Midi Music Making with Babya Logic
A Tutorial by Dwight Delleva
Download the Music Pack by following the link below for examples!
http://www.4shared.com/dir/6247826/8f14b6c4/sharing.html
Click on the file "Midi and MIA Examples.zip"
You can also download some of my event systems and demos in the same link.
Before you read any further, download my Music Pack. MIA examples are included in the file that can be opened and studied with the music program you are going to use. This tutorial is best understood if you download the music pack to see the list of instruments I used for a certain kind of music.
This tutorial will cover the simplest "how to" so you can make your own midis. We will need a midi composing program first. For this tutorial, we use Babya Logic, a free program for making midi music. This is the easiest program that you can use for midi composition. Your first step to midi composition is to download Babya Logic and install it on your computer. You can also use a similar commercial software called Midi Quartet.
This is how Babya Logic looks (refer to the picture below). The numbers with letters and sharps on the left side of the picture as shown below are the notes. The red column determines the starting area where the song will start when you press play. For example, you place the red column on number 8, when you press play, it will start playing music from number 8. The other tools and buttons are explained below. For a list of MIA examples, you can download my Music Pack and open it on the program to see how the program works. All the files in the music pack are my original compositions.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v246/ ... screen.jpg[/img]
Function Buttons:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v246/ ... t/Draw.png[/img]
Draw Mode - Click this to place notes. Press on the left mouse button to insert notes. Press and hold the left mouse button and drag to the desired length. The longer the length is, the longer the note will sound. Release the mouse button after dragging to place a note. Erase notes by clicking the left mouse button.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v246/ ... /Start.png[/img]
Start/Insertion Position - You can just click on the black bar where you can see the numbers starting from zero. The red net-like looking column determines the position where the song will start playing if you press the play button.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v246/ ... Select.png[/img]
Select Area - Click this box to select the area where you want to edit notes. Right-click and drag the mouse from right to left to your selected area. By dragging the mouse, the selected music area is highlighted in blue. Left-click to remove the highlight.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v246/ ... t/Copy.png[/img]
Copy Selection - Use this function to copy the notes you highlighted or selected. You can use this after using the Select Area function.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v246/ ... yt/Cut.png[/img]
Cut Selection - Use this function to cut selected notes. You can use it after using the Select Area function.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v246/ ... /Paste.png[/img]
Paste (Overwrite) - Use this function to paste and overwrite notes after using the Select Area function. The area you highlighted will be replaced if you press the button.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v246/ ... Insert.png[/img]
Paste (Insert) - Use this function to paste notes. It does not overwrite notes.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v246/ ... Insert.png[/img]
Insert Space - Use this to insert a blank column. Place the red column to the desired area and click this button to insert a space.
Playing and Editing Controls:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v246/ ... Return.png[/img]
Return to Start - Click this to return to the song's starting position or on number 0.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v246/ ... t/Play.png[/img]
Play - Press this to listen to the song you composed. Place the red column anywhere and click the button to start playing music.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v246/ ... t/Stop.png[/img]
Stop - Press this to stop the music from playing.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v246/ ... /Tempo.png[/img]
Drag the bar, to the desired speed. The higher the number, the faster your song will play. By lowering the number, the speed of the song will decrease.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v246/ ... rument.png[/img]
You can choose the instruments here you want to use in your song.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v246/ ... tTrack.png[/img]
This is where you change tracks. For example, the first instrument chosen is Acoustic Grand Piano, the sound that will play after placing notes in the music area will be piano. Click on number two and you can choose another instrument you want to use and so on.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v246/ ... eTrack.png[/img]
By clicking on the numbers, the instruments assigned to that numbers will be muted. The remaining numbers not pressed are the instruments you will only hear when you press play.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v246/ ... nspose.png[/img]
Click the down button to lower down notes. Click the up button to raise notes. The note remains when you use the Hide Tracks function while transposing notes.
