All computer music production ideas are based on PC computers and corresponding multimedia hardware equipment, which are responsible for the conversion between digital signals and analog signals and the input and output of signals, and are the most basic hardware facilities. Specifically, it includes: ● PC computer ● Sound card with high signal-to-noise ratio (sound card with better quality, such as the popular MAYA 44 sound card)
2. Software equipment
Even the best hardware facilities work under the organization and management of software, and whether the hardware resources can be used more reasonably depends on the selection and use of software.
in the most basic computer music production process, we need the following kinds of music software: ● sequencer software (such as Sonar, Figure 3, which is used to organize and edit the input MIDI signals to form a complete MIDI track) ● MIDI effectors (such as Style Enhancer Micro 2., Used to add vivid and varied "humanized" real effects to MIDI signals) ● Multi-track audio editing software (such as Vegas, which is used to mix the audio tracks exported from various MIDI tracks and then further process them) ● Audio effects (such as Waves 3., which directly acts on audio Wav files to optimize sound effects)
● Post-processing software (such as T-Racks 2., Master the final Wav file generated by multi-track audio software to make it sound better.) Of course, the regulations of the equipment are not so strict. Generally speaking, according to the principle of "just enough, you can replace it", so that as many music lovers as possible can get addicted to computer music and enjoy the auditory impact brought by computer music! After we are ready, our production process begins.
Step 2: Input of Notes
Music is composed of specific notes, and notes are also the most basic units in music, so if you want to get a complete song effect, you have to start with the input of notes. There are two input methods: MIDI keyboard input and mouse input. The former is more efficient, but it needs to be equipped with corresponding MIDI keyboard or electronic organ with MIDI interface; The latter is troublesome to operate, but the cost is low. After mastering it skillfully, it can still reach the level of confusing the real.
1. MIDI keyboard input
first, we start the installed Sonar 1., select Options-MIDI Devices to open the device setting dialog box, select the input device as the midi input interface of the sound card, select the output device as the wave table synthesis of the sound card, and then press the OK key. Next, open the setting panel of the sound card, set the recording port to MIDI mode, and activate the red R in front of the track to be recorded in Sonar, ready to start recording. We know that what will be recorded is the note information of the specific
instrument played by us, so we should specify the specific instrument first! On the audio track panel, Ch stands for MIDI channel, choose from 1-16, and Pch stands for instrument name. In its drop-down menu, a variety of instruments are displayed for us to choose from. Specify an Electric Grand Piano, and you will hear the sound effect of the electric piano when playing. Vol indicates the volume of the audio track. If the volume is not high enough during playing or playing, the value can be increased appropriately, with a maximum of 127. Key+ stands for tonality, which raises or lowers the pitch of notes in semitones, and it is generally set to by default. Pan refers to the position of the left and right channels, and the pan position of different instruments in the band is also different. Not all instruments are placed in the middle of the left and right channels, which will gradually sum up its laws in actual operation. Ok, after completing the above settings, you can press the red record button (or use the shortcut key R) to start playing heartily. All the notes you play on the MIDI keyboard and their related information will be recorded in Sonar. After that, stop with the space bar and go back to play. Is Sonar's recording very accurate?
2. Mouse input
Friends who don't have MIDI keyboards don't have to be discouraged. We can get the same effect with the mouse. The biggest feature of mouse input is accuracy, and both note length and pitch can be set accurately. Its main operation can be carried out in the piano scroll window, which is also the most commonly used editing input window in Sonar! First, create a new audio track, and then select Piano Roll in the shortcut toolbar above to enter the piano scroll window. At this moment, we are presented with a piano keyboard that we haven't seen for a long time, but it is placed vertically. This kind of placement naturally has its own uniqueness, and you will love it after frequent use. Click the left mouse button on the corresponding note position of the corresponding section to add a note. If the length of the note is inappropriate, drag the mouse at the right end of the note to adjust it. If you feel that the pitch is incorrect, drag the mouse up and down in the center of the note to change it, and you can hear the effect immediately, which is very convenient (as shown in Figure 5). What should I do if I mispronounce a note? Press the E key of the keyboard to enter the deletion state, and click the left mouse button to delete a note, which is also very simple. Below the piano scroll window is the dynamics curve window, where you can use the mouse to change the dynamics of each note, so that the music effect tends to be more natural and sounds more pleasant!
Step 3: Multi-instrument tracks
After the above basic note input is completed, we will enter the track operation section of other instruments. If the input of MIDI signal is for specific notes, then the operation of MIDI track is for different instruments and different voices. It is these different MIDI tracks that can form a complete MIDI music, and it is the parts of various musical instruments that we operate that can form a complete feeling of "one-man band". Just like a conductor,
co-ordinates the "voice power" of each part of the band, and gives full play to your organization and creativity! On the basis of the electric piano just now, we will add several other voices next. First, select MIDI Track under the Insert menu to add several new MIDI tracks, and determine its track attribute parameters according to the above method. Choose Church Organ, Electric Guitar, String Ensemble and Synth Bass as musical instruments. It is important to note that the Ch channel values of different instruments cannot be the same, otherwise no matter what instrument is used, it is a timbre. Next, enter the notes of each track separately and edit and modify them. Now the rudiments of several major voices have been formed. Play it. Well, it really smells like a band! Of course, there are some skills when multiple musical instrument parts operate the audio track. For example, Mute on the audio track property panel means mute, and it will not sound after being pressed; Solo stands for solo, and only by pressing its track can you make a sound; With the Clone command, you can copy another track that is exactly the same as the current track; Wipe can delete all note information of the current track.
