture - far to the right, there are stereo outputs with speaker simulator)
2. separate speaker emulation circuit (used on older units where speaker emulation is not available, it is usually in the form of rack unit (e.g Palmer is one of the known manufacturers), or in the form of a floor D.I. box unit with speaker emulation circuit).
3. software emulation (direct sound of guitar preamp is being fed into audio card, and the sound is being processed with various speaker emulation software or plugin)



to be continued..

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Aug 18 2011, 06:32 PM

3. Plugging guitar into processor, connecting the processor via analog or digital link to sound card

This would be a good option for anybody that has a good processor, and wants to use it for digital recording. By "guitar processor" I mean external hardware device specifically designed to process guitar sound. Usually processors will be digital, which means they will have converters, but sometimes you will want to use analog processing too. Nothing wrong with that as well. Couple of important factors to consider here:

Digital hardware processing:
Because the processing is all happening in the guitar processor itself, computer CPU is relieved, and can work on something else.

Cutting down on the converters:
As I mentioned, in some rare cases, you might want to use an analog delay unit or something similar, so you process the signal in analog domain. But this happens rarely, as most devices today are digital. What this means is that these devices convert your analog guitar signal into digital one, process it, and then convert it back to analog signal, before passing on through line out. IF you want to connect to sound card (which also converts your signal into digital, and works with digital), this means you went through one D/A and one A/D conversion without needing to! It would be better if you could "give" the digital signal straight to the sound card, so you skip converters. How can you do that? Well, via digital link:

There are 2 types of digital links widely used, one is S/PDIF and other ADAT Lightpipe.

Both standards are widely used, although for processor usually S/PDIF is being used, with RCA connectors, because of their rugged construction.


Rear view of a Fractal Audio AxeFX - notice the S/PDIF RCA connectors under the "digital I/O" section

So if you connect via digital link, you will skip D/A converter in your processor, and you will skip A/D converter in your sound card, which will improve your sound. If you happen to have S/PDIF on your gear (and it's a big chance that you do), use ANY RCA cable that you have to make the connection and clear out your signal a bit.

No reamping:
The downside of this approach is that when the processed signal comes into the sound card, you record it processed, and there is little possibilities for reamping later on. Suppose you want to make a different preset later? You will have to play it once again. This would be one downside of working with processed sound.

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Sep 1 2011, 03:44 PM

4. Connecting the guitar into audio card with Hi-Z input (aka audio interface) and modeling the tone from software

"Hi-Z" Input stands for high-impedance input. Instrument signal has high impedance compared to regular line inputs, and only these inputs should be used for plugging instruments like electric guitar and bass guitar. There can be a frequency rolloff if you use inputs that cannot load the high impedance, or in some cases you can even fry the input with a big signal peak. You can of course use any analog pedals that you have with Hi-Z input, like overdrive and such, if you want to introduce some analog outboard processing into the digital domain. I personally don't like this approach, because you should stay as clean as you can.


Combo inputs on audio interface (notice the Hi-Z switch)

Recording clean: big thing with this approach is that it is relatively cheap and very flexible if you record clean guitars. Clean guitars are reusable in the process called reamping. Reamping means that you can process the raw clean signal infinite number of times over and over. Computers became fast enough for real time processing, so you can tweak the sound during playback, without applying any offline processing.

A/D conversion: Working in digital domain always introduces conversion problems. Fortunately, audio interfaces and audio cards got advanced, so for the fraction of a cost of a dedicated guitar processor with similar converters, you can now get mastering grade converters, and spend the rest of the money on software. The better converters, better will be your signal in the digital domain. Using high sample rate and bitrate will preserve precious range and dynamics of the signal. Nothing better than healthy clean signal.

Making a healthy signal: I will talk in more detail about this later on, but for software modelers to work properly, you need to make the signal healthy, which means use all the available headroom. In digital domain, clipping is happening above 0dB point, and contrary to analog domain, this clipping should be avoided at all times. Going near 0dB in peaks is perfect in order to get a nice healthy signal.

