midi or live sounds for recording

[simmo123]

Hi Folks,Ole Simmo here on the prowl for more info ( you would think that the silly ole bugger had more than enough on his plate to pass the time away without looking for more problems re. editing etc ) ;D also i would like to add another discussion on what the members opinions are on the pro,s & cons of recording backing tracks,simply i would like to hear the arguments for & against Midi as apposed to using live loops etc.I know some of the members swear by using live wav sounds so because this is a new area for me i am very keen to learn.Firstly do you get a more realistic sound with the audio compared to midi,anyway i'm sure it would be an interesting discussion,many thanks ,Simmo

[JohnG]

Just a quick reply Terry,

I don't think there's much to choose between straight from the line out of a MIDI module or a wav file played from a good player. There are other considerations. If you use MIDI you have the laptop and a sound module to carry as opposed to just (say) a pro CD player, BUT you can edit things, like running order, just before a performance if you need to. Having said that I can do that too on the Denon player I have. Maybe a PC and module looks more professional!

Just my 2d worth,
JohnG.
P.S. the SonicCell tutorial is being written, promise!

[simmo123]

Hi John,many thanks for your comments on midi versus wav it makes sense,as you know i am using midi files turned into mp3s & am very happy with the results especially since i can now use & save the sounds of Sonic cell, i suppose as you say it gets down to the player the mp3s are played on,correct me if i am wrong but were samplers used a lot more in the past than now,i know absolutely nothing about about them except that they seemed to be very popular a few years ago,as for my progress with Sonic cell & Cakewalk Sonar le things are ticking over nicely, i sometimes try new things with it to experiment with & on occasions my computer will suddenly freeze up on me in other words its warning me not to get to carried away with myself but on restarting it goes back to normal,the computer is getting a little noisy so i'll keep my fingers crossed it keeps going for a while.No rush with more info on editing the Sonic cell John i reckon you have got to much on at the moment what with all you are doing on the forum which by the way is helping me heaps,have to go now as my good woman is just unlocking the music room door to let me out for a bit of fresh air & refreshments before sending me back in for my next session ;D ;D, kind regards Simmo, just quickly checking to see if Weegeo's in he's corner & if there is another song from Old Sage ;D ;D

[JohnG]

Hi Terry,
Another thought when using mp3s is what wav to mp3 converter you are using, can make quite a bit of difference to the quality of the sound. There is a DOS program called LAME that has been extensively developed in the public domain to try to produce a variety of options from telephone to super Hi-Fi quality. On its own it is difficult to use but when a Windows program is used to control it, it can make it quite easy. The particular one I am referring to is called RazorLAME and it was someone on this forum who first mentioned it.

What I will do is upload the RazorLame and the LAME programs to 4shared and provide you with a link. It might just improve the quality of your mp3s.
Best regards,
JohnG