the fourth step is to make the music more realistic
Computer music is often regarded as the "digital sound" and "cold sound" lacking humanity. The reason is that when we edit MIDI information, we don't accurately show the various playing skills of various musical instruments. In fact, in addition to using complicated MIDI control information, MIDI effectors can also be used to optimize the MIDI signal to make it closer to the real musical instrument effect. Next, we will take Style Enhancer Micro
2. (hereinafter referred to as SE), an excellent MIDI effector, as an example, and introduce the use of the software with specific musical instruments! Saxophone has always been a difficult problem in MIDI production. Due to the complexity of playing techniques such as breath and strength, it is generally difficult to achieve realistic effects. Now we will take it as an operation to see the powerful power of SE! Select MIDI Effects-Style Enhancer Micro 2. with the right mouse button on Fx in front of saxophone track in Sonar, and the SE interface will appear. At first glance, how to start with such a complicated interface? Don't worry, for ordinary users, the meaning of those specific parameters doesn't need to be concerned, we just need to select the specified instrument and unique playing style in the preset menu! Choose Reed and then Sax Solo Sweet Vibrato, close the window and listen to the effect with the space bar. Wow! So lifelike, saxophone's sense of cadence and melodious fluttering suddenly appeared, and the "cold" and "stiff" of digital signals could not be felt at all during sitting and listening, and every note was so harmonious and natural. No wonder some people give SE a nice name-humanized effector, and SE is definitely worthy of its name! Figure 7: Style Enhancer Micro 2. Apart from saxophone, SE also provides hundreds of playing styles of piano, bass, guitar, strings and other major musical instruments. Distorted guitar alone
He has 16 playing skills to choose from, which is enough to meet our various music needs!
Step 5 Post-production
The prototype of the music MIDI part has been completed before. Next, these MIDI tracks should be converted into audio files, and then optimized and synthesized in the post-production software to make their sound quality better and more audible. You can also record vocal accompaniment for music, which is more like a complete song.
1. MIDI to Wav conversion
If satisfactory playback results have been achieved in Sonar, they can be converted into audio files and then post-processed in multi-track software. The conversion operation is also very simple. First, set the recordIng port of the sound card to MIDI, then press the Solo button on the track to be converted in Sonar and insert a new Audio Track, set the in port of the audio track to Stereo Wave In, and finally activate the red R to start recording while playing! After that, use Export Audio under the File menu to export and save it as a Wav file. Repeat the above operation to convert all MIDI tracks into Wav files for use in the following multi-track audio software!
2. Sound quality optimization in Vegas
Vegas Audio 2. is a multi-track audio software with simple operation but not weak function, which is mainly used to process the added audio tracks. After starting Vegas, first drag the Wav file just saved into the upper area in the browser below to create multiple audio tracks. At this time, you can adjust the parameters such as the volume and pan position of the audio track on the property panel in front of the audio track, or you can use Audio-Track Fx under the Tools menu to open the audio track effector and set it in the equalization, compression and noise gates. Creating multiple audio tracks in Vegas If you want to use different volume levels for audio events in different locations, you can use the Audio Envelopes-Volume volume envelope under the Insert menu to set it freely, and the audio envelope has the same purpose. Reverberation is the most widely used effect setting in music, which makes music more layered and spatial, and gives you an immersive feeling. If you want to use reverberation effect on the audio track in Vegas, just click the Audio-Insert Assignble Fx command under the Tools menu and switch to the Fx column in the panel in front of the audio track to set it. Other effectors also apply the same method to achieve your satisfactory results.
3. Singing recording
After the production of music accompaniment, we need to add some voices to the music to make it feel like a complete song, which requires the recording function of Vegas. First, set the recording port of the sound card as a microphone, then press the red button in front of the audio track, and finally press the recording button to record our songs while playing accompaniment music, just like karaoke, which is very convenient! After the recording panel is set, play it for audition. If the effect is not satisfactory, delete it before recording. In addition to the general recording mode, Vegas also supports inserting recording, which is convenient for us to record a sentence in a paragraph and has strong practical value. First, select the part that needs to be re-recorded, and then pause the mouse in front of this part to record. The place that sings well will not be affected, and the part that needs to be re-recorded will be automatically replaced with the current effect. This kind of "error compensation" technology can only be done by computer music! After the vocal recording, we can add reverberation, compression, equalization and other effects to make it sound more beautiful and harmonious. When the overall playback effect is satisfactory to you, you can use Render As under the File menu to save all the tracks as a stereo audio file, and our music works will soon be "released"!
4. Mastering
"Mastering" is the last process of music, which can greatly improve the sound quality and grasp the sound effect in general. We recommend using T-Racks 2., an excellent master processing software. Just input the Wav file of music, and then select an ideal effect, you can directly output a publishing-grade CD effect, which is amazing! After starting T-Racks, I saw a dinosaur icon interface, which is the iconic "mascot" of the software! We Open the stereo file just saved from the open in the lower right corner, open the preset menu with the Load above, and select SUITE-Gentle master 1. Now press the space bar to listen to the effect. Wow, the sound is much clearer and fuller. I really didn't expect our computer to make such a Hi-Fi effect! If you are satisfied, press the Process button and save it as a new file; If the effect is not satisfactory, you can also choose other preset values, which are very convenient! T-Racks 2. main interface In fact, T-Racks mainly uses the principle of analog electron tube amplifier to "warm" the sound, so some people call it "warm sound software", and you can see the effect of this "warm sound" in the colorful display lights above! Don't underestimate the treatment of "warm sound". After comparing the audition, you will find that the effect before and after use is really different! T-Rac