Choosing software: When people choose software modeler, they instantly think of Guitar Rig. But there are so many plugins that can process guitar tone, and with many you can get nice effect. Instead of explaining each individually (I tried many, but not all), I'll just put down the list, and let you do the research:

In alphabetical order by company
----------------

Acme Bar Gig
- DIG (guitar amp)
- BIG (bass amp)
- Shred Suite (guitar amp)
- Preampus series (guitar preamp)
- several other guitar related plugins
http://www.acmebargig.com
FREE / VST / WIN

Airwindows
- Amps (guitar preamps, free)
- CabSVT (bass guitar plugin)
- Several other plugins
http://www.airwindows.com/
Commercial, FREE / AU / OSX

Antti Huovilainen
- Saro (guitar amp)
http://antti.smartelectronix.com/
FREE / VST / WIN

Aradaz Amps
- Green, White, Crunch (guitar amp)
- Our Cabinet Simulator (cabinet modeller)
http://aradaz.blogspot.com
FREE / VST / WIN

Audiffex
- ampLion (guitar amp)
- ampLion Free (guitar amp, FREE)
- inTone Guitar (guitar amp)
- inTone Bass (bass amp)
http://www.audiffex.com
Commercial, FREE / VST, AU / WIN, OSX

Audioease
- Altiverb (impulse loader)
- Cabinet (cabinet simulator)
- Speakerphone (impulse responses)
http://www.audioease.com/
Commercial / VST, AU, RTAS, MAS / WIN, OSX

Audio Damage
- FuzzPlus (guitar stompbox, free)
- Kombinat (distortion preamp)
http://www.audiodamage.com/downloads...php?pid=ADF001
FREE, Commercial / VST, AU

Auraplug
- Ampfire (guitar amp)
- California Sun (guitar amp, free)
- Freetortion (stompbox plugins, free)
http://www.auraplug.com/
FREE, Commercial / VST / WIN

Bomb-Factory
- Sansamp PSA-1 (guitar preamp)
http://www.digidesign.com/index.cfm?...32&itemid=1074
FREE / RTAS, TDM / WIN, OSX

BTE Audio
- Juicy77 (guitar amp, free)
- TS' Secret (tubescreamer emulator, free)
http://www.bteaudio.com/products/index.html
FREE, Commercial / VST / WIN

d16
- Redoptor (guitar amp)
http://d16.pl/
Commercial / VST, AU / WIN, OSX

db audioware
- Flying Haggis (guitar amp)
http://www.db-audioware.com/flyinghaggis.htm
Commercial / VST, AU / WIN, OSX

Digidesign
- Eleven, Eleven LE (guitar amp)
- Sansamp PSA-1 (sansamp emulator)
http://www.digidesign.com/eleven
Commercial / RTAS, TDM / WIN, OSX

Florida Music Co
- Brackenbury-1 Tube Amp (guitar amp)
http://www.hitsquad.com/smm/programs/Brackenbury/
FREE / VST / WOM

Focusrite
- Guitar FX Suite (guitar amp and effects)
http://www.focusrite.com/products/so...itar_fx_suite/
Commercial / VST, AU / WIN, OSX

Fretted Synth Audio
- FreeAmp3, FreeAmp2 (guitar amp)
- Helian (bass amp)
http://frettedsynth.home.att.net/
http://rekkerd.org/fretted-synth/
FREE / VST / WIN

Habib
- KeFir (impulse loader)
- Extremist (guitar preamp)
http://habib.webhost.pl/
FREE / VST / WIN

Heeb
- CrunchDude (guitar amp)
http://www.heebcomponents.net/CrunchDude/
FREE / VST / WIN

Heptode
- Heavy Tone, Deep Crunch (distortion pedal emulations)
http://www.heptode.com/vst_plugins.html
FREE / VST / WIN

Ignite Amps
- NRR1 (guitar preamp)
- TS-999 (tube screamer pedal emulation)
http://www.igniteamps.com/
FREE / VST, AU / WIN, OSX

IK Multimedia
- Amplitube series (guitar amp, several models)
- Ampeg SVX (bass amp)
http://www.ikmultimedia.com
Commercial / VST, AU, RTAS, Standalone / WIN, OSX

Image Line
- Hardcore (stomp box sims)
http://www.image-line.com/documents/hardcore.html
Commercial / VST, AU, FL

iZotope
- Thrash (guitar amp)
http://www.izotope.com/products/audio/trash/
Commercial / VST, AU, RTAS, TDM, DX / WIN, OSX

Kazrog
- Recabinet Modern, Recabinet Vintage (cabinet impulses)
http://recabi.net/
Commercial

Knufinke
- SIR2 (impulse loader)
- SIR1 (impulse loader, free)
http://www.knufinke.de/sir/
Commercial, FREE / VST, AU / WIN, OSX

Kuassa
- Amplifikation Lite (guitar amp, free)
- Amplifikation One (guitar amp)
http://www.kuassa.com
Commercial, FREE / VST, AU / WIN, OSX

