Click the banner below to join us at The MidKar Group.
The MidKar FAQ Page
Thanks for reaching out! I know. There's a LOT on this site, and it's easy to get overwhelmed.
But have no fear! We're here to help!
Below are answers to the most common questions we're asked. Below the FAQ is contact information
in case you don't find an answer to your question!
There are two FAQ sections: MidKar Specific Questions, and Technical Questions.
Please feel welcome to contact us any time!
As Joe Friday used to say . . . Just the fact, ma'am. Just the facts!
This page is in progress. More answers will be added soon!
There are 3 other ways to get answers to your questions for now.
Scroll down below this list of questions.
|
Facts About Midkar 1). What the heck is MidKar anyway!?!
MidKar stands for MIDI & KAR files. The MidKar Group is a community (a group forum) of people who use MIDI in some form or other. Most MidKar Web site is a support Web site for MidKar Group members. The site has 38,315 MidKars, learning tutorials, a free SoundFont, |
The Technical FAQ Section Technical Facts 1). What is MIDI? Musical Instrument Digital Interface - MIDI is a way for devices to communicate. Your instrument to PC, etc. It's like a language. But in reality, it's literally nothing more than a string of DATA. You press a key on your digital keyboard. It makes no sound on its own. Pressing the key sends a signal. How long you hold the key down, how quickly you release it. What octave is it? What instrument is selected? Are you using effects? Those signals, the data is sent to a MIDI device that translates the data into "sound". Kinda sorta. Your MIDI player, or editor applies the data to a sound font. The data says what instrument is to play that note(s). How long. Reverb or effects? How much effect. It's all just data. And MIDI files are very small. Teeny! 2). What are the advantages (and disadvantages) of midi compared to other music formats? The biggest advantages are file size and ease of editing. 3). Where can I find more information on midi? Resources are literally endless. Searching the Web, you can find libraries of information. Simply type in a question in your browser. There are also some cool tutorials in our Tech Support Page 4). What are common midi extensions? File extensions aren't case sensitive. So you can find any combinations of .mid or .kar. Like .MID, .KAR or even .Mid, or .Kar. KAR files are MIDI files with lyrics embedded in the file. Karaoke files. You can have lyrics in a .mid file. KAR files don't necessarily have lyrics in the files. They function with or without lyrics. We use the .kar as a "flag" so you know they usually have the lyrics in them. You can change the extension name from one to the other. So if you have a.kar and want to change it to .mid, no problem. Ignore the error prompt. It'll work fine! 5). What are some good midi players? There are many quality MIDI players. Some are free. You want to be sure the player you use allows you to use different SoundFonts. The SoundFonts in most players are pretty poor! Same thing for some MIDI editors! But you can replace the SoundFont with our Timbres of Heaven SoundFont, and you'll hear a world of difference! Many of our members use Spider Pro. Info and a tutorial can be found here. SpiderPro Tutorial Other members like vanBasco Karaoke Player. vanBasco Karaoke Player NOTE: These are players, not editors. 6). What are some good free midi players? See #5 above. 7). How can I edit or create midi files? You need to use a MIDI editor! There are some free editors. Anvil Studio is a great free editor! Many of our members use it! You can download it here . . . Anvil Studio I don't personally recommend any other free editors. But you can post a question to the group and ask for other recommendations if you're a MidKar Group member. I don't personally use any free editors. I have several pay for suites that allow me to go beyond what free editors usually offer. Plus there's an appreciable difference in the quality of the software. That being said, you can do a BUNCH with Anvil Studio. When you get to a point where you start wanting to do things not possible with Anvil, you can think about upgrading to a pay for suite. Another way to go is to purchase Band In A Box. BIAB You can simply type in chord progressions, and select music styles. There are hundreds of styles to choose from. Make your MIDI. Then use the MIDI editor they offer (Audio PowerTracks) or any MIDI editor, to edit and tweak your MIDI. There are many other suites available that do a great job! Pro Tools, Logic Pro X, and Ableton Live are expensive, but have been used to record some of the biggest hits in recent history. Again, you can request some suggestions from other group members, assuming you've joined us by now! LOL 8). What is a sequencer? One example would be a MIDI ready keyboard. But when you play notes on this keyboard, you record the MIDI data instead of audio. The data is saved in a .MID file. You can then open the sequence in a MIDI editor, or play the MIDI data in a MIDI player. Or MIDI your keyboard into your PC. Open a MIDI editor, and "record" while playing the keyboard. The notes you play, plus other information is made into a sequence. That sequence (data stream) is played using a virtual instrument that's loaded in your editor. SoundFonts determine how the notes sound with those instruments. 