25 Midi Secrets PDF

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.

otes within each separate chord, and start shifting them either up or
2. Select individual n
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,
niversal method, and can work across them all, respectively)
the following is a u

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.

e done, an easier approach is to go back into each, individual clip that
So, since it must b
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

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chord, with ease.

note either 3, or 4 semitones from the NEW top 4th note.

away from each other.

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chord, with ease.

note either 3, or 4 semitones from the NEW top 4​th​ note.

away from each other.

Anda mungkin juga menyukai

note either 3, or 4 semitones from the NEW top 4th note.