LePou
- Solo C, HyBrit, LE456, Lextac, Legion, Lecto (guitar preamp)
- Lecab (impulse loader)
http://lepouplugins.blogspot.com
FREE / VST, AU / WIN, MAC

Line6
- Pod Farm, Amp Farm, GearBox (guitar amp)
http://line6.com/podfarm/
http://line6.com/ampfarm/
Commercial / VST, AU, RTAS, TDM

Markbass
- Mark Studio 1 (bass amp)
http://www.markbass.it/products.php?...&cat=5&vedi=93
Commercial / VST, AU, RTAS, Standalone / WIN, OSX

Mason Software
- Dammit Distortion (guitar amp)
http://masonsoft.hitback.se/
Commercial / VST, AU / WIN, OSX

Massey Plugins
- THC (distortion stompbox)
http://www.masseyplugins.com/?page=thc
Commercial / AU, RTAS, TDM / WIN, OSX

Matthias Becker
- Cortex (guitar amp)
http://ncryptoworkz.blogspot.com/200...uitar-amp.html
FREE / VST / WIN

McDSP
- Chrome Tone (guitar amp)
http://www.mcdsp.com/index.php?optio...=44&Itemid=271
Commercial / RTAS, TDM / WIN, OSX

Mellowmuse
- Mellowhead (guitar amp)
http://www.mellowmuse.com/Mellowhead.html
Commercial / VST, AU, RTAS / WIN, OSX

MDA
- Combo (guitar amp)
- several other free plugins
http://mda.smartelectronix.com/
FREE (open source!) / VST, AU / WIN, OSX

Mokafix
- NoAmp (sansamp emulation, free)
- a lot of stompbox emulations
http://www.mokafix.com/
FREE / VST / WIN

Native Instruments
- Guitar Rig (guitar amp)
http://www.native-instruments.com/#/...tar-rig-4-pro/
Commercial / VST, AU, RTAS, Standalone / WIN, OSX

Ndzeit
- Dirthead, TubeBaby (guitar amp)
http://www.ndzeit.org/guitar/dirthead.html
FREE / VST / WIN

Nick Crow
- Wagner Sharp, 7170, 8505 (guitar preamp)
- Simple Guitar Combo (guitar amp)
http://sites.google.com/site/nickcrowlab/
FREE / VST / WIN

Nomad Factory
- Rock Amp Legends (guitar amp)
http://www.nomadfactory.com/products...amp/index.html
Commercial / VST, AU, RTAS / WIN, OSX

Overloud
- TH1/TH2 (guitar amp)
- Mark Studio 1 (bass amp)
- Slego (guitar amp, free)
http://www.overloud.com/
Commercial, FREE / VST, AU, RTAS, Standalone / WIN, OSX

Peavey
- Revalver (guitar amp)
http://www.peavey.com/products/revalver/
Commercial / VST, AU / WIN, OSX

Plektron
- IRCab (cabinet loader)
- Guitar Amp, Powered (guitar amp)
http://www.plektronfx.com/products.php
Commercial, FREE / VST / WIN

Rob Rokken Audio
- Roktion 808 Distortion Unit (distortion)
http://robrokkenaudio.com/plugins/
FREE / VST / WIN

Ronald Passion
- X-1000, SS500, M-900, FV-70, Crunch Passion, Revolutionz, ReChrome, ReGold (guitar preamp)
- Bass preamp, Slap Passion, Revolutionz bass (bass preamp)
- DI Cab (cabinet simulator)
http://rekkerd.org/ronald-passion/
http://www.1ststudio.blogspot.com/
FREE / VST / WIN

Run Beer Run
- several free guitar related plugins
http://runbeerrun.blogspot.com/
FREE / VST / WIN

Seibel
- Lisarock (guitar amp)
http://www.wix.com/leandroseibel/lisarock
FREE / VST, AU / WIN, OSX

simpleVSTs
- urrth, duuaal, spaank (guitar preamp)
- praamp, muun (stompbox simulations)
http://simplevsts.blogspot.com/
FREE / VST / WIN

Simulanalog
- Guitar Suite (guitar amp and stompboxes, free)
- SLO X-88 (guitar amp)
http://www.simulanalog.org/guitarsuite.htm
FREE / VST / WIN

slim slow sider
- Compact Distortion (distortion stomp box)
Also has good free sidechain plugins!
http://www.geocities.jp/webmaster_of_sss/vst
FREE / VST / WIN

Steinberg
- Warp (guitar amp)
http://www.steinbergcanada.com/produ...ts/warpvst.htm
Commercial / VST / WIN, OSX

