Many keyboard workstations also double as MIDI devices.
MIDI, in the recording world, is the opposite of audio. While audio is the term used to describe anything that was recorded with a real microphone or a real person playing a real instrument, MIDI is the term that refers to any perceived recording that is created from single-hit samples or electronic simulations of real instruments. MIDI tracks are specially designed to record and adjust these types of recordings, while MIDI controllers, such as keyboards and drum machines, do not produce any sounds themselves, but tell the computer which sounds to produce and produce them.
Instructions
1. Firewire is most common for Mac computers, and USB for PCs.
Plug your MIDI cables into the controller and computer or interface.You are not required to use a MIDI controller to play MIDI on a computer, but it is highly preferable, as this makes recording much faster and more natural. The "In" side of a MIDI cable should be plugged in the "Out" port of the controller and the "Out" side to the "In" port. If the cable says "To In," however, it should be plugged into the "In" port. The end or ends that plug into the computer or interface can be MIDI as well, or they can be a standard USB or firewire head and go into any corresponding port.
2. Load Pro Tools and open the project tn which you want to add MIDI tracks or play using your MIDI controller. If you are not currently working on a project, you can begin a new project by clicking the "Create Session" button when the Quick Start box appears.
3. Click on "Setup" in the toolbar at the top of the screen. Hover the mouse over "MIDI" and select "MIDI Studio Setup" when the menu appears.
4. Click the "Create" button at the top-left of the menu. Select the correct manufacturer and model from the drop-down lists on the right side of the menu. If you are not connecting the device directly to your computer, select your connecting device in the input and output ports as well. Close the box.
5. Click "Track" and then "New" in the toolbar at the top of the screen. Click on the drop-down menu that currently says "Audio Track." Change it to "Instrument Track." "Samples" will automatically turn to "Ticks." Leave this as it is, but switch the "Mono" button to "Stereo" if desired. Press "Create" when you are ready to make the MIDI track.
6. Click on a blank box in the "Inserts" column of your new Instrument Track. Hover the mouse over "Plug-in" ("Multi-channel plug-in" for stereo tracks). Hover it again over "Instrument." Select which instrument you would like to play, such as the Mini Grand, DB-33 or Xpand 2.
7. Press the keys or pads on your controller to produce sound with the plug-in. Depending on how you connected the device to your computer, you may first have to click on the "Record-enable" button on the instrument track in order to hear any sound.
