Day: January 18, 2006

Tools

The best tools for the job – part 2

Music Creation and Editing

When it comes to music creation/editing software and tools there are rabid fans of just about anything you can find. These tools are by no means the only thing available, and there might even be some that don’t do the job as well as others. These (as all the picks in this series) are just the ones I happen to like.

Sequencing:
For sequencing (MIDI) work I like Anvil Studio [Windows]. I have been using it for several years now, (since around ’99 or ’00 or so) and it works great for composing music. I generally create a complete melodic piece, and then split it into ‘chunks’ which I can use in my loop composition package. I then work out the harmonic tracks based on the whole, figure out the thematic elements and work that into a set of harmony ‘chunks’ which are (mostly) interchangeable throughout the melody line.

Using MIDI pieces directly in a loop composition package is generally not such a good idea. You’re generally stuck with whatever MIDI interpreter is built into the package. Which is why I then take my ‘chunks’ and convert them to wav files using TiMidity++ [Windows – Linux – BSD – OSX]. Since TiMidity++ uses Gravis Ultrasound compatible patch files and/or SoundFonts (essentially sample libraries) to convert to wave, you get the benefits of a sampling board, and you can turn your MIDI files into well-voiced wavs.

Of course, well-voiced wavs still aren’t completely ready to pull into a loop composition. They need to be edited, manipulated, sometimes warmed and riched, sometimes fuzzed and occasionally pitch-shifted or time-stretched (when the piece starts to deviate radically from what I started with – which happens more often than you may think). Plus there are those direct recorded samples (usually done with something like the built-in Windows sound-recorder) of things like hand drums, didgeridoo, or some weird sound that I thought would be cool. All of these need to be edited before importing and for that I currently use WavePad [Windows]. I used to use Syntrillium CoolEdit (which has now become Adobe Audition) but I couldn’t keep up with the ever rising license costs. So far, WavePad has been able to do everything I need it to do, so I’m not feeling too bad about it. I have also tried Audacity which I love under Linux, but feel the interface of WavePad suits better.

Once I have all my chunks and loops, it’s time to assemble them. For this I use eJay Music Director Gold [Windows]. I have tried other packages (like Acid and FruityLoops) but so far have been pleased with what I can do in Music Director. I may try other packages again some time in the future – but for now I am sticking with what works!