Softube
- Vintage Amp Room, Metal Amp Room (guitar amp)
- Bass Amp Room (bass amp)
http://www.softube.com
Commercial / VST, AU, RTAS, TDM / WIN, OSX

Studio Devil
- Amp Modeler Pro, Virtual Guitar Amp (guitar amp)
- British Valve Custom (guitar amp, free)
- Virtual Bass Amp (bass amp)
http://www.studiodevil.com/products/
FREE, Commercial / VST, AU, RTAS / WIN, OSX

The Lower Rhythm
- A-110, A-150 (guitar amplifier, free)
http://urthwurk.com/thelowerrhythm
FREE, Commercial / VST / WIN

TSE
- X30, X50 (guitar preamp)
- TS808 (stombox)
http://www.theserinaexperiment.net/
FREE / VST / WIN

Two Notes Audio Engineering
- Torpedo PI-101 (guitar suite)
- Torpedo PI-FREE (guitar amplifier, free)
http://www.two-notes.com/en/Two-Note...o-PI-FREE.html
FREE, Commercial / VST, AU, RTAS / WIN, OSX

Vandal Amps
- Vandal Guitar Amp (guitar amp)
http://www.vandalamps.com/en/media/.71.html
Commercial / VST, AU / WIN, OSX

VOX
- Jam Vox (guitar amp)
http://www.voxamps.com/jamvox/
Commercial / VST / WIN

Voxengo
- Boogex (guitar amp, impulse loader)
http://www.voxengo.com/product/boogex/
FREE / VST / WIN

Waves
- GTR3 (guitar amp)
- GTR Solo ("free for one year" guitar amp)
http://www.wavesgtr.com/
Commercial / VST, AU, RTAS, TDM / WIN, OSX

Wurr Audio
- GreenMachine Amp II (guitar amp)
http://www.greenmachine.pwuq.net/Wur.../Download.html
FREE / VST / WIN

Heavy weight ampsims like: Guitar Rig 5, Amplitube 3, Peavey ReValver MKIII, Vintage Amp Room, and other are among my choices. Each is good for a specific purpose, and that purpose depends on your needs and preferences.

Conclusion: This method is computer-dependable. Ampsims are calculating tremendous amounts of data, and require very fast processing power. It takes a good PC to run several ampsims in demanding projects. If you already have a good computer, you should try some ampsims. If you work in DAW software, plugins are the first natural thing for creating fast drafts of your songs. Software is just practical. In recent years, algorithms got very advanced so hi gain tones are becoming increasingly realistic. As far as using ampsims for professional purposes, it's not going to work, although there is some use for them if you want some rawness, extra layering, or unusual effects in your recordings. They don't cut through the mix well, so it's important to place them properly in the mix. An experienced sound tech is required, one that knows how the real gear works. Then he can try to match it in the digital domain too.


Posted by: Fran Sep 1 2011, 03:48 PM

WoW at that Ivan!

Bookmarking this to update the ongoing wiki article smile.gif

Posted by: Bossie Sep 3 2011, 09:40 PM

Well 15 years ago i ate guitarmagazines ..i knew every piece of gear there was on the market. smile.gif
I stopped doing that a couple years after that....now i'm starting to pick it up again. I'm a total novice
when it comes to recording stuff ...this is a great introduction thx Ivan !

Posted by: tonymiro Sep 4 2011, 12:48 PM

QUOTE
Fortunately, audio interfaces and audio cards got advanced, so for the fraction of a cost of a dedicated guitar processor with similar converters, you can now get mastering grade converters, and spend the rest of the money on software.


Not really Ivan. To some extent the chip set used on domestic/home/project quality hasn't really improved in recent years and they do not come close to mastering grade. I can think of a couple of old project level audio cards that actually have better AD/DA quality then most of the new current crop but were still not close to mastering grade. What has improved (perhaps) is the feature set and ease of installation.

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Sep 4 2011, 03:21 PM

QUOTE (tonymiro @ Sep 4 2011, 01:48 PM) *
Not really Ivan. To some extent the chip set used on domestic/home/project quality hasn't really improved in recent years and they do not come close to mastering grade. I can think of a couple of old project level audio cards that actually have better AD/DA quality then most of the new current crop but were still not close to mastering grade. What has improved (perhaps) is the feature set and ease of installation.


