25 Midi Secrets PDF
Introduction: Thank you downloading the Unison MIDI Secrets PDF. Co-founder Sep, blog writer Dusti M
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Introduction: Thank you downloading the Unison MIDI Secrets PDF. Co-founder Sep, blog writer Dusti Miraglia and the team of producers here at Unison have put together their 25 top MIDI tips and tricks for you. You’ll find easily applicable, straight to the point techniques you can use to instantly take your MIDI to the next level. Plus, use them with your Unison MIDI Blueprint for the ultimate combination. Enjoy, Unison Team
1. MAPPING OUT A SCALE, TO ALWAYS BE IN-KEY Once you learn this particular trick, it will completely change your game, and your compositional-skills should absolutely skyrocket. It’s not only an excellent aid to help conquer writer’s block (or, in this case, ‘producer’s’ block), but incredibly simple as well. Both the Major, and Minor scales have a certain formula that can ultimately ‘decode’ ANY scale, starting with ANY note. First, you plug in the 7-note Diatonic Scale within a midi-clip, so you’ll be certain of which notes will, and won’t work with the specific song at hand. This also makes it much easier to be able to create chord-progressions and melodies. Start at the desired root note, and then apply the following formula in order to get the corresponding Major, and Minor scale. W = Whole step - moving up 2 notes. H = Half step - moving up 1 note, to the next note. Major formula: W - W - H - W - W - W - H Harmonic Minor: W – H – W – W – H – W+H (3 half-steps) – H Melodic Minor: W - H - W - W - W - W - H Natural Minor: W - H - W - W - H - W - W Keep in mind that once you have one, specific Major/Minor scale mapped-out, changing the root note is as easy as selecting all the notes, and moving them either up, or down to
the desired note-value.
If using Ableton, simply enable the piano roll’s ‘fold’ option to make any note in the scale immediately available to you… making it essentially error-proof, in terms of being in key. Create a clip for every scale and save them for easy recall and to jump start any project.
2. CREATING CHORD PROGRESSIONS FROM THE MAJOR/MINOR SCALES Using the MIDI-notes, map out any major or minor scale in your piano-roll as a starting point. Create a 4-note melody; each note spanning across 1 bar. Make sure that it sounds pleasing overall, and effectively captures the mood you’re trying to convey. Referencing the scale, select and input every OTHER note (starting from your previously selected note), for 2 notes - this successfully creates a 3-note triad.
Do this for the remaining 3 notes, to create a 4-bar chord progression. Alternatively, you could choose to flip the entire formula, by using the 4 predetermined notes as the ‘root’ note of each triad - selecting every other note ABOVE the chosen note, as opposed to below it.
This particular method doesn’t exactly generate the most complex, or interesting of chords right away. However, with a few simple tricks (such as inversions, flattening, expanding, and/or adding notes), you can certainly make it as epic and extravagant as you wish.
3. CUSTOMIZING ANY EXISTING CHORD PROGRESSION, AND USING IT TO START/FINISH YOUR TRACK More often than not, a chord progression is the driving force behind what get’s your song moving forward. But, with a seemingly endless amount of chord progressions out there, it can be extremely difficult to find something unique or original. The solution? Taking chord progression from MIDI packs/templates, and turning them upside down… sometimes, literally. The following steps will show you the exact steps needed, in order to do so: 1. Highlight your entire progression, and shift it up 7 semitones. If you’re not digging that particular energy-boost, you can always transpose them down an octave instead. 2. Select individual n otes within each separate chord, and start shifting them either up or down. By doing this, you’re changing the chord’s ‘voicings,’ which can alter the tone, vibe, and character of the entire chord; making it appear completely different. Now, even though the same ‘notes’ are being played, you completely changed the way the chord itself is perceived… simply by changing the order in which they’re placed within the piano roll. 3. Invert individual chords either up, or down an octave in order to alter the direction of your progression’s energy. 4. Take the bottom, or ‘root’ note of each chord, and plug it in as your bass-line. 5. Bring your existing progression up, yet again, by 7 semitones - forming either your hook, or change-up.
And there you have it: your very own, original, customized chord progression… and you didn’t even have to look very far.
4. FINDING ANY EXTENDED-CHORD, BY SIMPLY COUNTING THE NOTES (DEGREES) IN THE SCALE Now that you know how to properly map out any scale, as well as use basic triads to produce most of your progression, it’s time to learn chords that extend beyond the 7th and 9th. Before you start thinking that this may be too complicated, or overwhelming… I can assure you it won’t be, once you see it from my perspective. When you hear people talk about a scale’s 7th, 9th, or 11th degree, it merely refers to what note-number it is within the scale. In other words, you simply count it’s note-value, starting from the root note (which serves as #1) going up. So, in order to find the degree of any given scale BEYOND the 7th, you just take your scale, stack-up another octave, and count… yes, it’s that easy.