Music Composition:
When composing music in Babya Logic, all you do is just point and click your mouse on the music composition area. Look at the colors on the music area where you can place notes. For example, Track number 4 and 7 uses the same instrument like Synth Strings. The different colors of the tracks is the same as the colors on the music area. The purple squares are owned by Track number 7. The longer green bars are owned by Track number 4. The short purples will play shorter while the green bars will play longer. But it does not always mean that the instruments will play longer if you increase their length. Instruments like drums will not play longer even if you extend the instrument's sound duration.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v246/ ... icComp.jpg[/img]
Highlight Function:
If you want an area to be copied, press the Select Area button and click on the music area where you want to copy. For example, you want to copy notes from number 0 to number 7, you'll have to place the red column on 0, click the Select Area button and drag it to 7. Select the area where you want to paste the notes you selected by placing the red column on the desired location then press the Paste (Insert) button. If you want to copy only a specific track, press the number under the "Hide Tracks" for the tracks you want to hide so you can copy only what is shown. The hidden tracks are not copied. The Cut function is done by highlighting the areas you want to cut. You can also use this function to delete a range of notes. Take note that you always press the Select Area button first before you can use the Copy, Cut, and Paste functions.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v246/ ... hlight.jpg[/img]
Tip:
Making midi music require talent and an understanding of some musical terms. If you put this knowledge into a music program, you can create music. You know melody? It is defined as the succession of notes. For an example of a melody, listen to the peaceful and boring Slumbering in the music pack where I used the same sounding melody playing over and over. Using the Cowbell instrument imitates the sound of the clock. How about rhythm? This is the beat pattern of your music. For an example, read down below under the title Drumbeats. Another musical term is the harmony. Harmony is a combination of notes or sounds like for example when you sing a song and your guitar and violin accompaniment are played differently but they sound synchronously and still play harmoniously. For an example, listen to Harpy Lady.
How do you want your music to sound? The musical instruments you are using would set the music theme. For example, you want a memory recall music, the instruments you can use are the Glockenspiel, Orchestral Strings, Harp, and the Music Box. For an angry music, you can use the Orchestra Hit. For someone's death, use the Church Organ. For a sad music, use the Flute, Strings, the Pad 2 (warm), and some Nylon Guitar. For a peaceful music, the Nylon Guitar is the best instrument you can use. Listen to Final Fantasy's Breezy that uses a single instrument. In the music pack, you can listen to my own rendition of Breezy. For a Christmas themed music, you can use Tubular Bells and even the instrument Koto. For an asian-themed music, you can use the Koto, Shamisen, and Shakuhachi. For an example, listen to Sitsiritsit.
Want your musical composition longer? The secret is to add interludes and the repeating choruses. You can alter the chorus or change the instruments used and the music speed or its duration or rhythm. After you decided what part of your song you want to become the chorus, use the highlight function of Babya Logic then copy and paste to the areas you want the selected part to repeat.
For an example of chorus being played again and again only with some alterations, listen to Uncertain in the music pack. You may like the Pizicato instrument. There was a part when Pizicato was raised. It is done by using the transpose up function.
In composing music, you also should know where to put pauses / rest or prolong tones. By changing the tempo of your music, a new harmony can be produced.
Music can be interpreted differently. You could make songs and tell your listeners that the emotion in the music you composed is all about sadness for example, but another listener might say that it feels like a peaceful one. Download the music pack and listen to Monstrous Anger. I asked someone to listen to this composition. He told me that it sounded like a music in ballroom dancing while I attributed it as something horrific because of the use of the harpsichord instrument. He interpreted it that way maybe because there was a part where you could hear a tango-like melody playing. For another horrific themed music example, listen to Fright of a Monster. You can use deeper or lower notes for a music theme like this. For an extra-"horrorific" (wrong spelling) music example, listen to the intro of Something's Coming. Listen to the other part. The FX 2 (soundtrack) imitates nighttime.
You can also use drum beats in the midi program. If you want to use another program that can make beats, you can use the freeware Hot Stepper and record your midis with Mp3MyMp3 recorder then mix it with an editing program like the free Audacity and save your songs to mp3, ogg, or wav format. For an example of a simple jungle-like drumbeat, in the music pack, listen to Bom Taratarat Chorus then listen and compare it to the other Bom Taratarat Chorus2 with more instruments.
Saving Midi Files:
You can save your songs in MIA extensions. To change MIA files into midis, click on "file", and "export" to Midi.