Hmm perhaps I wasn't too clear on the topic. Thanks for pointing that out tony. The point was: Comparison is being made on how the today's entry level semi pro audio card with proper converters - is usually a lot better then converters on digital guitar processor devices. And the price is smaller on audio cards. So, it's better to use audio card for conversion of a DI guitar signal and then process it, then to leave everything to the processor to handle (processor in the same entry level price range lets say)

Posted by: Fran Sep 22 2011, 04:28 PM

Here's the article in the wiki, with all the new info wink.gif

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/wiki/index.php/Guitar_Connections

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Sep 23 2011, 03:05 PM

great, continuing very soon, and doing some multimedia as well to fill up the important aspects wink.gif

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Nov 20 2011, 09:29 PM

Back to the story of software audio production! smile.gif Today's topic are DAWs! smile.gif

So far we covered audio cards, interfaces, types of connections and types of transferring our guitar tone into digital domain. Now that we have the signal there, we have to record it somehow! smile.gif

There comes the software, program or application needed to record, modify and convert signals that come into the interface, or to generate new sounds through software. All these functions are usually being done through one main software that is used as an audio production platform. This software is called Digital Audio Workstation or simply: DAW. When we talk about audio production, DAW software is your main production tool. Without it - it's very hard to get serious results.

There are many DAWs on the market, each having it's pros and cons. There are constant battles (mainly between companies that make them, but from users too) on what DAW is "the best". I would say that this is highly individual matter. Idea or vision is what is the most important and DAW is simply a tool to transform that idea/vision into reality. In that sense, DAW should provide comfort and ease of use, so you don't get too distracted while realizing your vision. It should provide simplicity and flexibility for various different tasks as well, and the result should be quality product. Everything has a price tho, as these programs are very complicated.

Here's a list of some of the most popular DAWs on the market in alphabet order:

1.) Ableton Live
2.) Acid Pro
3.) Adobe Audition
4.) Apple Garageband
5.) Apple Logic
6.) Cakewalk Sonar
7.) Cockos Reaper
8.) Cubase
9.) FL Studio
10.) Magix Samplitude
11.) Magix Sequoia
12.) Mixcraft
13.) Nuendo
14.) Pro Tools
15.) Propellerhead Reason
16.) Reaper Cockos
17.) Sony Sound Forge


Highly popular DAWs (and industry standards)

Each of these is very interesting, and the ones that are most popular are certainly ProTools, Cubase/Nuendo, Reaper, Logic, Sonar and FL Studio. Each of these is a very good choice, and if you have the chance of testing as many of them as possible, you will find the one you like. Not all share the same workflow or have the same quality:

Professional industry standard is without doubt - ProTools that runs on Apple-based computer. It's solid as a rock, professionals in the industry have accepted it as universal sharing platform, and the mixdown quality is excellent. When you render your audio from ProTools you can be sure it sounds the same as in the program itself.

Digidesign ProTools HD7 screenshots


Other highly popular choice is German product with big history: Cubase/Nuendo. Steinberg (company that makes them) has created a somewhat confusion about these two, as their are sharing most of functions, so I like to see them as one same product, only different versions for different functions. Cubase/Nuendo is usually the weapon of choice in PC-based studios.

Steinberg Cubase 5 screenshots

Logic and Sonar are also two excellent DAWs, and they can handle any type of task, also very popular although not as famous as industry standards as ones mentioned above.

Apple Logic Studio 9 screenshots


Cakewalk Sonar 6 screenshots

Reaper and FL Studio are two DAWs that are gaining in popularity a lot in the past several years, Reaper because of it's polished GUI and free unlimited evaluation license, and FL Studio because of it's streamline workflow and popular choice for electronic music.

FL Studio 10 screenshots


Cockos Reaper Screenshots

Each of these products has it's price. If you are just starting with audio production and have 0 budget for investing in DAW, there are two choices:

- You use DAW that (if) you get with your audio interface software bundle (usually audio interfaces will come bundled with some DAWs, most notable ones are: Abletone Live Lite, Cubase LE, ProTools M-Powered)
- You start with Reaper as it has free evaluation 30-day license. After that period, the softer remains completely functional but for further use you need to buy it.


If you're interested in choosing the best DAW, do some research on the most popular ones, check what versions are there (some offer stripped down versions for beginners, evaluators, students etc), and choose the one that matches your budget. What ever DAW you choose out of the most popular category, you won't make a mistake.

Next step is to browse the web for some video tutorials. Use video tutorials and learn your DAW inside out! This is very important step. If you need to use some software for creating music, and have a cool idea, you can easily spend hours and hours and get headaches transforming your cool idea into music just because you were lazy to do the homework. Use Youtube and other services, find tutorials and learn how to use your DAW, get the know the tool you will spend lots of hours with.

