Piano, organ, synth etc MIDI files only, for songwriting?

[Huh?]

Does anyone know of any Mac/Pro Tools friendly professional sounding MIDI files, commercial or free/shareware, that are designed to be used in a DAW to trigger keyboard virtual instruments?

EZ Keys seems nice but seems tethered to THEIR virtual keys and software. It appears to be either the upright or grand as the sort of master software and the other programs are files only that add on to those. I am not sure if their Blues, Gospel, Pop/Rock etc, add-on MIDI files can be used with any keyboard VI.

Mainly I'd prefer the simplicity of just MIDI files only, played by an excellent pianist, that I can drag and drop onto an instrument track loaded with my own VI's as I am writing a song. I'd like performances that not only would sound great in a full blown multitrack production but that are also good enough (and interesting enough) to be used in a standalone piano/vocal or piano with resonator slide guitar etc type song.

Is that a lot to expect? I mean you can find great drum performance MIDI files.

Not being a keyboard player, I wish I could find files of nice chord voicing's and arpeggio's in different styles.....pop, rock, gospel, blues etc. I have a 64 and an 88 key controller, as well as the Godin and YRG guitar controllers.....but not being a keyboard player......all I can do is pads, and some not so believable piano or Fender Rhodes performances etc. Some of my VI's are very nice too and yet they don't get used much as it always sounds so fake when it is "MIDI constructed"........er, by me!!!. It really comes down to the arpeggio's......anyone can just construct some ploddy chords.

Right this very minute Garage Band occurred to me. I never use it but I know it has files, just don't know if they can be exported?

Any ideas?

[Lee Knight]

Check the Twiddly Bits website. I haven't used them in years but they were pretty good.

http://secure.keyfax.com/mm5/merchan...ory_Code=Piano

[Huh?]

Thanks Lee. That looks pretty good although for what I want right now I only want piano/keyboard performances. Later on I might get the one with Bruford and the one with Joe Vanelli just to have fun with. I'd have thought these MIDI keyboard offerings would be everywhere. Thanks again.

[philbo]

There are thousands of midi files on the web. I googled for '.MID file download' and got 180,000 results. Note that a majority of what's out there, just like guitar tabs, are pretty amateurish and very often just plain wrong. But if you want it done right you can always create your own. It can be a very rewarding experience in that your music chops and listening skills are exercised when you transcribe the music, and quickly improve.

But if you want authentic sounding performances, you need to play an authentic instrument and play an authentic performance. When you record midi from that instrument, it'll sound authentic... My midi instruments are keyboard and guitar, and both can do this convincingly if you can resist the temptation to 'fix' things by moving around midi notes or quantizing the timing.

[Huh?]

Yeah thanks philbo......and all the mush on the internet is why I was seeking pro stuff. I don't need to expand on my theory at all....I am very up on theory and used to read fly{censored} years ago. Constructing complex chord voicing's etc is not a problem at all but I do not want to go that way. I was hoping to find commercially available professional audio/MIDI performances by great player(s) that could be inspiring to work off. As you know, it's the runs, riffs, chord melodies, arpeggio's etc etc that are the true meat and potatos. That is what I was looking for. Plus, it being someone other than me brings a fresh situation other than...... everything is me. Besides.....I can plonk some chords in and mess with the timing etc duration blah blah but those runs and the interaction of the right and left hands is just not going to happen with my utter lack of piano ability. That one Fiddly Bit's suggestion Lee Knight put up has some really cool piano stuff but I just don't know how much of it is laid out so as to make for a complete song. For jam stuff it looks very interesting.

Have you ever seen Drumcore (or any drum software I would imagine)? It has audio and MIDI drum performances and they provide various grooves from each featured drummer. Each groove set has several variations of the main beat, with a no kick, no snare version as well sometimes....and then the same groove with different hi hat approaches......tight, open, half open and then the main groove with ride cymbal. On top of this they provide a bunch of fills and intro and outro fills and hits. Superior Drummer does this with MIDI only as do the other drum programs I am sure. What is nice in DrumCore is you can apply the MIDI groove of say Alan White, but have it trigger the audio of Terry Bozzio's kit.....or any of the featured drummers.

I was hoping to find something of this depth for piano grooves and styles. Various Verse, Chorus, Bridge parts etc that one can construct songs or jams from. EZ Keys looks like it might be the one......I just hope their MIDI files are transferrable to other VI's.

Thanks though philbo. You get what I am saying though right? About wanting to use the grooves as played by hip players, as inspiration to work OFF or incorporate into an idea in progress.....rather than me personally plodding through a ton of valuable time in the MIDI editor trying to make a believable performance ....... and possibly losing momentum in the process.

[Johnny-Boy]

Ivory, NI Acoustic Piano, Garritan Steinway Grand...

[Huh?]

Thanks Johnny-Boy but these are VI's right? I don't need more piano VI's, I need MIDI files of piano performances......that I can edit, loop, construct with, compose with etc. I am not a piano player.

[Hard Truth]

You should look into Band in a Box. Its much more than you asked for, but it can create midi files to import into a DAW. The benefit is that it can do any chords and a wide variety of styles. Most amazing, it usually doesn't sound too cheesy.

"Band-in-a-Box is so easy to use! Just type in the chords for any song using standard chord symbols (like C, Fm7, or C13b9), choose the style you'd like, and Band-in-a-Box does the rest... Band-in-a-Box automatically generates a complete professional-quality arrangement of piano, bass, drums, guitar, and strings or horns.

Plus, add REAL accompaniment to your song with RealTracks. These are recordings of top studio musicians that replace the MIDI track with audio instruments. They sound like real musicians, because they ARE real musicians!"

[Huh?]

Hey thanks Hard Truth. You know......for years I have looked down somewhat sneeringly on BIAB. I don't know why....maybe it was cheesoid when it came out...dunno. But I had a quick shufti, and it appears to have come a long way. Not sure it's what I need but I will take a good look at the demo's after I decompress from the debate tonight. Thanks man.

[Hard Truth]

 

Originally Posted by Huh?

Hey thanks Hard Truth. You know......for years I have looked down somewhat sneeringly on BIAB. I don't know why....maybe it was cheesoid when it came out...dunno. But I had a quick shufti, and it appears to have come a long way. Not sure it's what I need but I will take a good look at the demo's after I decompress from the debate tonight. Thanks man.

 

They have been around a long while now and have always had very ugly, cheap looking advertisements and an ugly user interface, but that doesn't interfere with using the program.