9). What is a DAW? DAW stands for Digital Audio Workstation. It's commonly software, designed to record multiple tracks, edit them, and mix them together. 10). What are some good Sequencers and DAWs? See #7 above 11). What are some good *free* Sequencers and DAWs? See #7 above 12). What is a synthesizer and what is the difference between a hardware synth and a software synth? This is a pretty big question. The best way I can get you the full answer is to suggest you go to Anderton's site and check out this page. Hardware Synths vs. Software Synths 13). What is a SoundFont? A file format that contains samples of musical instruments as well as support for numerous music parameters. SoundFonts enhance MIDI playback, because unlike the General MIDI standard, which describes how one hears the sound, SoundFonts include actual digitized sound waves stored in wave tables (wave table synthesis). Synthesizers, computer sound cards and other music generators support SoundFonts, which were developed in the early 1990s by E-mu Systems and Creative Labs. 14). What is a virtual instrument? A virtual instrument is simply a software that recreates the sounds of a musical instrument with a computer. 15). What are some good SoundFonts and virtual instruments? There are many great SoundFonts. Some come with your editor. Pay for editors will have much better SoundFonts. Some are free. Some very good editors don't use SFs. They have their own proprietary methods. In my experience, Timbres of Heaven is the best free SF I've ever used, bar none! It's far better than most (if not all) the pay for SFs I've used. To be honest, I use some editors that don't use SFs, and they do sound better than TOH, sometimes! But it boils down to budget sometimes. If you're not using your DAW to make money, spending hundreds of dollars might not be an option. TOH is the absolute solution! Find a MIDI player or editor that allows you to load your own SF, and download TOH! The TOH pages on this site cover using Coolsoft, with TOH. It's a worthwhile read! Click the Timbres of Heaven link on the portal main page or in the member's Directory listed above in #8 for all you need to know about Coolsoft and TOH. And it's all FREE! 16). What are some good *free* SoundFonts and virtual instruments? See #15 above 17). What are some techniques for making SoundFonts and virtual instruments sound more like real instruments? There are literally dozens and dozens of things you can do to make your MIDIs sound amazingly more "real". I should probably write a tutorial about this! In fact I will, and post it on the Web site in our tutorial section. But in the mean time: Computers, digital music, MIDIs are PERFECT! Humans are not. A note played on a sax, held for 10 seconds will vary constantly throughout the entire 10 seconds. Slightly louder, softer. Some natural tremolo effect for a bit. Sometimes none. The note didn't start out immediately at the full volume. It kinda "grew" from dead quiet to full volume. Same when it ends. It isn't a full 100% stop. some sound escaped the bell of the sax after the player stopped playing. The player didn't start the note EXACTLY on time. And again, the very beginning of the sound he produced wasn't at full volume. And he didn't end the note exactly as was written. The sound stopped just a little after he stopped playing. But your MIDI instrument will start exactly on time! And end on time. And be the same exact volume, start to finish. UNLESS . . . unless you understand Velocity! Unless you understand Quantization. Unless you understand how to use your Events List, and properly add in some CC commands to control a bunch of parameters. Like how softly the sound starts. (attack!) How loud will the peak of the note get? How will the sound fade? Will it start EXACTLY on the beat as written? Or will you edit in some human variation? Maybe start the note a few milliseconds early, or late. Will the volume remain exactly constant throughout the full 10 seconds? Or will you add in a small amount of tremolo? Or Vibrato? (They are different effects. Similar, but different! Tremolo is variation in volume. Vibrato is variation in pitch!) A long sax note could include either, or both! The best way to make your instruments sound "real" is to KNOW how each instrument works, and responds when a human plays the instrument. Understand how sound can vary with each instrument, and why. Learn some theory. (I just lost half of the people reading this! LOL) Then work the information into your MIDIs. Each instrument will begin to sound more "real" with each properly added CC event you edit into the track. 5 band members playing a song do a LOT of things throughout the whole song that aren't "as written". That's what makes it sound real! All players didn't start exactly the same moment. Their notes didn't all end at the same exact time. That human variation is what will make your MIDI instruments, AND your whole MIDI track sound "real"! 18). What are some good midi keyboards? I'm a keyboard hack! LOL I can play any chord or scale because I know music theory. But never worked at playing keys. So I haven't developed the muscle memory to be a good keys player. I'm a guitarist. I suggest posting the question to the group. 