Posted by: mguimaraes777 Nov 28 2011, 08:38 PM

Ivan, it's so great idea putting everything together in some details... It was exactly what I was searching for... Many, many thanks, Marcelo.

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Nov 28 2011, 08:58 PM

Hey glad you like it man! smile.gif

Posted by: Todd Simpson Nov 28 2011, 10:10 PM

This is another AWESOME post from Ivan detailing the ins and outs of "DAWS" these are all the top dogs here. Basically, pick one! smile.gif If you are a MACINTOSH person, LOGIC is seriously worth looking at. It isn't free which I still hold against it (I personally think all software should be like REAPER and permanent eval license) but it's honestly the best single DAW (IMHO) that I've ever touched pound for pound in that it does full 5.1 surround mixing, has enough built in plugins/vst so that you don't really have to install other plugins if you don't want to.

QUOTE (Ivan Milenkovic @ Nov 20 2011, 03:29 PM) *
Back to the story of software audio production! smile.gif Today's topic are DAWs! smile.gif

So far we covered audio cards, interfaces, types of connections and types of transferring our guitar tone into digital domain. Now that we have the signal there, we have to record it somehow! smile.gif

There comes the software, program or application needed to record, modify and convert signals that come into the interface, or to generate new sounds through software. All these functions are usually being done through one main software that is used as an audio production platform. This software is called Digital Audio Workstation or simply: DAW. When we talk about audio production, DAW software is your main production tool. Without it - it's very hard to get serious results.

There are many DAWs on the market, each having it's pros and cons. There are constant battles (mainly between companies that make them, but from users too) on what DAW is "the best". I would say that this is highly individual matter. Idea or vision is what is the most important and DAW is simply a tool to transform that idea/vision into reality. In that sense, DAW should provide comfort and ease of use, so you don't get too distracted while realizing your vision. It should provide simplicity and flexibility for various different tasks as well, and the result should be quality product. Everything has a price tho, as these programs are very complicated.

Here's a list of some of the most popular DAWs on the market in alphabet order:

1.) Ableton Live
2.) Acid Pro
3.) Adobe Audition
4.) Apple Garageband
5.) Apple Logic
6.) Cakewalk Sonar
7.) Cockos Reaper
8.) Cubase
9.) FL Studio
10.) Magix Samplitude
11.) Magix Sequoia
12.) Mixcraft
13.) Nuendo
14.) Pro Tools
15.) Propellerhead Reason
16.) Reaper Cockos
17.) Sony Sound Forge


Highly popular DAWs (and industry standards)

Each of these is very interesting, and the ones that are most popular are certainly ProTools, Cubase/Nuendo, Reaper, Logic, Sonar and FL Studio. Each of these is a very good choice, and if you have the chance of testing as many of them as possible, you will find the one you like. Not all share the same workflow or have the same quality:

Professional industry standard is without doubt - ProTools that runs on Apple-based computer. It's solid as a rock, professionals in the industry have accepted it as universal sharing platform, and the mixdown quality is excellent. When you render your audio from ProTools you can be sure it sounds the same as in the program itself.

Digidesign ProTools HD7 screenshots


Other highly popular choice is German product with big history: Cubase/Nuendo. Steinberg (company that makes them) has created a somewhat confusion about these two, as their are sharing most of functions, so I like to see them as one same product, only different versions for different functions. Cubase/Nuendo is usually the weapon of choice in PC-based studios.

Steinberg Cubase 5 screenshots

Logic and Sonar are also two excellent DAWs, and they can handle any type of task, also very popular although not as famous as industry standards as ones mentioned above.

Apple Logic Studio 9 screenshots


Cakewalk Sonar 6 screenshots

Reaper and FL Studio are two DAWs that are gaining in popularity a lot in the past several years, Reaper because of it's polished GUI and free unlimited evaluation license, and FL Studio because of it's streamline workflow and popular choice for electronic music.

FL Studio 10 screenshots


Cockos Reaper Screenshots

Each of these products has it's price. If you are just starting with audio production and have 0 budget for investing in DAW, there are two choices:

- You use DAW that (if) you get with your audio interface software bundle (usually audio interfaces will come bundled with some DAWs, most notable ones are: Abletone Live Lite, Cubase LE, ProTools M-Powered)
- You start with Reaper as it has free evaluation 30-day license. After that period, the softer remains completely functional but for further use you need to buy it.


