Making MIDIs sound real [HELP!!]

[Bey-Heart]

Hello everybody, I'm new to the mlp music fanbase, so I'd like some help if that's okay. I have one song currently uploaded, and it sounds pretty nice. Thing is, I want to know how to make my MIDIs sound real. I had a friend of mine plug the MIDI into Garage Band,and that's how he did it. I use Windows though, so I can't do that, and I don't want to have to depend on other people just so I can upload my songs.

Is there any kind of freeware that will make it sound like a real Piano for me? I downloaded Linux MultiMedia Studio, but I can't seem to figure it out. Anypony wanna lend a hoof?

Of course, if there who would be willing to do the process for each song I do, that would be wonderful since the friend who currently does that for me takes literally days to get back to me sometimes. Of course, I'd like to do it on my own though.


Here's the song I currently have uploaded if any of you ware interested:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCd_oLM-x7c&feature=plcp

[soultensionbenjamin]

it really depends on your equipment.

[Bey-Heart]

My "Equipment" is simple. I use my computer, that's all. I write my songs in MuseScore, save the files, and then export them as MIDIs. Now I want a program that will make the MIDIs sound real. From my understanding, that's a program thing, not equipment at all.

[Fimbulin]

You need a DAW. That's a digital audio workstation. With those you can load VSTs that are soundbanks or synthesizers for your MIDI score. The top four DAWs are FL Studio, Cubase, Ableton, and Sibelius. There are some alternatives, and some free ones - like LMMS - that can use VST soundbanks as well.

[WavesOfParadox]

Unless you want to spend a lot of money on good VST's, you'll have the best luck with SoundFonts, which is what MuseScore uses, so you wouldn't even need a DAW.

You can find a bunch here: http://the-filmmusic-group.deviantart.c ... -224143947

I recommend Fluid_R3 (which can be found here: http://musescore.org/en/handbook/soundfont) and SGM, which is found from the "Collections" file in the above DeviantArt link.

[Anforium]

Unless you want to spend a lot of money on good VST's, you'll have the best luck with SoundFonts, which is what MuseScore uses, so you wouldn't even need a DAW.

You can find a bunch here: http://the-filmmusic-group.deviantart.c ... -224143947

I recommend Fluid_R3 (which can be found here: http://musescore.org/en/handbook/soundfont) and SGM, which is found from the "Collections" file in the above DeviantArt link.

This + generally instrument specific soundfonts tend to sound better than GM (general midi) soundfonts, so you can use Lmms to assign specific soundfonts to instruments.

[Dr_Dissonance]

Don't use Sibelius if you want realism...

And lol, I just wrote out a big paragraph about soundfonts, but it looks like Waves beat me to it!

[Bey-Heart]

It seems that soundfonts are exactly what I was thinking of (Never knew what it was called.) Thanks a lot guys, I had no idea MuseScore could use those.

[XXDarkShadow79XX]

Actually, there's probably a way to apply this to LMMS or whatever you're using.

[WavesOfParadox]

Yeah, LMMS has a built-in plugin for hosting SoundFont files so you can assign different SoundFonts to different tracks if need be.

[XXDarkShadow79XX]

Oh oops. Yeah, soundfonts are a good way to get a realistic piano without breaking your back/wallet. Here I found some for you:

http://www.flstudiomusic.com/2010/02/25 ... fonts.html

Eventually if you do get the money, you can probably nab nexus and maybe an expansion or two. IDK what kind of music you make. :)

Or I've heard good things about the Emotional Piano extension for KONTAKT on this very forum. I've never had experience with either, but I think they both have some nice piano sounds if you're willing to fork over the cash. I would focus on getting a better DAW though. I guess LMMS is fine, but it really isn't the best from what I've heard.

[Fimbulin]

Kontakt is absolutely amazing, but it's quite expensive. I bought it. Libraries aren't cheap either, but there is quite a large selection of Kontakt instruments/libraries/soundbanks available everywhere. I highly recommend Kontakt if you want to pursue a music career, but be warned, libraries are expensive and there's always a new library coming out that you can pay for.

