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EDT301: Editing & Enhancinga Good MIDI File |
| For this excercise you will need a Sequencer Program of your choice(like CakeWalk, PowerTracks, etc.) | |
| As promised in ENH201, we are now ready to do some serious tweaking to "There Will Never Be Another You", the Jazz Standard we enhanced using Band-in-a-Box (BIAB). | |
| STEP ONE. Load the file, another2.mid. Crank up the volume and let's refresh our memory with what we have so far. (Click here to listen.) Now that you have the file loaded, scrutinize it! A hard look at "another2.mid"--as it is displayed in a Sequencer. | |
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| STEP TWO. Let's give Joe Pass a little background support by contributing
a string section during the 2nd. chorus. Referring to the above illustration,
on Track 11 double-click under the Name heading, and enter "String
Ensemble 2". Under "Ch" (channel) enter "12". Double-click in the "Prg"
(program change) column on track 11. Select General Midi instrument 50.
Ensure that your keyboard or other input device is set to transmit on Channel 12. |
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| STEP THREE. Now, referring to the chords and melody which you printed in the workshop ENH201, click the "Record" button. When the second chorus is reached, start playing some harmony based on the chords. Continue until the end of the 2nd. chorus. Click on "stop" and when prompted to "Save take.." click okay if you are satisfied with what you just played in. | |
| STEP FOUR. Noodling. We can sprinkle some vibraphone sounds throughout the 3rd. chorus (from measure 67 to the end of the song). As you did in step two, click on track 12, enter "Vibes" set the channel to 13, and the program change to 12, "Vibraphone". Reset your keyboard transmit channel to 13. Hit the "record" button again, and when you reach the 3rd. chorus, start noodlin' then Save your "take". | |
| STEP FIVE. Finally--for this experiment--how about a key change (up two semitones) beginning at measure 67? All tracks, including the drums. Select the BARS view. Starting at bar 67, drag the mouse down through all the tracks with data, then drag right to the end of the song, measure 101. Click on "Edit" then "Pitch Transpose". Enter "2" in the value box. Then click "Okay". | |
| STEP SIX. Now is the time to save all the changes we have made. Choose
FILE | SAVE AS and when prompted, enter the new name "another3.mid".
Now, sit back and enjoy!! (You can listen here.) |
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| You will recall that when we started in ENH201, we had only the chords and a single note piano melody. Now, after various enhancements in BIAB and finally adding some live tracks and a key transposition in this exercise, the result is a very acceptable rendition of "There Will Never Be Another You". | |
| If you wish, you can continue on your own, experimenting with Pan, Reverb and Volume settings in each track to suit your own taste. | |
| As with any Software package, we urge you to become more familiar with BIAB and your sequencer. Practice and experiment, since there are countless ways to enhance any song! | |
| Questions or comments? Contact Les | |
| Download in ZIP format(including images, & .mid).
THIS PAGE (71 KB) |
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