If you're interested in choosing the best DAW, do some research on the most popular ones, check what versions are there (some offer stripped down versions for beginners, evaluators, students etc), and choose the one that matches your budget. What ever DAW you choose out of the most popular category, you won't make a mistake.

Next step is to browse the web for some video tutorials. Use video tutorials and learn your DAW inside out! This is very important step. If you need to use some software for creating music, and have a cool idea, you can easily spend hours and hours and get headaches transforming your cool idea into music just because you were lazy to do the homework. Use Youtube and other services, find tutorials and learn how to use your DAW, get the know the tool you will spend lots of hours with.


Posted by: mguimaraes777 Nov 29 2011, 03:05 PM

QUOTE (Ivan Milenkovic @ Jun 26 2011, 09:35 AM) *
After all this technical mumbo jumbo about connections, it's time to actually start pluggin in (finally) smile.gif There are several ways you can connect and record your guitars, most often used include the ones bellow. They are ranged so that the first ones in the list require most budget, but are least practical. Lower down the list are cheaper options, but more practical and flexible:

1. Plug the guitar into an amp, mic the cab, and record the microphone sound into mic preamp/sound card
2. Plugging the guitar into guitar head with line out, or guitar preamp, and connecting to line in on sound card
3. Plugging guitar into processor, connecting the processor via analog or digital link to sound card
4. Connecting the guitar into audio card with Hi-Z input (aka audio interface) and modeling the tone from software


1. Plug the guitar into an amp, mic the cab, and record the microphone sound into mic preamp/sound card:
The first option is the most expensive one, and it will require most money and biggest chunks of gear. The end result may prove to be most natural one, but only if you know what you are doing. Just as having a pro skate doesn't make you Tony Hawk (it actually guarantees lots of injuries! smile.gif )- having all that gear doesn't qualify for best tone possible, in fact, it can test your patience at moments. With experience, it can guarantee best tones tho. If you own guitar amp, guitar cab, room to crank it and to baffle it, microphone(s), mic preamp, and sound card (duh..) you can start experimenting right away.

There is one (and only IMHO! smile.gif ) good thing about this particular approach. The sound from a real tube amp will be better then the sound you will emulate through software or processor. Real thing is always better than the emulation, no matter how good the emulation is. But, you can also create a mosquito attack tone easily, and some guy with software will create that huge tone you are craving for. How? By experimenting and knowing your gear, recording space and mixing techniques inside out.

Bad sides of this approach is that you have to play relatively loud (not important if you have deaf neighbours), you have to experiment a lot in studio, have nerves to always adjust, record, adjust record.. One important downside of this approach is that people usually have couple of amps only, and this will prove limiting after a while in creating various tones. If you do have the amp that you really like and it has your signature tone, there is always an option of getting another cool mic, another cool preamp, another cool stand, another cool acoustic foam, another cool cab... you see where this is going? smile.gif

various ways of micing this marshall cab


I will not put too much words about the factors that are important, but will mention some of the important ones, and leave you to experiment, cause this is the best way to actually observe and learn your particular gear in your particular recording situation:

- proper room acoustics
- quality balance of the complete gear chain (eliminating bottlenecks first)
- choosing the best possible gear for the job
- microphone placement and microphone combinations
- loudness of the amp vs microphone sensitivity
- setting the tone right in relation to musical arrangement/function
- avoiding clipping and EQing (a lot) before recording
- recording dry (unless there is nice acoustics available for capturing)


In general, problematics of this kind of recording involves lots of factors, but with lots of experimenting and studying, great results can be achieved. I do recommend testing this method if you have the gear and means available.
Since the gear list is big, and budget can increase greatly with each component, I do recommend thinking it over before you actually go into the shop and get everything you need. You might want to consider other options too.
This method is as close as it gets to professional studio recording, so it might be worth taking a shot, and interesting experience for those who would like to taste some of that work. Like I said, the end results can be very satisfying after a while, and you will be richer for one cool experience, which will eventually help you in the emulating world too. Here applies the general rule: Once you learn how the "real thing" sounds, it will be easier to emulate it later through software.




to be continued....



Hi Ivan, thanks a lot again for all these helpful postings. So, I took a loot into all them and tested yesterday night according to your recommendations. I followed the saying from you that the guitar signal should get into the Audio interface at cleanest form. I did in the following connections: Guitar -> M-Audio Fast Track Ultra audio interface ---via USB--> MacBook Pro. I also connected my POD HD500 via USB to my MacBook Pro. I installed Reaper and Amplitebe just to be in the same page as your video about simple recording at GMC front page. Results: Very low volume and no recognition of my POD by Reaper. My question: If I have POD HD500 which comes with very nice Amp and Guitar Effects, should I connect the POD in between my Guitar and my audio Interface ? I was using like that and the effects and amps sound signals were getting into Reaper. Sorry about that, I know you dedicated a big amount of time to the blog and now I come with my own unique problem perhaps. Thanks. Marcelo.