For example, to find/create a C Major 11th - find the C Major scale’s 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, and
11th notes, and boom… you’ve just successfully built your very first advanced 6-note chord, with ease. Keep in mind, this works on a much more consistent basis when using the Major and Natural Minor (Aeolian) scales, whereas the Melodic and Harmonic Minors’ require you to either raise, or flatten certain notes. To find any other advanced chord, simply map our the chord’s corresponding scale (if it’s a GMaj11, map out the G Major scale), and start counting. If it’s a ‘13th’, just add that 13th note to the Major/Minor 11th chord, and you’re good to go. Yes, it runs much deeper when you venture into ‘diminishing’ or ‘flattening’ territory, but I’ll get into all that later on… regardless, use this as your starting point.
5. CREATING MAJOR/MINOR 7TH AND 9TH CHORDS, FROM ANY CHORD While taking any 3-note chord, or ‘triad ‘ and making it your own is surely ideal - it’s still just a 3-note chord, nothing too special about it. And, although most music’s foundation is, in fact, built upon these triads… it tends to get very dull, very quickly when that’s ALL a progression consists of. However, by extending these chords into more advanced ones, your chances of ‘striking that right chord’ will completely skyrocket. Before you do anything, you must properly identify whether your chord is Major, or Minor. To determine this, simply count how many spaces away from your ‘root’ (bottom) note, the 2nd (middle) note of your triad is: If it’s a Minor chord, the middle note of your triad will be 3 spaces (half-steps) away from the root note. If it’s a Major chord, the middle note of your triad will be 4 spaces (half-steps) away from the root note. Now, in order to take any Major chord and transform it into a Major 7th, simply add a note 4 half-steps/semitones away from the top note. Take C Major for example - the normal notes read: C-E-G So, as I just stated, in order to make it a Major 7th, you would add a note 4 semitones from the top note, which now reads: C-E-G-B And, to achieve a Minor 7th, the same principle applies… except this time, the note gets placed 3 semitones from your top note, not 4. (Again, using ‘C’ as our example) Regular C Minor notes: C-D#-G Minor 7th, including the added note 3 half-steps/semitones from the top: C-D#-G-A# TAKING IT ONE STEP FURTHER…
Now, to take the Major/Minor 7th and transform it into a Major/Minor 9th, you simply add a note either 3, or 4 semitones from the NEW top 4th note. Again, whether it’s 3 or 4 away depends on if you’re working with a Major, or Minor chord (Major: 4 Minor: 3). NOTE: A much simpler way to accomplish all of this, is to map-out the actual scale of each chord, and simply count the notes in the scale in order to build and expand new or existing chord progressions. If you’re looking to go beyond 9th’s, and venture into the 11th (and the other, more advanced extended-chords) - simply duplicate the scale across a few different octave ranges, and count. For example, if you’re working with a C Major chord, just start from C, and count UP to the 7th, 9th, and 11th note in your scale… yes, expanding your chords really can be that easy.
6. COLLAPSING/INVERTING EXTENDED CHORD VOICINGS (AKA ‘CLUSTERING’) Changing the ‘voicing’ of your chord can be extremely transformative; the more options you have, the more diverse it can become. Therefore, using an advanced chord-type is ideal. When you wish to completely alter the sound of the chord, try inverting the middle note UP, and the top/extended notes DOWN, or vice versa. Some of these changes may sound a tad ‘off,’ and others might sound absolutely amazing… use this to your advantage. Music is all about tension and release, so throwing in one of these ‘off’ chords right before your progression completes itself or ‘resolves’, may give you even more variation and enhance the overall sound and intrigue of it.
7. TOP NOTES, FOR STRINGS AND PADS Most producers focus all their energy on getting the low-end correct, and shifting all attention to the bass. But, by doing so, the high-end oftentimes gets forgotten about completely… and sometimes ‘above 10k’ can be a tough void to fill, other than hi-hats and various transient based material. Having said that, there are a couple of options you can explore in order to do so, such as very high pitch-strings, pads, organs or even other ambient-synths. Simply take the top notes of your chord progression, shift them UP a handful of octaves, and plug them into a high-pitch string or synth pad. These should sufficiently fill that void in almost any situation you’re faced with (at least, at some point throughout your track).
