Newbie Midi Question

[CarpeKen]

Hi, I\'m new to this board and to Gigasampler in fact I don\'t even own Gigasampler yet but I will if someone can answer this question.

Can you use Gigasampler to play midi files? You know... load a existing midi file I created and use the instruments sounds that I think Gigasampler can output. I do not own a keyboard and I do not plan on owning one in the future. I just want the most convincing bass and drums sounds to back my guitar tracks with the ease of midi programming. (soundfonts did not impress me)

I looked everywhere for an answer to this basic question including emailing nemesys but nobody could give me a straight answer.

Thank you in advance for your time.

[This message has been edited by CarpeKen (edited 07-01-2001).]

[ondrej]

No, not directly in GS. Gigasamler/Gigastudio is a sampler which plays whatever notes you send into it. You will need a sequencer (computer program or hardware) to be able to play MIDI files. But basic sequencer programs are fairly cheap so this should not be a big problem.

Ondrej

[Chadwick]

Gigasampler/studio can play up to 16 separate instruments at a time on each of four midi connections/ports.

As there are few (if any) midi files which use more than one midi port, Giga should have more power than you need.

Giga can have hundreds of instruments \'loaded\' and ready to be called by a patch change as required - with virtually no delay.

The trick is to put a \'Performance\' (Giga- speak for a bunch of sounds in memory ready to go) together, which has all the instruments you like the sound of assigned to patch numbers which conform to the GM midi spec (piano gets patch 1, honky tonk piano gets patch 4 or whatever).

Connexant did this with their 500mg GM Midi set for Giga, but of course you can\'t please everyone and any attempt to put 128 sounds together which everyone will like is doomed to failure.

So, yes you should be able to set this up, but it may not be as simple as buying your 128 favourite library sounds and loading them all simultaneously. There\'ll be some massaging to do.

Might I suggest contacting one of the dudes at Nemesys (like Kevin Phelan) to get more detail on the specifics.

[CarpeKen]

Thanks for the quick replys.

ondrej - by \"sequencer programs\" do you mean a program like Cakewalk?

Chadwick - I understand \"patch numbers\" I assign soundfonts to them now. Does Gigasampler/Studio need to be running after I have patched an instrument in order for GM to play that instrument or does it replace the current soundfont in that patch?

Also Chadwick I will email \"Kevin Phelan\" for more details. Would you happen to have his email address?

Once again thank you both for your time,
Ken

[Doug Marshall]

I remember Gigasampler had a MIDI file player. You dropped a file onto the sampler to play it. I assume Gigastudio has the same capability? I haven\'t heard anyone mention it recently. - Doug

[Chadwick]

Ken,

Kevin can be contacted here:

GSSupport [gssupport@nemesysmusic.com]

The Gigastudio has nothing to do with the sounds on your soundcard. Basically you need to treat it like a software sound module able access lots of very large sounds. The only part of your soundcard that it uses is the actual output stage. Your soundfonts won\'t be involved, unless you want to load them into Giga in addition to other Giga sounds.

[CarpeKen]

Thanks Chadwick,

I\'ll email Kevin right away, so will I be able to load a midi file in Cakewalk and have it play the Giga sounds?

Thanks to everyone on this board, I will probably return as a Giga-Owner as a result of this community support and I hope to help a Giga-Newbie in the future like I have been helped.