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Nov 30 2011, 10:01 PM

It's no problem man, don't worry about it. Yes, if you are satisfied with your tones from the HD500, feel free to use it as external hardware processor unit, in between guitar and interface.

On a side note, if you want to skip conversions, you can always connect HD500 and Fast Track Ultra via digital cable. Use regular RCA cable and connect S/PDIF out on HD500 to S/PDIF input on your Fast Track Ultra. This will skip the conversion and give your Fast Track interface signal in digital form (instead of going through D/A conversion within HD500 and A/D conversion in Fast Track via instrument input)

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Dec 30 2011, 06:32 PM

Once we choose our DAW, it's time to put it into good use, and create something. It can be something that we play on our instrument, and want to record it, or it can be programmed with MIDI. But, how to program with MIDI, what is MIDI, and how to play MIDI inside DAW. We do it with plugins... Hm, so many confusing terms here for a beginner audio producer, so let's go step by step, first let's see what MIDI and plugins are smile.gif

MIDI

MIDI (play /ˈmɪdi/; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is an industry-standard protocol, first defined in 1982, that enables electronic musical instruments (synthesizers, drum machines), computers and other electronic equipment (MIDI controllers, sound cards, samplers) to communicate and synchronize with each other

The one thing all MIDI devices have in common is that they speak the "language" of MIDI. This language describes the process of playing music in much the same manner as sheet music: there are MIDI Messages that describe what notes are to be played and for how long, as well as the tempo, which instruments are to be played, and at what relative volumes.

MIDI data can be transmitted electronically between MIDI-compatible musical instruments, or stored in a Standard MIDI File for later playback. In either case, the resulting performance will depend on how the receiving device interprets the performance instructions, just as it would in the case of a human performer reading sheet music. The ability to fix, change, add, remove, speed up or slow down any part of a musical performance is exactly why MIDI is so valuable for creating, playing and learning about music.


MIDI connectors and MIDI cable

Three Kinds of MIDI

The original Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) specification defined a physical connector and message format for connecting devices and controlling them in "real time". A few years later Standard MIDI Files were developed as a storage format so performance information could be recalled at a later date. The three parts of MIDI are often just referred to as "MIDI ", even though they are distinctly different parts with different characteristics.

The MIDI Messages specification (or "MIDI Protocol") is probably the most important part of MIDI. Though originally intended just for use with the MIDI DIN transport as a means to connect two keyboards, MIDI messages are now used inside computers and cell phones to generate music, and transported over any number of professional and consumer interfaces (USB, FireWire, etc.) to a wide variety of MIDI-equipped devices. There are different message groups for different applications, only some of which are we able to explain here.

There are also many different Cables & Connectors that are used to transport MIDI data between devices. The "MIDI DIN" transport causes a lot of confusion because it has specific characteristics which some people associate as characteristics of "MIDI" -- forgetting that the MIDI-DIN characteristics go away when using MIDI over other transports (and inside a computer). With computers a High Speed Serial, USB or FireWire connection is more common. Each transport has its own performance characteristics which might make some difference in specific applications, but in general the transport is the least important part of MIDI, as long as it allows you to connect all the devices you want use!

The final part of MIDI are the Standard MIDI Files (and variants), which are used to distribute music playable on MIDI players of both the hardware and software variety. All popular computer platforms can play MIDI files (*.mid) and there are thousands of web sites offering files for sale or even for free. Anyone can make a MIDI file using commercial (or free) software that is readily available, and many people do, with a wide variety of results. Whether or not you like a specific MIDI file can depend on how well it was created, and how accurately your synthesizer plays the file... not all synthesizers are the same, and unless yours is similar to that of the file composer, what you hear may not be at all what he or she intended.


Editing mode of the MIDI file in Cubase: notice the chords/notes on the timeline, and bellow them, velocity values for each note

The first specification (1983) did not define every possible "word" that can be spoken in MIDI , nor did it define every musical instruction that might be desired in an electronic performance. So over the past 20 or more years, companies have enhanced the original MIDI specification by defining additional performance control messages, and creating companion specifications which include:

MIDI Machine Control
MIDI Show Control
MIDI Time Code
General MIDI
Downloadable Sounds
Scalable Polyphony MIDI






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