MIDI filters and generative composition

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At Playtronica we strongly believe in designing systems that boost creativity. The convenience of simple tools that allow you to manipulate MIDI data makes you able to play as if you are a virtuoso. If you happen to be a virtuoso it is also useful to explore melodic and rhythmic elements of what you play with your MIDI devices.

Below you have a super inspiring and resourceful video explaining some concepts about MIDI effects. The video is quite long, so if you don’t have the time now, feel free to scroll down:

More on midi effects

Volcity effects

On most of the acoustic or more “traditional” instruments (such guitars or pianos) you have an expressive layer when you play it using different intensities. For example: if you strum the strings of your guitar really hard, the sound that it generates is totally different then if you strum them softly and gently. Even the Beatles wrote a song about that:

These playing nuances are one of the biggest drawbacks when using digital instruments. In the digital world this intensity is called Velocity. Although it works differently from “traditional” instruments, there are tools that you can use to make your playing sound more human.

Velocity effect in Ableton

Playing in the right tempo / Beat synchronization

Sometimes it’s hard to play rhythmic patterns that match with what your fellow musicians are playing in a jam or with your backing track. To help you solve this issue there are tools that “push” back and forward what you play making it fit with a specific tempo and beat.

For Ableton Live you have a device that allows you to perform this task in real time:

Real-time MIDI Quantize is a plug-in with more than 10 years, but still makes its job perfectly!