End of tutorial...
A Tutorial by Dwight Delleva
Download the Music Pack by following the link below for examples!
http://www.4shared.com/dir/6247826/8f14b6c4/sharing.html
Click on the file "Midi and MIA Examples.zip"
You can also download some of my event systems and demos in the same link.
Before you read any further, download my Music Pack. MIA examples are included in the file that can be opened and studied with the music program you are going to use. This tutorial is best understood if you download the music pack to see the list of instruments I used for a certain kind of music.
This tutorial will cover the simplest "how to" so you can make your own midis. We will need a midi composing program first. For this tutorial, we use Babya Logic, a free program for making midi music. This is the easiest program that you can use for midi composition. Your first step to midi composition is to download Babya Logic and install it on your computer. You can also use a similar commercial software called Midi Quartet.
This is how Babya Logic looks (refer to the picture below). The numbers with letters and sharps on the left side of the picture as shown below are the notes. The red column determines the starting area where the song will start when you press play. For example, you place the red column on number 8, when you press play, it will start playing music from number 8. The other tools and buttons are explained below. For a list of MIA examples, you can download my Music Pack and open it on the program to see how the program works. All the files in the music pack are my original compositions.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v246/ ... screen.jpg[/img]
Function Buttons:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v246/ ... t/Draw.png[/img]
Draw Mode - Click this to place notes. Press on the left mouse button to insert notes. Press and hold the left mouse button and drag to the desired length. The longer the length is, the longer the note will sound. Release the mouse button after dragging to place a note. Erase notes by clicking the left mouse button.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v246/ ... /Start.png[/img]
Start/Insertion Position - You can just click on the black bar where you can see the numbers starting from zero. The red net-like looking column determines the position where the song will start playing if you press the play button.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v246/ ... Select.png[/img]
Select Area - Click this box to select the area where you want to edit notes. Right-click and drag the mouse from right to left to your selected area. By dragging the mouse, the selected music area is highlighted in blue. Left-click to remove the highlight.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v246/ ... t/Copy.png[/img]
Copy Selection - Use this function to copy the notes you highlighted or selected. You can use this after using the Select Area function.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v246/ ... yt/Cut.png[/img]
Cut Selection - Use this function to cut selected notes. You can use it after using the Select Area function.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v246/ ... /Paste.png[/img]
Paste (Overwrite) - Use this function to paste and overwrite notes after using the Select Area function. The area you highlighted will be replaced if you press the button.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v246/ ... Insert.png[/img]
Paste (Insert) - Use this function to paste notes. It does not overwrite notes.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v246/ ... Insert.png[/img]
Insert Space - Use this to insert a blank column. Place the red column to the desired area and click this button to insert a space.
Playing and Editing Controls:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v246/ ... Return.png[/img]
Return to Start - Click this to return to the song's starting position or on number 0.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v246/ ... t/Play.png[/img]
Play - Press this to listen to the song you composed. Place the red column anywhere and click the button to start playing music.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v246/ ... t/Stop.png[/img]
Stop - Press this to stop the music from playing.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v246/ ... /Tempo.png[/img]
Drag the bar, to the desired speed. The higher the number, the faster your song will play. By lowering the number, the speed of the song will decrease.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v246/ ... rument.png[/img]
You can choose the instruments here you want to use in your song.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v246/ ... tTrack.png[/img]
This is where you change tracks. For example, the first instrument chosen is Acoustic Grand Piano, the sound that will play after placing notes in the music area will be piano. Click on number two and you can choose another instrument you want to use and so on.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v246/ ... eTrack.png[/img]
By clicking on the numbers, the instruments assigned to that numbers will be muted. The remaining numbers not pressed are the instruments you will only hear when you press play.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v246/ ... nspose.png[/img]
Click the down button to lower down notes. Click the up button to raise notes. The note remains when you use the Hide Tracks function while transposing notes.