8. INSTANT BASSLINES, IN A SNAP Once you’ve successfully chosen a progression, creating a bassline is extremely easy - simply copy the bottom notes throughout the progression, and plug them into a new ‘clip’ on your bass-instrument/sample. Now, although this is a great method, or ‘go-to’ for generating a bassline… using a different note, is oftentimes much more interesting and intriguing. So, rather than the bottom note, try plugging in the middle and top note of your progression instead, to see if that fits better, or peaks your interest more. Although it may not sound great all the way through, you can then try selecting notes from both the top/middle and combining them, to get that ideal bassline. This will certainly promote a more interesting, captivating, unique progression than the norm. If you wish to begin with the bassline, all you must do is find/determine the scale of your song - starting with the ‘root’ note (the first note in your scale) - and alternate between it, and the current scale’s fourth. Basslines commonly alternate between the song’s root note and the ‘fourth’ (4th note in the scale), then sometimes hit the 5th note, before going back to the root note; in order to repeat the sequence. So, simply throw on an 808 using this pattern, introduce some octave-jumps, and go wild.
9. ’STRUMMING’ CHORDS Sometimes, in order to breathe some life back into your progression, it’s not necessarily about changing the chords within it… but rather, changing the way they’re played. Next time you feel like your progression is sounding a little bland or dull, try ‘strumming’ the notes of your chord in order to achieve a more ‘rhythmic’ vibe. This simply entails playing one note at a time, a designated length apart from one another, and then simultaneously holding these notes down to complete the chord.
To produce a little extra rhythm and spice WITHOUT completely altering the overall way it’s perceived, try adding a short ‘roll’ - playing each note a few milliseconds apart from one another, or separating them manually after the chord has been programmed.
This can also be done by spacing/playing the notes roughly 1/16th - 1/32nd notes/beats away from each other. To completely change the dynamic of your progression, create a longer roll.
To achieve this, simply play the notes for a range of 1/4th - a whole note (1) apart from one another… or even longer, depending on the specific style you’re aiming for. And, whereas playing the notes from top-to-bottom (or vice versa) typically sounds best, nothing is stopping you from getting creative and playing the notes in a more ‘randomized’ fashion, you might just strike gold.
10. ’DELAYING’ CHORDS This method shares the same principle as #1 except, this time, you’re going to delay one or two of the notes as opposed to strumming them, to create a more R&B/Soul-type vibe. This is traditionally done by using advanced, or ‘extended’ chord-times, and delaying the introduction of the 7th, 9th, 11th, and 14th notes, but can also be played using basic triads, and introduced using any note. I recommend using a Major 11th chord, and playing the triad. Then, after approximately 1-2 beats have passed, slowly introducing the additional 3 notes in order to complete the advanced chord. This will give the listener a sense of familiarity and comfort, as they will initially think it’s just a regular triad… and then, you’ll totally blow their minds once they hear a more advanced chord suddenly being introduced.
11. CREATING A MELODY FROM ANY CHORD PROGRESSION (ARP) When you have an existing chord progression, but just can’t seem to find a melody for the life of you, using the notes within the chord is a great place to start looking. Simply take the notes within your chord, and start playing them in an arpeggio-type pattern going up and down the octave ranges (as this is all an arp essentially does) Begin with the very top, or bottom note, and start plugging away to your heart’s content. Find unique patterns that sound pleasing, alluring, and catchy… something that will really captivate your listeners. Not only is it a brilliant place to start and to get inspiration, but you can actually create the entire foundation of your song by simply mapping out a Major or Minor scale, as we demonstrate next…
12. CREATING ‘808 GLIDES’ (Keep in mind that every, unique DAW offers different ways to accomplish this. However, the following is a u niversal method, and can work across them all, respectively) It’s extremely common to hear an 808 jumping octaves, or ‘glide’ before leading into a verse, hook, or drop. Now, you may be asking… ‘well, how exactly do I CREATE these massive glides’? Well, thankfully the answer is very simple: assign an Envelope to ‘automate’ the pitch of your 808. From there, route it to your pitch wheel (as to record the glides in real-time), and edit them so they’re perfectly in-key. You can additionally assign the mod, or pitch wheel a value that you’ll commonly slide to: either +100% (all the way UP) at +7 semitones (a fifth), and -100% (all the way DOWN) at -5 semitones (the fifth inverted down an octave). Or, even more commonly, you can set both pitch-values either up, or down to a value of positive and negative 12 semitones. This completely eliminates the guesswork of your octave-glides. If you’re an Ableton user, and you’re using a ‘sample,’ you can also choose to apply a pitch-bend/modulation - with the help of a ‘Warp’ Envelope - in order to have more overall control of your glide’s pitch:
13. VELOCITY IS VITAL While I’m sure you’re aware of how vitally important velocity in itself is, it’s oftentimes overlooked when programming a sequence by hand/mouse… as it’s precise, tedious, and can hinder work-flow. So, since it must b e done, an easier approach is to go back into each, individual clip that you programmed (by hand) BEFORE you start mixing your record, and alter the velocity of most contributing parts slightly. Although this seems like an unimportant, or unnecessary task now… your subconscious, and the subconscious of your listeners will certainly thank you later. A major part of getting programmed midi-parts to sound realistic is velocity, period, you should not skip this step, regardless of how grueling it might be. When programming a piano, simply think about the notes being played and, more importantly, how exactly the pianist might play them. For example, a good amount of the time notes are played in concession, and are there to offset, or ‘accent’ one another. Knowing that, you should think about making certain notes very low, and others very loud. Or, you could even apply a simple ‘low, medium, high’ for every 3 notes… just find what works for you, and with the song. Honestly, the instrument I hear untouched most often, are the drums. This is an absolute shame because, if you are truly aware of the inner-workings of a drum, you would know that velocity is indeed everything. You can quickly and easily transform a hi-hat into a shaker (or tambourine), simply by repeating them a few times over, back to back, at varying velocities. The power of velocity is incredibly… well, powerful. So, again, do NOT overlook it.
14. TIMING IS THE KEY TO ‘HUMANIZATION’ No human can ever play the same part twice as flawlessly as a computer can, that’s a fact. And, whereas this might seem like an advantage… it’s actually a massive disadvantage for the modern/digital-producer of today. This is because the tiny inconsistencies, or ‘mistakes’ that naturally occur when physical instruments are played, are actually what makes things sound ‘real’ or true to form in the first place. You should take this into serious consideration when attempting to place your notes on the grid. Where, exactly, you put them should depend upon the song’s natural ‘groove’ NOT the grid, or what looks/seems perfect. Try to program your notes/melodies with ‘SNAP-TO-GRID’ disabled, but have it zoomed-in enough where you can be fairly accurate with the placement of your notes. By doing this, you’re generating the perfect imperfections needed, in order to make things sound appropriate, authentic, and convincing. When quantizing, check to see if your specific DAW offers the option to ‘quantize’ to a certain/specific percent. This can quickly and easily give you the slight imperfections you need, without having to manually plug-in your notes unquantized. When working in Reason or Ableton, I like to keep mine on approximately 80-90%, as it makes things align properly (for the most part), whilst allowing some time-inconsistencies slide, or go untouched.
15. SILENCE SPEAKS VOLUMES When programming an instrument, keep in mind that the musical silence surrounding a note is golden, and just as important as the note itself (if not more so). As I previously stated, where you place your notes in relation to the grid can either seriously enhance, or completely destroy the ‘humanized’ factor of what you chose to program. However, it’s actually the spaces IN BETWEEN the notes themselves, and their length/end-time that dictate true, authentic groove and rhythm within your track. For a more rhythmic, or ‘shuffled’ swing that interacts with the drums - make your notes shorter, and more concise. This will ultimately create more space within your mix, which is ideal. For a more laid-back swing - make some notes longer. You may even find, within your DAW’s ‘Advanced Quantize’ section, the option to ‘randomize’ the notes end-time… you can alternatively route the knobs to your controller to your current synth’s Attack and Release times, and manipulate the note’s length that way as well (which I oftentimes do myself). Regardless of which approach you decide to take, just make sure to remember that no, one note is played the same twice. Be sure to incorporate some form of variation when playing with your note-lengths, even if it’s by a seemingly undetectable level.
16. INSTANT HARMONIES Once you’ve mastered (or at least, have a solid grip on) your songs melodic-phrases (even if using existing loops/melodies) creating harmonies that help add variation to your hooks, or even for creative-stacking purposes is super easy. Simply bring your melody UP a ‘perfect fourth’ or fifth. This can be achieved by shifting the notes either up, or down in either scale. For a perfect fifth - either shift the notes UP 7 semitones. For a perfect fourth - either shift the notes UP 5 semitones. If your especially confident in your ‘theory’ skills, you can also try shifting, or ‘stacking’ the note’s thirds. Keep in mind that this is the middle note of your basic chord triad, and can essentially be used as a way to create ‘vocal chord harmonies’.