19). How can I find midis of a piece of music I like? See #9 under the MidKar FAQ section. Just apply it to the Internet instead of our Web site. That being said, ya know the expression "Buyer Beware!" You can find yourself in a real MESS if you start downloading MIDIs from the 1000's of sites out there on the Net! Your PC can develop so many issues because of all the junk that gets downloaded from who knows what site. Be sure you're using exceptionally good protective software so you don't infect your PC! You wouldn't believe how many of those sites have junk set up to download with the MIDI you're downloading! People get paid sometimes to include other files. That's a great reason to join MidKar. We're not monetized. Our site is secure. We probably have any MIDI you could want. And if we don't, our Pro sequencers are posting more DAILY! Including many current and recent hits! Plus, you can request a MIDI if we don't have one on the site. In many cases, one of our Pro sequencers will actually sequence one for you! And it's all FREE! Which brings me to another part of the answer. You can also go to the many "pay for" MIDI sites. A MIDI will run you around $9 USD. If you request a MIDI to be made for you, look to spend $85 to $140 USD for a custom made MIDI. 20). How might I find *free* midi's of a piece of music I like? See #19 above 21). Is a MIDI a musical notation (as in sheet music), or a performance, or is it a recording of a theoretical performance and what is the resulting relationship between MIDI's and copyright? By legal definition, a MIDI file is Digital Sheet Music. It is therefore considered the same as printed sheet music, and has the same legal constraints as printed sheet music. 22). Are chord progressions recorded in MIDI subject to copyright? I don't want to delve into any legal matters. I suggest you consult with a verified Entertainment Lawyer. However, I will say . . . See #21 above. 23). What is the best way to convert from MIDI to sheet music? Many, maybe most MIDI editors have a "print" function that will allow you to print the actual sheet music. 24). What is abc notation and the best way to convert MIDI to and from abc notation? Here is a great article explaining this on wikipedia. 25). What is MusicXML and the best way to convert MIDI to and from MusicXML? MusicXML is a digital sheet music interchange and distribution format. The goal is to create a universal format for common Western music notation, similar to the role that the MP3 format serves for recorded music. There s a great tutorial RE: MIDI at wikipedia. 26). What are some good software programs for helping to arrange a piece of music in MIDI? See MIDI editor answers above. 27). What are some good *free* software programs for helping to arrange a piece of music in MIDI? See MIDI editor answers above. 28). What are some good software programs to help write music in MIDI? See MIDI editor answers above. 29). What are some good *free* software programs to help write music in MIDI? See MIDI editor answers above. 30.) What is the state of the art for converting audio to MIDI? Simple answer, without beating a dead horse . . . There is none. Take a piece of paper. Chew on it for a while until it's good and soaked! Now tell me how you can change that blob back into a tree. There is a lot of discussion about this all over the internet. But let me say this. From my experience, most people want to make an audio into a MIDI file so they can edit it and make their own backing tracks. Like so many who want to use software to totally remove vocals from a CD so they end up with an audio file that's exactly like a record, with no vocals. Again, most likely to produce a useable backing track for live performance. (Kinda feels like cheating, doesn't it?) As most have found out, it's nearly impossible to remove the entire vocals because of the use of reverb in the recording. You can remove the vocals if they are on only one track in the recording. But vocal processing is almost always done on a separate track. So you still have the vocals on the track with the vocals recorded, EQ'd and effects added. So, there is software that does analyze an audio. And it can do some basic isolation. And can make some MIDI tracks of the recorded audio. But unless you want to spend thousands of dollars, and hours of work, you cannot produce a useable backing track by converting an audio file into a MIDI file. 31). What is the state of the art for converting audio to MIDI without spending money? There is no practical way to do this, even spending money. 32). Why can't an audio file, (wave file or MP3, etc.) be "converted" to MIDI? Have you ever watched a program like CSI? Have you seen where they take a recording, and isolate a sound, and amplify, and EQ the sound, and all of a sudden, there's an "AHAA!" moment, and the case is solved! Well, 4 things . . . 1). The equipment they are using costs $ a few hundred thousand dollars $!!!. 2). The lab tech is highly trained. 3). Their headphones probably cost more than your PC and DAW combined. And 4). . . . It's TV!
There are 4 ways you can simplify your journey through the MidKar site, and/or Portal HOME Page |
Please help keep us online with a small donation!
This site is free for all. The tutorials, workshops. 43,813 MIDI, KAR &
BIAB backing tracks files, 23 BIAB User Styles. A FREE SoundFont,
Timbres of Heaven. Free MIDI players and editor!
The fees for a site this large (Nearly 200 pages with over 50K files)
is pretty high, as you can imagine.
Please consider making a small donation to help keep us online. It
would help so much! Thanks! Wayne
PS: I pay for the site and all hosting, security and domain related
expenses out of pocket. Donations appreciated. Please click the link below.