In this summary, I will provide a "general" outline applicable for most situations, and leave the rest up to you. If you require additional assistance, I may be affordably consulted on a semi-hourly-pay basis by e-mailing me above. I welcome your comments!
Note: This operation requires investment in somewhat expensive equipment and software. I do not recommend using "free" software available on the Internet, as it is not tested here, and may have bugs which I do not claim any responsibility for. The directions are given for PC only. Similar directions can be mimicked for Macintosh and UNIX users.
Typical Minimum Investment:
- Pentium II+ Class Computer (Minimum 500MHz CPU speed recommended) - $500-$5000
- Good quality sound card - $50-$2000
- MIDI Sequencer ["Player"] (Cakewalk, or Cakewalk Pro Audio, or other equivalent*: www.Cakewalk.com) $399
- Audio Recorder ["Recorder"] (Cakewalk Pro Audio or Equivalent, same as above**)
- Good quality Sound Module*** with MIDI cables (Optional, if sound card already has MIDI sounds.) $500+
- MIDI Interface (Optional, if sound card already has MIDI sounds, and not using Sound Module) $300+
- cables $50+
- (Optional & Highly Recommended: Audio Mixer Console) $1000+
- Music Match Jukebox: www.MusicMatch.com free - $29
- Mp3 Tag Studio: http://www.magnusbrading.com/mp3ts free - $10
(*Other popular seqencers are Steinberg CuBase, emagic Logic, etc.)
(**Cakewalk Pro Audio and some other MIDI sequencers can record audio at the same time while playing the MIDI)
(***Recommend Roland Sound Canvas Series only, as it is the most compatible with CMA files, and sounds quite good.)
Basic steps:
- Record .wav audio file from MIDI (typically using Cakewalk Audio)
- Convert .wav to Mp3 using respective encoders (typically MusicMatch)
- Label your Mp3 file using MusicMatch or another tag editor (typically Mp3-Tag Studio)
Hardware Setup Instructions:
- If using external Sound Module:
- Connect it to computer with MIDI or other cable per your kit's directions
- Plug audio out (L-R) of Sound Module to audio Input of Computer's Sound Card
- Experiment with Volume Knob to be sure not to overload your Sound Card or be too soft. Medium is OK.
- If using Sound Card only, with internal MIDI sounds:
- Connect audio out (headphone jack) of sound card to audio Input (stereo line in) of same sound card
- If you are using several external Sound Modules and/or Samplers (the best!):
- Hook them all through a good Mixer
- Hook Mixer's Audio Out (L-R) to sound card Input (stereo line in)
- Other details of your setup may vary. Consult your manuals.
Main Procedure - MIDI to Mp3 Details:
- Record .wav audio file from MIDI
- Open Cakewalk. Open MIDI file. Test MIDI by playing it. Hear good sounds? Adjust as necessary.
- If you use Cakewalk Audio, this same program can play the MIDI while recording the .wav at same time!
* read your manuals: set up a spare track or two for Stereo audio recording. Arm it. Press Play/Record.
- If your MIDI sequencer cannot handle audio, you need to open another program that does.
* Use sequencer program to play the MIDI file, use the other audio program to record the audio
- Resulting "take" is now a stereo mix of your MIDI performance!
- Save (Export) this audio track to a file, yourfile.wav
- (Note: latest versions of Cakewalk allow you to export to Mp3 directly. If that's the case, you're done!)
- For Mp3 Encoding, open the latest version of MusicMatch Jukebox.
- Select 'File-->Convert Audio'
- Choose the folder where yourfile.wav is at
- Choose 'From wav to mp3'
- Choose the target encoding type to be 'MP3 CBR'
- Set the encode rate to 128KBPS for Hi Fi
- Select wav file(s)
- Choose a target folder of your choice
- Hit OK to Encode
- Tagging Mp3's
- Open Mp3 Tag Studio
- Select folder with the new Mp3 files
- There is a folder tab which allows 'Updating All Files'.
Use that for updating all common fields in all files the way you want it at once
- For the Title and Artist Fields, you must enter them or paste them one by one from the master spreadsheet
Final note: It is best to have TWO computers, not one computer. The reason is that Windows suffers occasionally from timing glitches which can throw the entire recording off, particularly for larger orchestral works (and occasionally for simple piano works). It's best to have one computer PLAY the MIDI file and commandeer your MIDI gear, while another computer RECORDS nothing but audio. Consult me for details.
Happy hunting!
Art "Moz" Sulit
classic-music@mindspring.com
Advertising Plug: If your company has an online streaming media or music/video production need, please visit AMI Studios at http://sulitarty.hypermart.net. In addition to being a computer consultant and an engineer, Art is an accomplished composer as well!
Recommended Reading:
See also this FAQ on our site.
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