17. VOCAL, SYNTH, AND INSTRUMENT ‘STUTTERS’ Creating that famous, highly revered ‘Nicki Minaj’ vocal-stutter is MUCH easier than one might think… First, choose the vocal that you want to ‘stutter,’ and load it up in your favorite Sampler. Now, turn the ADSR all the way down…Release; which you should set at around 10ms to avoid unwanted pops and clicks. Now turn the sustain all the way up. By doing this, you now have the ability to trigger the vocal, and have it stop immediately after releasing the note. Then, either play or draw-in the desired stutters (usually a combination of 1/4th and 1/8th notes) in a MIDI-clip, and there you have it. S-s-simple, right?
18. BOUNCE/CONVERT A DRUM LOOP’S ‘DATA’ TO MIDI Doing this will surely spark some new, brilliant rhythmic ideas. Even though ‘polyphonic’ material is somewhat difficult for most software to successfully detect (without error), that certainly doesn’t mean you can’t use them to your advantage. Simply take the incorrect data, throw it on a synth patch and use it to make the piece wonderfully original. Then, try shifting it either up, or down a few notes as needed; making it completely unique to you and your specific style.
19. CALL AND RESPONSE You know when you have a killer lead, or epic melody, but it’s just missing… something? Maybe a certain part lacks in the energy department, or doesn’t call the attention it deserves? Well, a phenomenal way in which to energize ANY lead is by having two, separate synth-patches occupy one, sole section/melody (essentially playing off one another). Simply take your existing lead, and duplicate both the synth and the MIDI. Then, find a patch within your synth, that you think blends perfectly with your existing lead. NOTE: For some absolutely incredible Serum leads, that are sure to fit together accordingly on ANY track, check out our Serum Presets from the Unison Collection. Now it’s time for you to assign specific parts… but remember, you want the synths to play well off each other, so it’s usually best that they be alternating about every handful of beats/notes or so; one starting the riff, and the other finishing it. Throw in a solid, lower-frequency sine wave to glue them together and keep them cohesive, and you’re all set.
20. RHYTHM-INPUT FIRST Sometimes the problem with your melody doesn’t lie in the note-selection but rather, the underlying rhythm of the melody itself. Once you have the suitable drums, or underlying foundation, pick a note within the scale you’re currently working with (starting from the beginning of the track), and plug in the melodic-rhythm; ignoring the notes for now. Try tapping-out a rhythm, keeping the natural ‘groove’ in mind, and make it as catchy as possible. You can even enable ‘loop’ mode, until your completely satisfied with the pattern… Now, start shifting that 1-note groove up and down, to different notes within your scale. Think of, and treat this technique as you would a puzzle… except, in this case, there are endless ways in which to make it fit perfectly, and generate a pretty picture; so get creative. Simply repeat the same process, until you feel like you’ve come across that ideal melody. Remember, for a melodic ‘riff’ to be considered catchy or interesting, it must contain some sort of repetition. Also, do not be afraid to rely heavily on the rhythm itself, as most classic melodies are so memorable because they are, in fact, so simple, easy to memorize, recognize, and redundant.
21. SING IT, AND THEN CONVERT IT You’ll oftentimes encounter a melody that you can easily hum or sing…but you just can’t get it to translate, or convert to the piano roll properly. Well, thanks to the power of modern advancements - if you can sing it, you can get it to translate. Simply sing, or hum the melody into your DAW, and convert it to MIDI. Melodyne is king for this method but any type of audio to midi conversion will work. You may need to make some minor adjustments, but the bulk of the melody should remain intact. This will give you a visual representation of what you’ve been trying to program all along, making it much easier for future programming and further manipulation.
22. REDUCE CPU USAGE BY ‘GHOSTING’ THE DELAY ON YOUR DRUM, AND PERCUSSION TRACKS We all know, that although Delay is one of the most essential additive-processors in any mix, it tends be one of the most resource-consuming ones as well… This oftentimes leads us to waiting until the very end of our mix to add it, and causes many ideas to get lost in translation. That’s why sometimes it’s best, for sections such as drums and/or percussion, to add your very own delay while mixing, at least temporarily. By doing this, you’ll be able to get an accurate feel of how, exactly, the delay offsets the natural groove of your song. Simply add a note, that’s much lower than the original, right where the delay or echo is supposed to repeat, and continue the pattern just as a delay would… gradually decreasing for every repeat. You can instead choose to duplicate your MIDI-clip, offset it by however many beats you want for the delay to fill, and make sure it’s velocity is MUCH lower than the original hit. If your hit repeats more than once, make sure to have a consistent reduction in volume for every repeat/echo. This can sound is extremely desirable without any potential artifacts or CPU hit… you may never apply the delay you originally intended ever again.
