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We've been looking at some of the options that MIDI can offer any Home (and Professional) Recording Studio, and today we'll be checking out the best way to input MIDI into your computer. These MIDI signals or messages can range from Program Changes (which instrument), to Control Changes (like fade-in or outs), to good oul Notes themselves.

These commands can be put in manually in a music editor, but by far the easiest way to feed this MIDI into your PC is thru the use of a good Mother Keyboard. This keyboard is like a standard type of Synth set up, but provides no sound of it's own. You can use your PC software or other hardware for the sounds. You just get a reasonable sound and play your tune into the PC live on your Master/Mother Keyboard. How it sounds and settings such as how loud it is and so on, can all be decided at any stage. You can use it with your PC and music software to record different tracks, and compose your song sections that way. eg Track 1 - Piano, Track 2 - Bass, Track 10 - Drums etc. You usually have 16 separate MIDI channels to play around with but this can be expanded.

With MIDI onboard, you can further change pieces you have recorded onto your PC - this is just one of it's many strengths. Also if you use a dedicated MIDI input controller/keyboard, you can use it to control hundreds of software sounds on your PC. And when it comes to the final mix and polishing it all up and all that, MIDI is a great man for the job.

A normal modern Synth or Keyboard can also be used in this way, and a Synth would also have it's own set of sounds too, as well as providing a keyboard, and these sounds can be truly excellent if not legendary (some). If you already have a Keyboard, check out it's MIDI Implementation Chart to see what it can do (usually in the back of the manual). Set it up with your PC and a software studio such as Cubase or something similar, and you're away.

It's a wide choice and a buyer's market out there with lots of good and not so good gear available.

A Master Midi-Controller Keyboard allows you easily and quickly enter the following:

• Notes Live or note for note (Step Sequencing)
• Program Changes
• Volume Changes (Many similar Controller Changes)
• Immediate Key Changes at the touch of a button
• It's very Fast and Reliable
• It makes Sense ;-).

Here's the BellaOnline Musician's Store recommendations for Master USB Mother Keyboards

Next article, we'll be looking at another approach you can take with your music in the Studio. This can be used exclusively or in conjunction with MIDI and it's FAST! We're talkin' Samplers n' Samples here ... see u then.

Regards

David