Music Composition:
When composing music in Babya Logic, all you do is just point and click your mouse on the music composition area. Look at the colors on the music area where you can place notes. For example, Track number 4 and 7 uses the same instrument like Synth Strings. The different colors of the tracks is the same as the colors on the music area. The purple squares are owned by Track number 7. The longer green bars are owned by Track number 4. The short purples will play shorter while the green bars will play longer. But it does not always mean that the instruments will play longer if you increase their length. Instruments like drums will not play longer even if you extend the instrument's sound duration.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v246/ ... icComp.jpg[/img]
Highlight Function:
If you want an area to be copied, press the Select Area button and click on the music area where you want to copy. For example, you want to copy notes from number 0 to number 7, you'll have to place the red column on 0, click the Select Area button and drag it to 7. Select the area where you want to paste the notes you selected by placing the red column on the desired location then press the Paste (Insert) button. If you want to copy only a specific track, press the number under the "Hide Tracks" for the tracks you want to hide so you can copy only what is shown. The hidden tracks are not copied. The Cut function is done by highlighting the areas you want to cut. You can also use this function to delete a range of notes. Take note that you always press the Select Area button first before you can use the Copy, Cut, and Paste functions.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v246/ ... hlight.jpg[/img]
Tip:
Making midi music require talent and an understanding of some musical terms. If you put this knowledge into a music program, you can create music. You know melody? It is defined as the succession of notes. For an example of a melody, listen to the peaceful and boring Slumbering in the music pack where I used the same sounding melody playing over and over. Using the Cowbell instrument imitates the sound of the clock. How about rhythm? This is the beat pattern of your music. For an example, read down below under the title Drumbeats. Another musical term is the harmony. Harmony is a combination of notes or sounds like for example when you sing a song and your guitar and violin accompaniment are played differently but they sound synchronously and still play harmoniously. For an example, listen to Harpy Lady.
How do you want your music to sound? The musical instruments you are using would set the music theme. For example, you want a memory recall music, the instruments you can use are the Glockenspiel, Orchestral Strings, Harp, and the Music Box. For an angry music, you can use the Orchestra Hit. For someone's death, use the Church Organ. For a sad music, use the Flute, Strings, the Pad 2 (warm), and some Nylon Guitar. For a peaceful music, the Nylon Guitar is the best instrument you can use. Listen to Final Fantasy's Breezy that uses a single instrument. In the music pack, you can listen to my own rendition of Breezy. For a Christmas themed music, you can use Tubular Bells and even the instrument Koto. For an asian-themed music, you can use the Koto, Shamisen, and Shakuhachi. For an example, listen to Sitsiritsit.
Want your musical composition longer? The secret is to add interludes and the repeating choruses. You can alter the chorus or change the instruments used and the music speed or its duration or rhythm. After you decided what part of your song you want to become the chorus, use the highlight function of Babya Logic then copy and paste to the areas you want the selected part to repeat.
For an example of chorus being played again and again only with some alterations, listen to Uncertain in the music pack. You may like the Pizicato instrument. There was a part when Pizicato was raised. It is done by using the transpose up function.
In composing music, you also should know where to put pauses / rest or prolong tones. By changing the tempo of your music, a new harmony can be produced.
Music can be interpreted differently. You could make songs and tell your listeners that the emotion in the music you composed is all about sadness for example, but another listener might say that it feels like a peaceful one. Download the music pack and listen to Monstrous Anger. I asked someone to listen to this composition. He told me that it sounded like a music in ballroom dancing while I attributed it as something horrific because of the use of the harpsichord instrument. He interpreted it that way maybe because there was a part where you could hear a tango-like melody playing. For another horrific themed music example, listen to Fright of a Monster. You can use deeper or lower notes for a music theme like this. For an extra-"horrorific" (wrong spelling) music example, listen to the intro of Something's Coming. Listen to the other part. The FX 2 (soundtrack) imitates nighttime.
You can also use drum beats in the midi program. If you want to use another program that can make beats, you can use the freeware Hot Stepper and record your midis with Mp3MyMp3 recorder then mix it with an editing program like the free Audacity and save your songs to mp3, ogg, or wav format. For an example of a simple jungle-like drumbeat, in the music pack, listen to Bom Taratarat Chorus then listen and compare it to the other Bom Taratarat Chorus2 with more instruments.
Saving Midi Files:
You can save your songs in MIA extensions. To change MIA files into midis, click on "file", and "export" to Midi.
End of tutorial...