23. ADDING PRE-PUNCH, WITH REVERSED LAYERS Although this wouldn’t be considered a ‘traditional’ MIDI-hack, you could still use it as such - it all depends on how you originally set it up, at the beginning of your session. This effect typically works best with drum, and percussion-hits, but can actually be used in any context you choose. Let’s take a ‘cymbal,’ for example… First, you’re going to reverse it. That way, you can have the reversed-version, lead right into the original version. If the particular cymbal-sample you’re using is not perfectly timed (in beats), make sure to stretch it, so it’s between 1-2 beats long. This will make it possible for you to use MIDI, or your piano roll to trigger the events, as opposed to being forced to align the samples up perfectly. Once you have successfully reversed your cymbal, and know exactly how many beats it takes to complete it - put the reversed-cymbal that many beats (however many you just calculated) BEFORE the original… and there you have it. You now have an amazing pre-punch lead, to essentially any percussive element you wish.
24. IT’S ALL ABOUT VARIATION Creating a bangin’ 1-4 bar hi hat pattern is fairly easy, and having it loop continuously throughout your entire track WITHOUT any variation is even easier… but where’s the appeal in that? Not to mention it’s super repetitive, redundant, and overall boooring (at least, eventually). The way to achieve variation, is by having a string/sequence of similar, yet slightly different patterns, that may repeat themselves once or twice a verse. Try keeping things pretty basic at first, and add variation after the fact. Once you have a pattern, or sequence you find worthy, create 2-8 duplicates of it; the exact amount, depends on how often the sequence repeats itself throughout. Then, go into each one, and alter things slightly. For hats - this includes adding 2, slightly different ‘rolls’ on 2 of the clips: 1 in ‘triplet’ timing, and the other in 1/4. Don’t be afraid to program your rolls on separate clips/patterns. You could alternatively remove some hits as well, which gives some extra depth and contrast… but make sure to time your ‘drop-outs’ appropriately. For a melody, or similar sequences, you don’t actually have to change the notes being played themselves, just their timing and the order in which they’re played in - removing a few notes in one clip, and adding a few in another. For a particularly subtle effect, spend just a few seconds making the ‘velocity’ of each clip slightly different one another. Now, simply erase all repetitive patterns, and fill-in all the l ooped clips with the new variations, and voilà… a MUCH more dynamic-sounding track, just like that. The great part about doing this is, not only do you have a perfect starting place when needed, but you’re not deviating too far from the original part/composition, to the point where it doesn’t match, or fit right.
25. USING MIDI ‘CC ’ AS A MODULATOR Most people consider additional ‘midi information’ (other than note data) as an afterthought… don’t let one of these people be you - midi information known as Continues Control (MIDI CC) messages pertain to MUCH more than simple note-values, timing changes, and velocity alterations. Not solely things like the ‘mod wheel’ data but also the lesser known parameters, such as Aftertouch, foot pedals, even wind; plus many other various controls/functions, based on the plugin you’re currently using. The even better part is, in order to do this, you don’t require any extra/physical components such as MIDI Wind Controllers or pedals, because you can simply draw that data in (as if it were velocity or automation). The functions needed to accomplish this, can be located within your DAW… usually in the same area as all the ’velocity’ edits are carried out/adjusted (typically found in the bottom section of the piano roll). When working with virtual drums, the pedal is normally routed to the hi-hat. This enables either an open, or closed cymbal to be triggered, upon movement of the pedal. Go into Serum, route any parameter that you want to Aftertouch, and turn it all the way UP. Call up the Aftertouch data, and start drawing it in. This allows you to toggle the modulation on/off, and trigger intensity (mid-note) at any point. Experiment with this, and you’ll find the results to be insanely wild and interesting, guaranteed. If plugging-in this info isn’t really your thing, and you’re willing to venture outside the box… link something like your Mod Wheel (or a similar parameter on your MIDI Controller) to the foot pedal, delay feedback or reverb decay information, which will then allow you to control it by-hand, in real time.
Conclusion:
There we have it. Those are our 25 top MIDI tips & tricks for you to really take your MIDI to the next level. Now, it’s time to put them into action and apply them to your music. Try out a few today have fun making some awesome tracks. Cheers, Unison Team