Composing With MIDI

While I have been in several bands over the years, and learned to play a variety of live instruments including guitar, bass, drums, saxophone, and vocals, I decided not to pursue a final project idea directly involving these existing skills and abilities. Prior to enrolling in this course, I possessed very limited experience with composing music purely electronically, such as with MIDI. During the class periods involving these processes, I often found it very difficult to figure out how to translate my musical ideas into the software. However, I see this as an area I would very much like to improve myself in, as it seems like a very valuable and useful tool for many applications as well. My goal is to utilize GarageBand in order to create an original composition entirely through the use of MIDI consisting of free-drawn sections in the piano-roll editor as well as loops, using multiple virtual instruments simultaneously and then apply effects and automation. I expect this could be a frustrating process, as I am more used to playing instruments by feel rather than following specific rhythm patterns or transcribing them either. I plan to tackle these challenges through much trial and error as well as by more closely analyzing what the actual properties are of the music I write. The final media iteration will include a video displaying different elements and stages of my work as well as the audio of the piece which I will create in the process.

Video With Commentary

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