From: someone@anywheret.net   
      
   "Jim D"  wrote in message news:2019010913324448805-Not@ThisAddresscom...   
      
   > yes, this is how it's done.  thing is, when I started into the world of   
   > midi oh those many years ago, the process was a bit different. I'd get   
   > some midi of a tune. It would be eh, mostly ok, but would have issues. I'd   
   > spend days repairing those.  As a guitarist back then, any editing would   
   > have to be done by hand, with an editor in the daw. Most computers of that   
   > era couldn't really handle real audio tracks, and the conversion of guitar   
   > to midi was, and still is, primitive.   
      
   I never bothered with midi tracks at all since I really wasn't after   
   anything more than just getting the track itself for a song with no need for   
   any dynamics beyond that.   
      
   > So I became very good at editing poorly done tracks. At least those   
   > provided a starting point. Can't edit a blank sheet of paper. And without   
   > being a keyboard player, inputing midi by playing an instrument was near   
   > worthless.   
      
   I'd heard about that, using a midi keyboard instrument pretty much like an   
   alpha-numeric keyboard, and for pretty much the same thing, mere data   
   input...'hunting' and 'pecking' out notes until the right ones were finally   
   obtained.   
      
   > Gradually over the years I learned to play keys.   
      
   Did you teach yourself by using a midi keyboard as an input device? I'm sure   
   that would be one way.   
      
   > Still not my main instrument, but I'm ok.  Unlike on guitar, I don't know   
   > years of accumulated keyboard fills and riffs.   
      
   But I'm sure you know those on the guitar.   
      
   > So my playing is mainly chordal or things I've deliberately learned in the   
   > last few years. I use to say, " I'm not really a piano player, but I am   
   > plenty good enough for a week end rock band ".  Still stand by that :-)   
      
   Still, there's a lot to be said for being into an instrument that 'speaks'   
   to you and you feel being one with - that's what keyboards do for me....when   
   I'm at them, there's a profound Vibe, a feeling of being in my element ;)   
      
   > It's only recently that I've tossed the " editing poor online midis "   
   > thing.  The square dances forced that.  We needed songs and arrangements   
   > that just aren't out there. In making about 20 of those, the new way is   
   > emerging.   
      
   Kind of like being on the 'fringe' ;)   
      
   > A limit of this new way is that I can't put together songs I don't know   
   > how to play. So, if someone wanted some old oddball disco tune I've never   
   > played, heard, or have any idea what the main riff it repeats a 100 times   
   > is ... that would be a problem. Disco being old and no one cares, I'd   
   > either find a midi online or in all the ones I've collected overthe years,   
   > or pass on the tune.   
      
   And since there's no such collection with this kind of stuff, yet, you're   
   stuck with having to know how to play it in order to help make the   
   collection...strange dilemma ;)   
      
   > Most new things we get requests for now aren't in my collection from back   
   > when usenet was flooded with midi files. It's been too long. So we're more   
   > and more making them from scratch.   
      
   So does that mean that such collections have been somehow outmoded, by   
   something newer?   
      
   > That's a good thing generally.  One downside is I'm not learning anything   
   > new this way. Fixing old midis had a plus, it was a treasue trove of   
   > keyboard riffs and such. I learned things from about every one I ever had   
   > to deal with.   
      
   Oh, definitely - because someone who already knew the  riffs and licks would   
   input them and then they could be studied and learned...and of course even   
   more so for the song's chords....but hand technique for playing particular   
   riffs and licks was another matter - you'd have to figure those out, or try   
   to, yourself :(   
   On the other hand (pun intended) there's always youtube for tutorial video   
   for that ;)   
   --   
   > What we do to cover a modern " country " tune is find the song, listen to   
   > it, and make our backings from scratch. Not difficult, but it does take me   
   > about a day and a half per tune.  So the song better be worth it. I only   
   > have so many days to spend.   
      
   Well if you've got to do that, I guess it might as well be that so-called   
   'modern' 'country' ;)   
      
   Maybe it's time for a new name for 'country', how about "rugged character   
   folk", or simply "rugged folk"? ;)   
   ----   
   > all that said, I found and reconnected my old roland midi guitar rig this   
   > morning. need to add a banjo track to one of the songs from yersterday,   
   > and that midi guitar is just the ticket. Far easier than working the banjo   
   > part out on keyboards.  I already know how to play the necessary parts on   
   > guitar.  Just need them in midi format.  Or, I could buy a banjo sometime   
   > and do this stuff in audio format. Yeah, wife would go along with that   
   > .... not :-)   So the midi guitar will make this easy. Sometimes using the   
   > right tool can make a job doable vs not.   
      
   JimD   
      
   I thought you needed them in midi format.   
      
   And what's wrong with playing a real acoustic banjo?   
      
   Ouisie   
      
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