Handbook for Sound Engineers

MIDI 1121

be changed at a later time, attention to tempo

details can help you to avoid later pitfalls.

2. Always name your track before you go into record
   (this goes for both audio and MIDI tracks). Prop-
   erly naming your tracks (i.e., with its instrument,
   patch name) is the first step toward good
   documentation.


3. You can never overdocument a session. Keeping
   good instrument, patch, settings, musician, studio,
   and other notes might not only come in handy—it
   can save your butt if you need to revisit the tracks
   in the future.


4. Never delete a final take MIDI track from a DAW
   session. Even though you’ve transferred the instru-
   ment to an audio track, it is always wise to archive
   the original MIDI track with session. Trust me,
   both you and the producer will be glad you did,
   should any changes need to be made to the track in
   the future.

29.4.2 Other Software Sequencing Applications

In addition to DAW and sequencing packages that are
designed to handle most of the day-to-day production
needs of the musician, other types of software tools and
applications exist that can help to carry out specialized
tasks. A few of these packages include drum pattern
editors, algorithmic composition programs, patch edi-
tors and music printing programs.

Drum-Pattern Editor/Sequencers. At any one time,
there are a handful of companies that have software or
hardware devices, that are specifically designed to
create and edit, drum patterns. In addition, most of the
higher-end DAW audio production systems also include
a drum pattern editor that relies on user input and quan-
tization to construct and chain together any number of
user-created percussion grooves. More often than not,
these editors use a grid pattern that displays
drum-related MIDI notes or subpatterns along the ver-
tical axis, while time is represented in metric divisions
along the horizontal axis, Fig. 29-30. By clicking on
each grid point with a mouse or other input system,
individual drum or effect sounds can be built into
rhythmic patterns.
Once created, these and other patterns can be linked
together to create a partial or complete rhythm section
within a song. These editors commonly offer such fea-
tures as the ability to change MIDI note values (thereby
changing drum voices), note length, quantization and
humanization, as well as adjustments to note and pattern
velocities. Once completed, the sequenced drum track

(or chained patterns) can be imported into a sequence,

saved, and/or exported.

Groove Tools. Getting into the groove of a piece of

music often refers to a feeling that’s derived from the

underlying foundation of the piece: rhythm. With the

introduction and maturation of MIDI and digital audio,

new and wondrous tools have made their way into the

mainstream of music production that can help us to use

these technologies to forge, fold, mutilate and create

compositions that make direct use of rhythm and other

building blocks of music through the use of looping

technology.

Of course, the cyclic nature of loops can be— repeat

repeat—repetitive in nature, but new toys and tech-

niques in looping have injected the notion of flexibility,

real-time control, real-time processing, and mixing to

new heights that can be used by an artist as a won-

drously expressive tool.

Loop-based audio editors are groove-driven music

programs, Figs. 29-31 and 29-32, that are designed to

let you drag and drop prerecorded or user-created loops

and audio tracks into a graphic multitrack production

interface. At their basic level, these programs differ

conceptually from their traditional DAW counterpart, in

that the pitch- and time-shift architecture is so variable

and dynamic that even after the basic rhythmic, percus-

sive and melodic grooves have been created, their

tempo, track patterns, pitch, session key, etc. can be

quickly and easily changed at any time. With the help of

custom, royalty-free loops (available from the manufac-

turer and/or third-party companies), users can quickly

and easily experiment with setting up grooves, backing

tracks, and creating a sonic ambience by simply drag-

Figure 29-30. Steinberg Cubase/Nuendo drum edit

window. Courtesy of Steinberg Media Technologies

GmbH, a division of Yamaha Corporation, http://www.

steinberg.net.