On another note, if you can use a synth at least decently well, you could try layering a custom synth (I use Harmless) patch underneath your instrument of choice to add some extra dynamics and/or range to your instrument. I've started to use this technique quite alot to get my orchestra bass instruments to sound in that 40-100hz juicy area.

[ChromaticChaosPony]

Kontakt is absolutely amazing, but it's quite expensive. I bought it. Libraries aren't cheap either, but there is quite a large selection of Kontakt instruments/libraries/soundbanks available everywhere. I highly recommend Kontakt if you want to pursue a music career, but be warned, libraries are expensive and there's always a new library coming out that you can pay for.

On another note, if you can use a synth at least decently well, you could try layering a custom synth (I use Harmless) patch underneath your instrument of choice to add some extra dynamics and/or range to your instrument. I've started to use this technique quite alot to get my orchestra bass instruments to sound in that 40-100hz juicy area.

Or if you're broke like me, just download the demo of Kontakt. I doubt it has anything great for orchestral (you'll need to buy the full thing for that), but it's fun to mess around with. Especially the drums. And it has a pretty decent piano on it. (I made breakcore sounds with Kontakt by putting a skreamer on the drums, lol).

Le download link: http://www.native-instruments.com/#/en/products/producer/kontakt-5-player/?page=2483

[Interrobang Pie]

But really you shouldn't be wanting to MIDI REPLACE IN THE FIRST PLACE WOW

[Lavender_Harmony]

But really you shouldn't be wanting to MIDI REPLACE IN THE FIRST PLACE WOW

This.

If you want your piano performance to sound natural, perform it yourself.

[Dr_Dissonance]

But really you shouldn't be wanting to MIDI REPLACE IN THE FIRST PLACE WOW

This.

If you want your piano performance to sound natural, perform it yourself.

What if the piano part is too difficult? I can't play piano to save my life, but I write very complex piano lines when I do write for piano. So MIDI and vsts are handy when my failure in performance looms.

I'm not even sure where this came from, all the op asked was for methods to make more realistic piano sounds...now we're suddenly saying they shouldn't use fake pianos and just record the real thing?

[Whitetail]

If you want a more realistic expressive performance pay careful attention to velocity, think which notes a pianist playing would hit the hardest and which ones would be hit more weakly - vary notes small small amounts to try and humanize the performance a bit, remember even extreme maestro level precision is going to have slight faults to timing, tempo and dynamics.

Also another good thing is to imagine an actual keyboard and how one would play it, if you have a long sweep of notes it's rather difficult to hit specifics ones with precision - don't be afraid to use notes out of the key if that's how a keyboardist would actually play said sweep or the like, especially if they're fast notes people won't be able to pick out the "wrong" notes.

[Raddons]

But really you shouldn't be wanting to MIDI REPLACE IN THE FIRST PLACE WOW

This.

If you want your piano performance to sound natural, perform it yourself.

What if the piano part is too difficult? I can't play piano to save my life, but I write very complex piano lines when I do write for piano. So MIDI and vsts are handy when my failure in performance looms.

I'm not even sure where this came from, all the op asked was for methods to make more realistic piano sounds...now we're suddenly saying they shouldn't use fake pianos and just record the real thing?

Nonsense! Just take the money you pull out of your ass and pay someone to play it for you!

[ÜberTriangle]

1. As people above said - velocity control, use other midis as a refference. If you don't have other midis then you have to experiment and tweak.
2. I bet all notes in your midi are quantized, but performers can't play perfectly, move some notes slightly (especially on chords) to add "human touch".
3. Change tempo, slight changes of tempo (+- 5-10 bmp) are hardly noticed but can add more realism. Imagine how you would play some parts and tweak tempo.

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/43592600/Demos ... nOutro.mid
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/43592600/Demos ... nOutro.mp3
1. Unaltered midi I made.
2. Changed velocities and note lengths.
3. Moved notes slightly, added even more realistic velocity and note lengths, added change of tempo.